Offshore Energy Data Dashboard 2024

Offshore O&G-related EPC contract award value year-to-date is estimated at US$45.6bn (excluding letters of intent), with an additional US$10bn of EPC contract awards still anticipated for the remainder of 2024. During the period under review, BP sanctioned its US$7bn Tangguh CCUS project, which will capture roughly 15mmpta of CO₂ in its first phase and inject some of it back into the natural gas reservoir at Ubadari for enhanced recovery. Saipem confirmed the EPCI contract award with its consortium partner PT Meindo Elang Indah valued at US$1.2bn, following the project’s FID announcement. Offshore Brazil, OneSubsea was awarded a contract to manufacture and supply two subsea injection systems valued at US$134.5mn to serve the P-74 and P-75 FPSO units installed at Petrobras’ Buzios development.

Westwood anticipates an additional 16 subsea tree unit awards in the final weeks of 2024, driven by projects such as Northern Endurance partnership’s CCS project in the UK North Sea, which had its FID announced on 10 December. Overall, Westwood anticipates 2024 subsea tree awards to close at 263 units, 18% lower than our January outlook, given project sanctioning delays resulting from supply chain inflationary pressures and a softening of oil prices in 2H 2024, resulting from a weaker oil demand outlook. Two FPS units are still expected to be sanctioned before the end of the year, including BP’s Kaskida production platform in the US GoM. Contract confirmation for the FLNG unit to be deployed at Eni’s Coral Norte is also pending, however a delay until 2025 is highly likely.

Since the last update, Siemens Gamesa was awarded a contract for the supply of 64 SG 14‑236 DD (15.0 MW Power Boost) turbines at the 960MW East Anglia Two wind farm. The value of the contract is GBP1 billion (US$1.28bn) and the turbine blades will be manufactured at Siemens Gamesa’s facility in Hull, UK.

Nexans has also been awarded a contract for the export cables at East Anglia Two. Nexans will be responsible for supplying and installing 100km of 275kV offshore cables and 55km of onshore cables. Cable installation is scheduled to occur in 2027 and 2028. The cables will be manufactured at Nexans facilities in Halden, Norway, and Charleroi, Belgium.

Dominating headlines was news that no bids were placed in Denmark’s lease tender for the rights to develop the three sites available via the 3GW Nordsøen I (North Sea I) lease auction. The tendering procedure expired on 5 December. A further three offshore wind sites are still on offer under this tender and the deadline for bids for these three sites is 1 April 2025.

Finally, TotalEnergies has put on hold the Attentive Energy One wind farm in the US, however the company has confirmed its still progressing its Attentive Energy Two project. TotalEnergies was awarded an OREC contract with New Jersey for Attentive Energy Two in January 2024. The project still needs to seek approval of its Construction and Operations Plan (COP) from BOEM, which will be subject to appointees of President Trump from January 2025.

*Correct as of 12th December 2024

The global committed jackup count decreased by six to 405 units in November. Marketed available and cold-stacked jackup counts now stand at 40 and 55 respectively, with marketed committed utilisation and total utilisation at 91% and 81%, respectively. During the month, a total of five new contracts were awarded, amounting to 1,773 days (4.9 rig years) of backlog added. Pertamina Hulu Energi ONWJ has exercised its options for additional work with the PV Drilling II offshore Jakarta, Indonesia. The extension is for three years starting December 2025.

The global committed semisubmersible count decreased by two to 63, with 13 available and 12 cold-stacked rigs remaining in the fleet. During the month, marketed committed and total utilisation remained at 83% and 71% respectively. The Lone Star has been awarded a 400-day contract by Brava Energia to drill four wells from October 2025 through November 2026, at a dayrate of $325,000.

Finally, the global drillship count dropped to 78 units during the month, leaving 12 marketed rigs available plus 13 cold-stacked units. Marketed utilisation and total utilisation dropped to 87% and 76%, respectively. No new fixtures were recorded in November. Atlantic Zonda has been undergoing shipyard modifications in Brazil since November 2024 and will commence drilling for Petrobras in January 2025. West Capella arrived in Busan, South Korea on 9 December.

