Page 17: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Nov/Dec 2025)

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MARKETS RIGS years) and jackups (~42.8 years) – and awards for 6th generation, harsh- in 2026 and 2027, Westwood antici- this does not yet take into consider- environment units in Norway, which pates dayrates will begin to stabilise, ation direct negotiations, pre-tenders, command some of the highest day- with modest improvements as de- potential extensions and exercising of rates for rigs globally. mand and utilisation strengthen.

contract options that may also occur. Further dayrate decreases are ex- To sum up, although the frst half

The outstanding demand for drill- pected due to continued high compe- of 2026 may continue to be a highly ships is mainly centred in South tition, especially for jackup and semi- competitive market for offshore drill-

America, Africa, India and Southeast sub campaigns outside of Norway, ers, Westwood expects to see some

Asia, whereas new semisub demand and for drillships with a 1H 2026 market recovery next year, with no- is being driven by Northwest Europe, start date, particularly for those units ticeable improvements in demand the Mediterranean, Australia, Canada with scheduled whitespace during this and utilization emerging in the sec- and South America, with jackups hav- period. For campaigns starting later ond half of 2026 into 2027.

ing highest number of requirements in the Middle East, India, Asia Pacifc and Northwest Europe.

For the full year of 2025, global marketed committed utilisation is expected to reach 89%. This consid- ers actively marketed rigs with ongo- ing contracts or those already booked with future commencement dates. If all planned 2026 demand comes to fruition, alongside anticipated attri- tion and likely further cold stacking of unnecessary supply, forecast global marketed committed utilisation could rise to between 91% and 92%. Com- mitted jackup utilisation is expected to reach 91.8%, semisubs to 92.5% (mainly driven by falling supply and a slight uptick in demand), with drill- ships marginally higher at 92.6%.

Leading-Edge Dayrates

Could Fall Further in

First Half Of 2026

Due to market softness during 2025, jackup and drillship dayrates fell below that of 2024 by 20.6% and 8.2%, respectively. Semisubs on the other hand appeared to buck the trend with dayrates increasing by just over 8%, however, this stems from the lack of many benign semisub dayrates being revealed, while those that were divulged tended to be for

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 17