Page 23: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jul/Aug 2024)

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MARKETS OSVs

When examining the market balance for PSVs and vessels. Even more so, when looking at the total number of

AHTS in this area, it becomes clear that the total num- OSVs in the North Sea region, we fnd that this fgure is ber of vessels in the two feets during the frst quarter of currently at its smallest in almost 20 years for PSVs and for 2017 outnumbered the previous peak demand by around even further back for AHTS. 30%. While the market did see some momentum for ves- This timeframe is unfortunately far from a coincidence sel activity in this region, the total vessel demand is still and what it tells us further is less than encouraging. The signifcantly lower than before the crash. Additionally, it UK, which together with Norway represent the vast ma- is worth noting that market demand today is even signif- jority of offshore activity in the North Sea, hit its peak cantly lower than the momentum achieved prior to the production already back in 1999 at around 4.5 million activity halt brought on by Covid-19. barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). And while there

Despite this weak development on the demand side, was some renewed momentum after the oil price crash both utilization- and overall dayrates have increased tre- in 2014, it pales in comparison to historical levels and mendously since the trough. This tells us that the strongest the country’s current output stands at only around 1.3 driver has not been demand, as one might expect, but in million boepd.

fact a reduced supply side as a result of a mass exodus of Furthermore, the British government’s recent deci-

JULY/AUGUST 2024 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 23