Offshore O&G-related EPC contract award value year-to-date is estimated at US$44.9bn (excluding letters of intent), with an additional US$13bn of EPC contract awards still anticipated for the remainder of 2024. During the period under review, TechnipFMC announced the integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation (iEPCI) contract award for TotalEnergies’ GranMorgu development offshore Suriname, following the project’s final investment decision (FID) announced on 01 October 2024. TechnipFMC’s contract was valued at over US$1bn and includes subsea 2.0® tree systems, manifolds, connectors and topside control equipment. Saipem also confirmed a US$1.9bn contract award for the same project, which includes EPCI for ~100km of subsea production flowlines and 90km of water and gas injection lines. Furthermore, SBM Offshore, in partnership with Technip Energies, will be responsible for the project’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit.

Offshore Norway, Vår Energi and field partner Kistos Energy announced FID for its Balder Phase V development. The US$690mn project will consist of six new infill wells through the use of spare template slots available on subsea infrastructure on the Balder field. Drilling will start in 1H 2025, with initial production expected by 4Q 2025. In the US GoM, OneSubsea announced a contract award from BP for a subsea boosting system as part of the Kaskida project and offshore Brazil, Baker Hughes was awarded a contract to supply Petrobras with 77km of flexible pipe systems to be deployed in Brazil’s pre-salt fields.

Westwood anticipates an additional 51 subsea tree unit awards in the final weeks of 2024, driven by projects such as Shell’s Bonga North (Nigeria), the Northern Endurance partnership’s CCS project in the UK North Sea and Eni’s Coral North development offshore Mozambique. EPC work scope for an additional four FPS units (three newbuilds and one upgrade) and 12 fixed platform units driven by ADNOC’s Umm Shaif and PTTEP’s Lang Lebah projects are still anticipated before the end of 2024.

Since the last update, no new turbine contracts have been awarded globally (excluding Mainland China). With regards to business activity, Doosan Enerbility has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Equinor and Siemens Gamesa to work with them on the 750MW Firefly floating wind farm, located offshore South Korea. Under the MoU, Siemens Gamesa’s 15MW turbines will be used at the wind farm and Doosan’s wind power plant in Chongwon, South Korea, will supply and assemble the nacelles for these turbines.

Dominating headlines was news that the South Korean government has launched its power auction which aims to procure 1.5GW of offshore wind capacity. 1GW of this is reserved for fixed bottom wind farms and the remaining 500MW is for floating projects. A pre-defined ceiling price of KRW176.565/MWh (US$127.04/MWh) has been set for both fixed and floating wind projects. Bids will be assessed via a two-stage process. The first stage will be based on non-price criteria, and the second stage includes a price competition based on an evaluation of price attributes.

Finally, the Gulf of Maine offshore wind lease auction in the US concluded with a total of four out the eight floating wind areas on offer being awarded. The winning bidders were Invenergy and Avangrid, with each company being awarded the lease rights to two sites. The combined bid price for all four awarded sites was just under US$22mn.

*Correct as of 12th November 2024

The global committed jackup count increased by 1 to 411 units in October. Marketed available and cold-stacked jackup counts now stand at 34 and 55 respectively, with marketed committed utilisation and total utilisation at 92% and 82%, respectively. During the month, a total of seven new contracts were awarded, amounting to 7,677 days (21 rig years) of backlog added. The Valaris 247 has been awarded a one-well, 60-day contract by EOG Resources for drilling of the Beehive-1 exploration well.

The global committed semisubmersible count stayed at 65, with 11 available and 12 cold-stacked rigs remaining in the fleet. During the month, marketed committed and total utilisation remained at 85% and 74% respectively. Woodside Energy has exercised its options for additional work with the Transocean Endurance offshore Australia. The rig will drill six wells from December 2025 through August 2026 at a dayrate of $390,000.

Finally, the global drillship count dropped to 79 units during the month, leaving 11 marketed rigs available plus 13 cold-stacked units. Marketed utilisation and total utilisation dropped to 88% and 77% respectively. Three fixtures were recorded in October, of which 91% of awarded days are for drilling activities in US GoM by the Deepwater Invictus and Deepwater Conqueror at an estimated dayrate of $530,000.

Offshore O&G-related EPC contract award value year-to-date is estimated at US$40bn (excluding letters of intent), with an additional US$23bn of EPC contract awards still anticipated for the remainder of 2024. During the period under review, TotalEnergies announced FID for its GranMorgu Block 58 development offshore Suriname. The project will develop the Sapakara and Krabdagu oil discoveries and requires a total investment of approximately US$10.5bn, with first oil scheduled for 2028.

