Flush from the recent boom, operators and service companies alike have been buying back stock and reinvesting in infrastructure. Some say that US operators face reduced prospects of investing internationally as national oil companies take on more upstream work and countries scale back lease offerings. This is probably one of the factors behind the big push to develop shale gas and unconventional plays in North America, in and of itself an intriguing phenomenon to follow. For drilling contractors, reinvesting means upgrading the rig fleets. Much has been written about the record-breaking numbers of construction of deepwater rigs under construction. The available US land rig fleet includes about 2,500 rigs (600-hp or greater), and various sources estimate that 75% of the fleet is refurbished rigs initially built from the 1940s to 1982. Despite building programs that introduced efficient AG-' powered rigs in the last few years, only 14% of the US fleet is AC-driven newbuilds.
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