Page 25: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (May/Jun 2026)

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MARKETS RIGS different. They represent what the already assigning substantially higher is also why the current phase of the market is willing to pay today for value to Borr Drilling and Valaris to- cycle is better described as an incom- exposure to a stronger operating day than the fundamental rig values plete transmission from fxtures into backdrop, before that view is fully currently supports. That is where the rig values rather than as a disconnect validated through observable rig repricing is happening frst, and that between them.

market pricing. The premium now visible in Borr and Valaris is there- fore less a comment on where rigs would transact today than on how investors are valuing current senti- ment around earnings normaliza- tion, stronger contract coverage, and reduced downside risk. Therefore, the market is not waiting for the asset side to fully catch up before assigning higher value to selected companies. It is already doing so now.

This is also consistent with how the cycle is expected to develop. Es- gian’s forecasts indicate that premi- um jackup dayrates are expected to peak before rig values do, with pric- ing strengthening frst and rig val- ues reaching their high point later as those conditions feed through into backlog and cash-fow visibility. The lag between the two is therefore not a contradiction; it is part of the me- chanics of the cycle. Dayrates move frst, asset values follow with a delay, and equity-implied values can move ahead of both when pricing and contract activity provide enough visibility on earnings to support a stronger valuation.

The recovery in jackups is thus not best understood through any single metric in isolation. Dayrates show that market conditions have improved. ERV shows that rig values have already started to recover, but only gradually. The more important signal sits in the widening premium between implied values and rig val- ues, which suggests that the market is

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