Major EPC contract awards recorded in the last 30 days include the integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation (iEPCI) award to TechnipFMC for BP’s Kaskida development in the US GoM, while Enbridge secured the contract for the project’s export pipeline. TechnipFMC was awarded two contracts across six Petrobras fields offshore Brazil. The OneSubsea JV was awarded a contract to supply two subsea production manifolds, subsea control systems, one electro-hydraulic distribution unit, and tool kits for Petrobras’ Roncador project offshore Brazil.

In the Middle East, McDermott secured the EPCI contract for QatarEnergy’s North Field South – Phase II development offshore Qatar. The project consists of nearly 250km of offshore and onshore gas pipelines. Saipem was awarded work relating to Package-3 for QatarEnergy’s North Field Production Sustainability (NFPS) project offshore Qatar. The award is valued at US$4bn and covers the EPCI of six platforms, approximately 100km of corrosion resistance alloy (CRA) rigid 28-inch and 24-inch subsea pipelines, 100km of subsea cables, 150km of fibre-optic cables and several other subsea facilities. Saipem was also awarded an EPCI contract valued at US$2bn for Saudi Aramco’s Marjan field offshore Saudi Arabia.

Another key contract awarded during the period under review is the announcement by Golar LNG that it had signed an EPC contract with CIMC Raffles (CIMC) for the conversion of the Fuji liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier into a floating liquified natural gas (FLNG) unit.

Since the last update, Vestas has signed a firm contract to supply 54 V236-15.0 MW turbines for the 810MW Empire Wind Phase 1 project located offshore New York, USA. The contract includes a five-year comprehensive service agreement, designed to ensure optimised performance of the turbines followed by a long-term service support agreement. The turbines are scheduled to begin being delivered in 2026 and completed in 2027. This is the first order that Vestas has received for an offshore wind turbine in the USA.

Dominating headlines was news that Equinor has acquired a 9.8% stake in Orsted at a price of approximately US$2.5bn. The transaction establishes Equinor as the second largest shareholder in Orsted, after the Danish State. Equinor has stated it intends to increase its ownership to 10% subject to obtaining regulatory approvals under applicable Foreign Direct Investment regulations.

Finally, the Southern Ocean leasing round in Australia concluded with Alinta Energy and Parkwind being awarded a preliminary feasibility licence for their 1.2GW Spinifex project. Finalisation of the preliminary licence is contingent upon successful consultations with First Nations group. The bid was the only one received across the 1,300km² area according to Australia’s Ministry for Climate Change and Energy.

*Correct as of 12th October 2024

The global committed jackup count further sustained at 410 units in September. Marketed available and cold-stacked jackup counts now stand at 35 and 55 respectively, with marketed committed utilisation and total utilisation at 92% and 82%, respectively. During the month, a total of four contracts were awarded, amounting to 1,356 days (3.7 rig years) of backlog added. The Shelf Drilling Achiever that was suspended by Saudi Aramco in April was transported to West Africa to commence a multi-year campaign in October.

The global committed semisubmersible count stayed at 65, with 11 available and 12 cold-stacked rigs remaining in the fleet. During the month, marketed committed remained at 85% with total utilisation growing to 74%. Hercules will be drilling Equinor’s Cappahayden South well at a dayrate of $500k after the rig completed drilling the Sitka discovery well. The rig will remain engaged with the operator through 2024.

Finally, the global drillship count dropped to 80 units during the month, leaving 10 marketed rigs available plus 13 cold-stacked units. Marketed utilisation dropped to 89% with total committed utilisation remaining at 78%. Eight fixtures were recorded in September, of which 47% of awarded days are for drilling activities in Brazil by the Laguna Star and Tidal Action at an estimated dayrate of $450k/day.

