This is a rather broad topic and I'll choose to structure it along several issues of choice: trends in offshore, main development focus of oil companies, ownership trends.
Generally, offshore oil was estimated to account for about 1/3 of the world's reserves at the start of the new millennium; this ratio would likely have grown significantly in recent years with the discovery of major offshore reserves in countries like China and Brazil. Offshore exploration/production is naturally much more expensive in terms of equipment and logistics compared to onshore, but offers much more potential reward; as oil prices kept rising it became increasingly viable.
The continuing rise in oil prices also suggests a possible lengthening of the exploration cycle. It was noted in 2007 that we were probably in the middle part of the global oil exploration cycle, which meant that the emphasis would start shifting from drilling towards development of the oilfields. This would shift demand toward FPSOs (floating production storage offloading) vessels and pipelaying vessels that facilitate logistical transfer of the oil/gas from offshore to onshore, and indeed we see quite a number of FPSO and pipelaying contracts for companies like Keppel and Swiber in 2008. However, the continued strength of oil given apparent long-term Asia-Pacific demand growth and tight supply might mean a second wind in the exploration boom --- hence more demand for rigs, where the tightness persists.
Read more...By: DanielXX
This is a rather broad topic and I'll choose to structure it along several issues of choice: trends in offshore, main development focus of oil companies, ownership trends.
Generally, offshore oil was estimated to account for about 1/3 of the world's reserves at the start of the new millennium; this ratio would likely have grown significantly in recent years with the discovery of major offshore reserves in countries like China and Brazil. Offshore exploration/production is naturally much more expensive in terms of equipment and logistics compared to onshore, but offers much more potential reward; as oil prices kept rising it became increasingly viable.
The continuing rise in oil prices also suggests a possible lengthening of the exploration cycle. It was noted in 2007 that we were probably in the middle part of the global oil exploration cycle, which meant that the emphasis would start shifting from drilling towards development of the oilfields. This would shift demand toward FPSOs (floating production storage offloading) vessels and pipelaying vessels that facilitate logistical transfer of the oil/gas from offshore to onshore, and indeed we see quite a number of FPSO and pipelaying contracts for companies like Keppel and Swiber in 2008. However, the continued strength of oil given apparent long-term Asia-Pacific demand growth and tight supply might mean a second wind in the exploration boom --- hence more demand for rigs, where the tightness persists.
Read more...
This is a rather broad topic and I'll choose to structure it along several issues of choice: trends in offshore, main development focus of oil companies, ownership trends.
Generally, offshore oil was estimated to account for about 1/3 of the world's reserves at the start of the new millennium; this ratio would likely have grown significantly in recent years with the discovery of major offshore reserves in countries like China and Brazil. Offshore exploration/production is naturally much more expensive in terms of equipment and logistics compared to onshore, but offers much more potential reward; as oil prices kept rising it became increasingly viable.
The continuing rise in oil prices also suggests a possible lengthening of the exploration cycle. It was noted in 2007 that we were probably in the middle part of the global oil exploration cycle, which meant that the emphasis would start shifting from drilling towards development of the oilfields. This would shift demand toward FPSOs (floating production storage offloading) vessels and pipelaying vessels that facilitate logistical transfer of the oil/gas from offshore to onshore, and indeed we see quite a number of FPSO and pipelaying contracts for companies like Keppel and Swiber in 2008. However, the continued strength of oil given apparent long-term Asia-Pacific demand growth and tight supply might mean a second wind in the exploration boom --- hence more demand for rigs, where the tightness persists.
Read more...
