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

One Shelf Drilling Rig Up for New Job in India, Other for Disposal

Four Jack-Up Drilling Rig Deals Set to Bring In $129M for Borr Drilling

PTTEP Hires Velesto’s Jack-Up Rig for Drilling Campaign off Malaysia

TPAO, SOCAR and BP to Ink Caspian Sea Oil and Gas Production Deal

ABS Greenlights SHI’s Multi-Purpose Deepwater LNG Floating Unit

Hanwha Drilling’s Tidal Action Drillship En Route to Petrobras’ Roncador Field

CNOOC Puts Into Production New Oil Field in South China Sea

Sunda Energy Starts Environmental Consultation for Chuditch-2 Well Drilling Plans

Hanwha Ocean Marks Entry into Deepwater Drilling Market with First Drillship

Woodside to Shed Some Trinidad and Tobago Assets for $206M

Current News

One Shelf Drilling Rig Up for New Job in India, Other for Disposal

Four Jack-Up Drilling Rig Deals Set to Bring In $129M for Borr Drilling

PTTEP Hires Velesto’s Jack-Up Rig for Drilling Campaign off Malaysia

Yinson Production Secures $1.17B Refinancing for FPSO Maria Quitéria

Centrica and Thailand’s PTT Ink Long-Term LNG Supply Deal

Petrovietnam, Partners Sign PSC for Block Off Vietnam

Japan Protests China’s New Oil and Gas Construction Activities in East China Sea

CNOOC Signs Hydrocarbons Exploration and Production Deal with Kazakhstan

Thailand's PTT to Buy LNG from Glenfarne's Alaska LNG Project

Woodside and Jera Agree LNG Cargoes Supply for Japan’s Winter Period

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