Offshore O&G-related EPC contract award value year-to-date is estimated at US$34 billion (excluding letters of intent). Major EPC contract awards recorded in the last 30 days include Petrobras’ award to NOV Flexibles for the supply of 74.2km of flexible pipes to be utilised for flowlines and risers across multiple production platforms offshore Brazil. In the US GoM, the design and engineering contract was awarded to Exmar and Audubon Engineering for a new floating production unit (FPU) to be deployed at BP’s Kaskida field in the US GoM. Exmar will design and engineer the hull of the new FPU facility, using its patented OPTI® hull design, whilst Audubon Engineering will be responsible for the engineering and design of the FPU’s topside. Additionally, after the operator’s final investment decision (FID), Subsea 7 confirmed the EPCI contract for Shell’s Vito waterflood project. Subsea 7’s scope of work includes a water injection flowline, hull piping, and related subsea infrastructure to support enhanced oil recovery at the Vito field.

Other key contracts recorded during the period under review included the EPCI, hook up and commissioning contract awarded to McDermott for Shell’s Manatee gas field development offshore Trinidad and Tobago. The contract scope includes designing, procuring, fabricating, hooking up and commissioning a platform and jacket. McDermott will also provide design, installation and commissioning services for a 32-inch gas pipeline. The award follows a limited notice to proceed issued to McDermott in November 2023.

Looking forward, Westwood forecasts an additional US$31 billion of offshore O&G-related EPC spend for the remainder of 2024, underpinned by projects such as TotalEnergies’ Block 58 development offshore Suriname, Eni’s Coral North project (Mozambique), EPC work scope related to BP’s Kaskida project in the US Gulf of Mexico following the project FID announced in July, and Shell’s Bonga North project offshore Nigeria. Projects such as Pecan development offshore Ghana, which is planned to make use of existing floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) Dhirubhai 1, connected to six subsea wells, could also be sanctioned before the end of 2024.

Since the last update, no new turbine contracts have been awarded globally (excluding Mainland China). With regards to business activity, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Renexia and Ming Yang Smart Energy (MYSE) for the development of an offshore wind turbine manufacturing facility in Italy. EUR500 million (US$546 million) will be invested by the two parties, via a newly created company.

Dominating headlines was news that the UK government announced the results of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 6 (AR6). In total, 5.3GW of offshore wind capacity was awarded a CfD in AR6, with 4.9GW of fixed wind contracted at clearing prices of £54.23/MWh and £58.87/MWh and 400MW of floating wind was contracted at £139.93/MWh (all in 2012 prices). AR6 was a mixed bag for offshore wind. While the headline award of 5.3GW is a huge improvement on the failure to award any capacity that was AR5, 1.6GW of that came in the form of rebids from AR4, clearing at a 45% increase in price to the original award.

Finally, Equinor and a subsidiary of Dominion Energy, Virginia Electric and Power Co, emerged as the winners of the Central Atlantic offshore wind lease auction in the US. Equinor won the rights to OCS-A 0557 with a bid price of US$75 million, whilst Virginia Electric and Power Co won the rights to OCS-A 0558 with a bid price of US$17.7 million. A total of six bidders participated in the lease auction.

*Correct as of 12th September 2024

The global committed jackup count further sustained at 408 units in August. Marketed available and cold-stacked jackup counts now stand at 36 and 55 respectively, with marketed committed utilisation and total utilisation at 92% and 82%, respectively. During the month, a total of seven contracts were awarded, amounting to 2,009 days (5.5 rig years) of backlog added. One of the four rigs COSL bought over from Seadrill in the US$446 million sale was recently delivered, where the Hai Yang Shi You 948 began a multi-year charter with CNOOC in Bohai Bay in September.

The global committed semisubmersible count dropped to 64, with 13 available and cold-stacked rigs remaining in the fleet. During the month, marketed committed and total utilisation dropped to 84% and 72%, respectively. TotalEnergies has exercised its option for the Deepsea Mira, keeping the rig engaged through January 2025. The semisub is currently drilling offshore Congo and will move to Namibia to perform the one-well option in 4Q 2024.

Finally, the global drillship count remained at 81 units during the month, leaving nine marketed rigs available plus 13 cold-stacked units. Marketed and total committed utilisation grew at 90% and 78%, respectively.

Offshore O&G-related EPC contract award value year-to-date is estimated at US$32bn (excluding letters of intent), of which contracting activities in the last 30 days were headlined by the announcement from OneSubsea for the supply of Petrobras’ standardized, pre-salt subsea production systems and related services for the Brazilian NOC’s Atapu and Sepia phase II development in the Santos Basin offshore Brazil. OneSubsea will provide the vertical trees, subsea distribution units, subsea control systems and pipeline systems, and related installation, commissioning and life-of-field services.

