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are citing as challenges to growth in activity in the region.

CAPITAL RETURNS — CAREFULLY

At the late 2025 Marine Money event in New Orleans, Among these challenges are the rising costs associated with drilling wells in the GOA.” on a panel devoted to OSVs, Morten Arntzen, senior ship-

Rigdon suggested that this trend is prompting clients to ping advisor at Macquarie, described how the Australia- based infrastructure and equipment fnancing giant has reevaluate whether and how they can achieve the required navigated the sector. He explained that Macquarie entered rates of return to justify new drilling activity and produc- ship fnance beginning in 2016 “at a time that a number tion growth. As a result, vessel demand could soften over of banks were either exiting or reducing their exposure — time, although the supply dynamics of deepwater OSVs must also be considered.

many because they lost hundreds of millions in the off-

In a previous posting, Rigdon described one work- shore sector.” around in play — vessel sharing — “where one vessel

The brighter prospects for OSVs alluded to by Arnt- zen come with the potential cost of greater volatility on serves multiple client locations,” calling it a game-changer the horizon. In 2025, geopolitics — and potential shifts for effciency and cost savings across the Gulf of America. in the energy supply landscape — have loomed large. As “Vessel sharing not only reduces fuel use and operational costs but could also play a pivotal role in making the next oil supply has increased, with greater output from exist- ing resources among OPEC+ producers, prices have slid generation of OSVs fnancially viable,” he wrote.

downward toward the $60 to $65 per barrel range for

TIMING THE MARKET benchmark Brent crude. At that price, new investment in

Back at Marine Money, Arntzen explained that Mac- offshore drilling — and in supporting equipment, includ- quarie has roughly $1 billion in loans outstanding in the ing OSVs — may be limited.

offshore sector, with no losses on its books. The secret, he revealed, was timing.

HEADWINDS IN THE GULF “We did not lend any money until 2022 to the offshore

The view from one highly informed insider was outlined in an online posting by Matthew Rigdon, chief operating sector,” he said — a time when crude oil prices had peaked and turned downward, with Brent pricing averaging above offcer of New Orleans-based OSV operator Jackson Off- shore. In a January 2026 assessment of the marketplace $100 per barrel — adding that “we are growing and look- ing for business in the sector.” published on Jackson’s website, Rigdon wrote:

Arntzen said Macquarie is looking to expand its pres- “There are emerging headwinds in the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of America that many operators ence in the U.S. marketplace, following successes inter-

Service Tide, a PX 105 PSV presently working North Sea.

Iain Cameron

MARCH/APRIL 2026 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 49