Spending on deepwater drilling will increase worldwide to $114 billion in 2022 from $43 billion in 2012, according to a study by Wood Mackenzie.
In a press statement about the analysis, the consultancy noted a 39% increase in deepwater and Arctic net acreage licensed by the 20 leading deepwater operators in 2012.
In the last decade, deep water has accounted for 41% of discovered volumes and $351 billion in value created, surpassing onshore and shallow water, Wood Mackenzie said.
Last year, global drilling returned to the high levels it had reached before the 2010 Macondo explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. The study projects an overall compound growth rate for deepwater drilling over the next decade of 9%/year. The number of exploration, appraisal, and development wells will increase to 1,250/year from 500/year, it said.
“To meet the forecast well demand the fleet will require 95 additional deepwater rigs to be constructed between 2016 and 2022, representing $65 billion of investment,” said Malcom Forbes-Cable, senior Management consultant and author of the study. “This will require the longest period of deepwater rig construction to date, representing a change for the deepwater sector from cyclical to sustained growth.”