In the US GoM, BP announced that it had taken FID at its Kaskida development 2Q 2024 and that the project will have a production capacity of up to 80kbpd. To remind, Seatrium was issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) for the project’s FPSS unit in June 2024, with TechnipFMC identified as the frontrunner to supply the subsea production systems for the project. Meanwhile, Energean announced it had taken FID at its Katlan development, comprising the Athena and Zeus fields offshore Israel. The project will be developed in a phased approach through a subsea tieback to the Energean Power FPSO unit installed on its Karish field. TechnipFMC confirmed the project’s integrated EPCI contract award. Offshore Trinidad & Tobago, Shell sanctioned its Manatee gas development project, for which McDermott was awarded the EPCI work scope for the fixed platform and a 32-inch gas export pipeline.

Other key contracts recorded during the period under review included the EPCI award to Saipem for Saudi Aramco’s CRPO 132 and 139 work scope. The work scope of CRPO 132 involves the EPCI of three new oil and gas production deck modules, subsea pipelines and power cables for the Marjan field, whilst the work scope of CRPO 139 reportedly includes work on three offshore decks, five PDMs and multiple segments of subsea pipelines and cables for the Zuluf field.

Looking forward, Westwood forecasts an additional US$31bn of offshore O&G-related EPC spend for the remainder of 2024, driven by c.125 subsea tree unit awards, c.2,200km of subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF), c.1,500km of pipelines, 55 fixed platforms and 10 floating production units, of which five will be an upgrade/redeployment of existing units.

A total of 53 turbines have been awarded since the last update. To date, a total of 455 turbines have been awarded globally (excluding Mainland China) in 2024. The 53 turbines are associated with the firm contract that was awarded to Vestas at the 795MW OranjeWind wind farm, located offshore the Netherlands. Under the contract, Vestas will supply its V236-15 MW turbines, and the contract includes a five-year service agreement followed by a long-term operational support agreement. The contract award followed the announcement that FID was taken on the project. OranjeWind will be jointly developed by RWE and TotalEnergies, with TotalEnergies signing agreements to acquire a 50% stake in the wind farm.

Dominating headlines was news that the UK government has increased the budget for the Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 6 (AR6). The overall budget has increased to £1.56bn (US$2bn) up from £800mn (US$1mn) which was the original amount that was set. £1.1bn (US$1.4bn) of this has been allocated for offshore wind. The winning projects are expected to be announced by the end of 3Q 2024.

Finally, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has announced the winners of the Round 3 Phase 2 lease auction. A total of five projects have been selected, these have a combined capacity of 2.7GW and with administrative contracts targeted to be signed by November 2024. The developers of these projects include Shinfox, Synera Renewable Energy (SRE) Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), a joint venture of Corio and TotalEnergies, and Enervest.

*Correct as of 12th August 2024

The global committed jackup count further dropped to 408 units in July. Marketed available and cold-stacked jackup counts now stand at 35 and 56 respectively, with marketed committed utilisation and total utilisation at 92% and 82%, respectively. During the month, a total of 16 contracts were awarded, amounting to 8,995 days (24.6 rig years) of backlog added. Valaris 144 will be drilling one more well for Azule Energy in Angola, before its 13-well contract with the operator. The 45-day campaign will commence in 1Q 2025 at an estimated contract value of US$8.5mn.

The global committed semisubmersible count sustained at 65, with 13 available and 12 cold-stacked rigs remaining in the fleet. During the month, marketed committed and total utilisation remained at 83% and 72%, respectively. Oil India firmed up a contract for Blackford Dolphin lasting 14 months firm with a seven-month option also available. The rig will be drilling exploration wells in the Andaman blocks with commencement in September.

Finally, the global drillship count stands at 81 units during the month, leaving nine marketed rigs available plus 14 cold-stacked units. Marketed and total committed utilisation dropped to 90% and 78%, respectively. BP awarded a 1,095-day contract to Deepwater Invictus with expected commencement in 1Q 2025. The rig will likely be drilling development wells for the Kaskisa field in US Gulf and will remain engaged with the operator till end 2027.

