Contractors will be glad to see the back of 2009, having endured tough times in the West African jackup market this year. Come the start of 2010, there are likely to be 11 units idle, only one of which has a future commitment lined up. However, the fact that the bulk of these are Transocean rigs will help protect the market from too many further rate reductions because the contractor has opted to cold-stack the majority of its idle units until there is a noticeable upturn in demand. The standard floater market has been more susceptible to demand decreases and rate reductions this year than its deepwater counterpart, and the implications of this are likely to stretch well into 2010. The saving grace continues to be the deepwater market where the long-term nature of demand combined with limited supply has kept conditions comparably favourable for contractors.
展开▼
