Rigrun Europe expecting an optimistic 2019!

The recent Wood Mackenzie (WoodMac) 11th Annual Survey and Westwood 10th annual ‘State of Exploration’ reports are showing a marked improvement in exploration and drilling, definitely good news for the sector. Whilst 2018 exploration drilling activity increased by nearly 30% in comparison to the previous year, in the latter part of 2018 there were some concerns about market stability when oil prices took a dip and companies held their breath.

Results from WoodMac are showing that the global exploration sector regains its “mojo”, and that the global exploration budget totalling some £31 bn in 2019, of which drilling will account for about 50 percent of that budget. Good news all round.

Post publication of the survey Andrew Latham, vice president of exploration at Woodmac has been reported in saying: “We’re seeing a continued recovery in the exploration sector, and this borne out by the drilling plans and new licences we’re seeing.”

The engineering company, Rigrun Europe, has been supporting the drilling sector for 30 years supplying and refurbishing oil field equipment including drilling equipment, marine riser tensioners, drill string compensators and more.  

Over the last few months the company has been tracking market conditions, and are now gearing up to support the forecasted growth across the sector.  Offering well-proven internationally experienced offshore engineers and technicians, the team are deployed worldwide to support semi-submersibles, jackups and drillships with product surveys, refurbishment programmes and scheduled maintenance for a range of drilling equipment.

The company is very optimistic that the upward trend in drilling will continue, which both reports would also suggest.  Woodmac and Westwood have highlighted international regions to watch during 2019.  Westwood have highlighted some interesting regional themes including Southeast Asia showing jack-ups operating at 76% utilisation level, a marked improvement for the region, with  other regions achieving 85-90% utilisation level for jack-ups.  Westwood Global Energy data shows nearly a 10% increase in both Jackups and drillships utilisation levels over the last 12 months.

Stewart Findlay, Operations Director Rigrun Europe is feeling confident about the drilling sector: “We recently became IADC members and 2019 market information is something to be positive about, definitely good news for us.  We have years of drilling experience and are specialists in refurbishing equipment.  The team is available for rig reactivation and drilling equipment maintenance programmes.”

With proven International experience the Rigrun Europe team have a demonstrable track record in supporting its clients on-site around the world to assess, audit and carry out refurbishment/maintenance across a range of drilling equipment.

Regional Opportunities:

• Wood Mackenzie is reporting that Deepwater is making a comeback – Latin America.  
• Major companies are moving to Equatorial Margin, that represents a quarter of all of Latin America’s offshore exploration acreage, to take up acreage.  There are now approximately 42 companies present, including majors and leading independents.
• Latin America plays account for one third of global large and giant prospects scheduled for drilling in 2019 in Brazil and Guyana-Suriname basin – 2 regions to watch.
• High quality prospects in deepwater sweet spots including Gulf of Mexico and East Mediterranean.