Offshore O&G-related engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract award value year-to-date is estimated at approximately US$31 billion (excluding letters of intent), of which contracting activities in the last 30 days were headlined by the announcement from OneSubsea that it had secured the subsea production system (SPS) contract for TotalEnergies’ Kaminho offshore Angola. The contract’s work scope involves engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) of 13 subsea trees. Vallourec also confirmed an award to supply of approximately 5,000 tonnes of Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) and associated services for the project. Offshore Indonesia, Wison New Energies announced it officially signed the EPCIC contract for Genting Oil and Gas Limited’s (GOGL) AKM floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit, which will process gas from the Asap, Mera and Kido fields in Indonesia. This contract follows both parties entering into a Limited Notice to Proceed Agreement in September 2023. Wison stated that first steel of the project was cut on 7 June 2024.

Other major contract awards announced during the period under review were for Corinth Pipeworks to manufacture and supply approximately 118km of High-Frequency Welded (HFW) steel pipes for Woodside Energy’s Trion development offshore Mexico. Corinth stated that the scope of supply also included the application of external coating and concrete weight coating (CWC). Offshore India, ONGC awarded Larsen & Toubro (L&T) the work scope for the second phase of its Pipeline Replacement (PRP-8) project, which is reportedly valued at approximately US$283 million. The contract involves 140km of pipelines across multiple assets offshore the west coast of India. L&T also confirmed a contract award from ONGC for the Daman Upside Development Project. The work scope includes EPCIC for four wellhead platforms (WHP), 140km of pipelines and associated topside modifications at existing wellhead platforms. Offshore Libya, Rosetti Marino announced a contract award from Mellitah Oil & Gas for the EPC work scope for the topsides of a WHP.

Looking forward, Westwood forecasts an additional US$35 billion of offshore O&G-related EPC spend for the remainder of 2024, driven by c.125 subsea tree unit awards, c.2,230km of subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF), c.2,100km of pipelines, 75 fixed platforms and 10 floating production units, of which five will be an upgrade/redeployment of existing units.

Since the last update, no turbine contracts were awarded, however the number of turbines expected to be awarded in 2025 has increased from 835 to 859. In terms of contracting activity outside of turbine supplies, Cadeler has been awarded a firm contract for the installation of the turbines at the 1,080MW Inch Cape wind farm. Cadeler will use one of its newbuild M-class Wind Turbine Installation Vessels (WTIVs), Wind Maker or Wind Mover, to undertake the work. The contract is scheduled to commence in 4Q 2026, and it is expected to last 249 days.

Dominating headlines was news that the lease rights for two German offshore wind sites were awarded via a dynamic bidding process. EnBW was awarded the rights to the 1GW Project Site N-12.3 with a bid price of EUR1.10 million (US$1.17 million) per MW, whilst Offshore Wind One GmbH won the rights to the 1.5GW Project Site N-11.2 at a price of EUR1.30 million (US$1.38 million) per MW.

Finally, the Dutch government announced it is planning to launch the lease tenders for the 2GW Ijmuiden Ver Gamma (V & VI) and 2GW Nederwiek Zuid 1 offshore wind sites by the end of 3Q 2025. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) has stated that it could potentially reduce the capacity of both sites to 1GW each or offer one 2GW and one 1GW site. The two sites will be awarded based on qualitative criteria and a financial bid.

*Correct as of 12th July 2024

The global committed jackup count dropped to 412 units in June. Marketed available and cold-stacked jackup counts now stand at 30 and 56 respectively, with marketed committed utilisation and total utilisation at 93% and 83%, respectively. During the month, a total of three contracts were awarded, amounting to 1,115 days (3.1 rig years) of backlog added. Shelf Drilling Tenacious will be drilling for an undisclosed client in Angola. The charter will begin in direct continuation of the current contract, keeping the rig engaged until February 2026.

The global committed semisubmersible count grew to 65, with 12 available and 12 cold-stacked rigs remaining in the fleet. During the month, marketed committed and total utilisation rose to 84% and 73%, respectively. The Transocean Spitsbergen LOI was converted into a firm contract, where the rig will be drilling for Equinor on a three-well firm plus six-well options contract offshore Norway. The campaign is expected to commence during 4Q 2025.

