Page 20: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jan/Feb 2018)

19 21

GLOBAL OFFSHORE MARKET FORECAST

Returning

ROVs to work?

he remote operated vehicle (ROV) market has had a tough time during the last few years due to its reli-

T ance on drilling operations.

The impact of the downturn on utilization rates and

The ROV market isn’t out pricing, as well as the market outlook, was discussed by

Andrew Reid, managing director of Douglas Westwood, of the woods yet, with part of Westwood Global Energy Group, at Subsea UK’s

Underwater Vehicles Conference in Aberdeen late plentiful supply in the market

November. “It’s quite evident that the ROV market has been in real dampening any perceived trouble over the last couple of years,” Reid says. “We’ve seen drops in pricing, anywhere between 10-40%, since the down- turn.” Utilization rates, as activity has dropped, has seen uptick in activity. But, offshore market reductions for some by as much as 50%, he adds.

ROV days have seen a 33% average reduction. Drill wind might offer some respite.

support ROV days are down 37%, and construction support -46%. Elaine Maslin reports.

“We do expect a recovery, but not to 2014 levels,” Reid says. “This time around we have seen IMR (inspection repair and

Oceaneering’s eNovus compact work class ROV.

maintenance) also hit hard, down 22%. We always saw main-

Illustration from Oceaneering.

tenance as a relatively protected market. But, there’s been a oedigital.com

January 2018 | OE 22 022_OE0118_Feat3_ROV outlook.indd 22 12/27/17 11:00 PM