Maersk Drilling Mulls Listing in Recovering Market

Monday, February 25, 2019

Drilling rig contractor Maersk Drilling, which will soon list on the Copenhagen stock exchange, said the offshore drilling market is improving as oil firms generate more cash and look to boost reserves.

A fall in oil prices in 2014 prompted a severe downturn in the industry as oil companies cancelled or postponed exploration plans, reducing demand for offshore drilling rigs.

"What drives our faith in a market recovery is to a high degree the higher activity we see from the oil companies," chief executive Jorn Madsen told Reuters.

He referred to an increase in utility rates and the number of tenders, longer contracts and more requests from companies looking for rigs to drill for oil and gas.

His comments echoed remarks made by Transocean's chief executive Jeremy Thigpen, who earlier this month said that 2018 marked the beginning of a recovery.

But despite signs of a nascent improvement, a sharp fall in the oil price in the last quarter of 2018 triggered new doubts about the pace of the offshore drilling market's recovery.

Borr Drilling, which listed its shares on the Oslo main exchange in Aug. 2017 in anticipation of a market recovery, is trading around a fifth lower than its listing price

Danish conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk is spinning off Maersk Drilling, which will be renamed as The Drilling Company of 1972 and start trading in Copenhagen on April 4.

Shares in the world's largest offshore drilling firm Transocean are down around 40 percent since mid-October when oil prices hit a four-year high of over $86 a barrel.

The price of Brent crude is down around 20 percent from since then, trading at $67.1 per barrel on Monday.

Reporting by Stine Jacobsen

Categories: Finance Energy Offshore Energy Drilling Offshore

Related Stories

Velesto Lands Jack-Up Drilling Deal with Jadestone off Malaysia

GLO Marine to Invest $7M in New Vessel Retrofit Hub in Romania

Saipem Agrees $272M Deal to Acquire Deep Value Driller Drillship

ADNOC Gas Signs $3B LNG Supply Deal with India’s HPCL

Philippines Makes First Offshore Gas Discovery in Over a Decade

Murphy Oil Appraisal Well Boosts Resource Outlook at Field off Vietnam

ADNOC Takes FID on SARB Deep Gas Project Offshore Abu Dhabi

Low Demand, High Supply Keeps Asia LNG Spot Prices Flat

Following Big Loss in 2025, Oil Steadies

Major Oil and Gas Projects Drive Strong OSV Demand in the Middle East

Current News

QatarEnergy Selects Technip Energies JV for North Field West Expansion Work

Velesto Lands Jack-Up Drilling Deal with Jadestone off Malaysia

Inpex Eyes Mid-Year Bids for $21B Indonesia LNG Project

Eni Nears FID for Indonesia’s Offshore Gas Projects

GLO Marine to Invest $7M in New Vessel Retrofit Hub in Romania

Seatrium Targets $40M Cost Savings in Continued Divestment Drive

Inpex Secures Environmental Approval for Indonesia’s Abadi LNG Project

MISC Secures Long-Term Charter for Papua New Guinea's First FSO

Dolphin Drilling, Vantris Ink Marketing Deal for Blackford Dolphin Semi-Sub

Saipem Agrees $272M Deal to Acquire Deep Value Driller Drillship

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com