Finally, the global drillship count sustained at 82 units during the month, leaving seven marketed rigs available plus 14 cold-stacked units. Marketed and total committed utilisation sustained at 92% and 80%, respectively. Hess has extended the current contract for Deepwater Asgard for continued operations in the Gulf of Mexico by 365 days and is expected to commence around May 2025 in continuation of its current programme.

Offshore O&G-related engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract award value year-to-date is estimated at US$25.8 billion (excluding letters of intent), of which contracting activities in the last 30 days have been driven by the announcement of a final investment decision (FID) at Petrobras’ Atapu Phase II and Sepia Phase II development offshore Brazil, and TotalEnergies’ Kaminho project offshore Angola. These projects accounted for three floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) units, with an estimated EPC value of approximately US$9.4 billion. Offshore Norway, Equinor has confirmed that it has passed a FID for the Troll Phase III Stage II development. The project includes eight new wells from two templates with subsea controls extending from existing templates and a new gas flowline tied back to the nearby Troll A fixed platform. OneSubsea was awarded the contract for the subsea trees required for the development, whilst Allseas will install a 28km, 36-inch concrete-weight coated gas line.

Offshore Vietnam, PTSC Mechanical & Construction (PTSC M&C), a subsidiary of Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC), was awarded a contract relating to the production platform at Murphy’s Lac Da Vang field. PTSC M&C will be responsible for project management, detailed engineering, procurement, construction, transportation, installation, hook-up and commissioning of the central platform, with topsides weighing over 6,000 metric tonnes and substructures over 5,000 metric tonnes. Another major contract awarded during the period under review is the award to Subsea 7 for the engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation and pre-commissioning of 102km of rigid risers and flowlines for the steel lazy wave production system for Petrobras’ Buzios-9 development offshore Brazil. Oceaneering also secured a contract from Petrobras to supply up to 362km of steel tube and thermoplastic electro-hydraulic (EH) umbilicals and associated subsea distribution hardware for use in projects offshore Brazil.

Looking forward, Westwood forecasts an additional US$42 billion of offshore O&G-related EPC spend for the remainder of 2024, given the FID timeline for TotalEnergies’ Block 58 project offshore Suriname has been revised to 4Q 2024 in addition to other key projects such as BP’s Kaskida field (US), QatarEnergy’s North Field Compression Project – Phase I (Qatar), PTTEP’s Lang Lebah development (Malaysia) and ADNOC’s Umm Shaif Long Term Development – Phase II project offshore the UAE.

Since the last update, a total of 125 turbines were moved to the awarded stage with the bulk of these being associated with the Nordseecluster of wind farms located offshore Germany. The project developer, RWE, took FID on the Nordseecluster of wind farms at the end of May and this will be constructed in two phases. Phase A comprises of the 435MW Nordsee 2 and 225MW Godewind projects and Phase B will comprise of the 420MW Nordsee 3 and 480MW Delta Nordsee. A total of 104 Vestas V236-15MW will be installed across the four wind farms

Dominating headlines was news that a joint venture of BayWa r.e. and Elicio were awarded the lease rights to the 270MW Brittany floating wind project in France via a competitive auction round. The project has been named Pennavel and the developers have been awarded a long-term Contract for Difference (CfD) by the French government at a price of EUR86.45/MWh (US$94/MWh).

Finally, the European Union Commission has granted approval to Italy for a EUR35.5 billion (US$38.6 billion) CfD subsidy scheme. The scheme has been outlined in a draft decree that has been named Decree FER2. The Italian government is aiming to incentivise the construction of 4.6GW of fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind farms, floating solar, tidal, wave, geothermal energy and thermodynamic solar by 31 December 2028 via this decree.

*Correct as of 12th June 2024

The global committed jackup count sustained at 412 units in May. Marketed available and cold-stacked jackup counts now stand at 31 and 55 respectively, with marketed committed utilisation and total utilisation at 93% and 83%, respectively. During the month, a total of 11 contracts were awarded, amounting to 2,139 days (5.9 rig years) of backlog added. QatarGas has exercised a one-year option for Groa to remain drilling in the North Field until mid-2025 with a further one-year option available.

