Day Rate Index

HOUSTON, TEXAS: According to IHS Petrodata’s monthly Offshore Rig Day Rate Index report, Worldwide drilling rig day rates for Mid-Water Depth Semisubmersible rigs rose significantly over the last month. Deepwater Floating rig rates also saw a marginal increase, along with rates in the US Gulf of Mexico 250 to 300ft. jackup category. The only category to experience a drop in day rates in May was the Northwest Europe Standard Jackup index. Utilization was stable in all categories.

The IHS Petrodata US Gulf of Mexico 250 to 300ft. Jackup Day Rate Index stands at 359 this month, an increase of eight points compared to the adjusted April 2012 level. This is 93 points greater than the rig index level recorded for this category in May last year. Fleet utilization averaged 58% in May, down 1% compared to last month. Utilization has averaged over 50% for the past seven months which is promising, considering the low levels that have been experienced in this category over the last three years: a low of 28% was recorded in 2009, 39% in 2010 and 35% in 2011.

The IHS Petrodata Northwest Europe Standard Jackup Day Rate Index dropped to 529 in May, a 61 point decrease on last month’s figure. However this day rate index figure is approximately 200 points higher than the level recorded in May last year. Fleet utilization remained unchanged this month, at 90%. Utilization has been high in this category for 11 months now, averaging over 90%.

The IHS Petrodata Mid-Water Depth Semisubmersible Day Rate Index increased by 191 points in May to 860. Overall over the last 12 months the index has been relatively high, averaging 772 points but it has not yet reached the high levels of over 1,000 points that were experienced at the beginning of 2009. Fleet utilization in May was an average of 79%, for the fifth consecutive month.

The IHS Petrodata Deepwater Floating Rig Day Rate Index remained stable in May, with a moderate increase of four points. Significantly, however, this took the index to 902 points, the first time since April 2009 that this index has been over 900 points. Utilization for this category of rig remains extremely high at 99% this month, the same level as March and April.

The IHS Petrodata Day Rate Indices track the movement of competitive mobile offshore drilling fleet day rates and utilization for four rig categories. Day rates are charted as an index with the average market day rate in January 1994 equal to 100. Utilization is the percentage of contracted rigs out of the total competitive fleet supply. The data is updated on the third Friday of each month by IHS. Additional information is available from the IHS Petrodata team in Houston, Aberdeen, Oslo, Dubai and Singapore.