Page 18: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Mar/Apr 2026)

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MARKETS RIGS

Even before the recent outbreak of and beyond. Demand that was pre- forecast to rise over 2026, with rigs hostilities in the Middle East, global viously delayed due to supply chain returning to work in the Middle East offshore rig demand was already ex- bottlenecks or fscal discipline has and Mexico as contract suspensions pected to trend upwards from 2026 been frming and new tenders have came to an end and new tenders were to 2027. been released, pointing to increased issued globally.

Floating rig activity worldwide had demand for foating rigs in the In-

Price Surge Lifs Outlook for been showing signs of increased ac- dian Ocean, Southeast Asia and West

Rig Demand tivity in 2027 following the relative Africa, alongside stable demand in lull of 2025, with drillships securing South America and the US Gulf. Looking forward now, high com- new contracts beginning in late 2026 For the jack-up market, demand was modity prices in the near term caused by the confict support continued ac- tivity on foating rig and jack-up proj- ects that were commissioned under lower oil price scenarios.

While operators remain cautious about high oil prices linked to a re- gional confict, the longer oil prices remain high and supply disruptions to the global market are evident, the more impetus there will be for in- creased rig demand ahead. Even if the Middle East situation is resolved in the near term, interest may remain in boosting drilling and production in areas like Asia Pacifc that have seen their energy supplies disrupted as a hedge against future issues.

Evidence of this is already begin- ning. In a recent statement, Borr

Drilling CEO Bruno Morand said that recent discussions with custom- ers had confrmed “the early signs” of a trend towards accelerated rig activity, noting “an increased sense of urgency in awarding existing ten- ders and bringing forward certain drilling programs.”

On the operator side, Valeura En- ergy, which has offshore operations centered in Thailand, said that it is pursuing options to accelerate proj- ects “in light of the substantially higher recent oil prices” and looking to increase the amount of drilling ac- tivity it can do in 2026. This has re- sulted in “advanced discussions with drilling rig contractors.” 18 OFFSHORE ENGINEER OEDIGITAL.COM