The global committed semisubmersible count dipped to 64, with 14 available and 13 cold-stacked rigs remaining in the fleet. Marketed committed utilisation dropped to 82% with total utilisation staying at 71% during the month. Equinor was given consent to drill the Kvernbit/Mimung prospect well using Deepsea Stavanger with an option of a sidetrack. The rig will remain with Equinor until March 2025 before commencing a five-year contract with AkerBP thereafter.

Finally, the global drillship count sustained at 84 units during the month, leaving six marketed rigs available plus 13 cold-stacked units. Marketed and total committed utilisation dipped to 92% and 80%, respectively. The two-year option for Ocean BlackHawk was exercised by Diamond Offshore for work in the US Gulf. The contract will begin in November 2024 in direct continuation of current charter.

Offshore O&G-related engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract award value year-to-date is estimated at US$13.3 billion (excluding letters of intent), of which contracting activities in the last 30 days have been driven by the announcement of a final investment decision (FID) at ExxonMobil’s Whiptail development offshore Guyana. The project will include up to 10 drill centres and 48 production and injection wells, with first oil scheduled for late 2027. Following the FID announcement, SBM Offshore confirmed the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) award for the field’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, to be named Jaguar, whilst Saipem confirmed the SURF EPCI award. TechnipFMC will provide project management, engineering and manufacturing to deliver 48 subsea trees and associated tooling, and Strohm confirmed the award to supply TCP jumpers for water alternating gas (WAG) injection.

Offshore India, ONGC awarded Larsen & Toubro (L&T) an EPCI contract for its Daman Upside Gas Development (DUDP) project. The contract, reportedly valued at US$599 million after L&T agreed to a minor price reduction, comprises four new wellhead platforms (WHP) and 140km of infield pipelines.  L&T will carry out topside modifications at existing WHPs. In the UK North Sea, Serica Energy announced FID has been taken at its Belinda development. However, the operator still awaits regulatory approval from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) for the field development plan. Other FID announcements recorded during the period under review include the next expansion phase of the BP-operated Atlantis field located in the US Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The project, dubbed the Atlantis Drill Centre 1 Expansion (DC1X), is a two-well subsea tieback to the Atlantis facility through the existing DC1 manifold southwest of the Atlantis field. Offshore Australia, Woodside stated it had taken FID on its Xena phase 3 field.

Looking forward, Westwood forecasts an additional US$48 billion of offshore O&G-related EPC spend for the remainder of 2024, driven by c.155 subsea trees and c.110 fixed platforms, with QatarEnergy’s North Field Compression Project – Phase I, PTTEP’s Lang Lebah development and ADNOC’s Umm Shaif Long Term Development – Phase II and Lower Zakum Long Term Development – Phase I (LZ LTDP-1) projects accounting for majority of spend associated with fixed platform demand in 2024. In addition, Westwood anticipates 15 FPS units (six newbuilds, two conversions and seven redeployment/upgrades) to be contracted before the end of 2024, of which Petrobras’ P-84 and P-85 unit is expected to account for over US$8 billion.

Since the last update, Orsted and Cadeler signed a long-term vessel lease agreement which will allow Orsted to secure installation vessel capacity from 1Q 2027 to end of 2030. Under the agreement, Orsted will have access to the Wind Ally or Wind Ace Heavy Lift (Crane) vessel for offshore wind construction activity. The two vessels are currently on order, with Wind Ally slated for delivery in 3Q 2025 and Wind Ace set to be delivered in 3Q 2026.

Dominating headlines was news that feasibility licences were granted for six wind farms located in the Gippsland Bay wind energy area offshore Victoria, Australia. These wind farms have a combined capacity of just under 12GW. A further six applications are also being assessed and the granting of feasibility licences for these projects will be subject to First Nations consultation.

Finally, in the UK, consent was granted for the 317MW Sheringham Shoal Extension, 402MW Dudgeon Extension and 560MW Green Volt projects. All three projects received their consents before the Contract for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round (AR6) application deadline, which means that they were eligible to participate in this round should the project developers decide to do so. The two extension projects are fixed bottom, whilst Green Volt will use floating turbine foundations.

*Correct as of 12th May 2024

The global committed jackup count averaged 413 units in April. Marketed available and cold-stacked jackup counts now stand at 30 and 55 respectively, with marketed committed utilisation and total utilisation at 93% and 83%, respectively. During the month, a total of 22 contracts were awarded, amounting to 9,003 days (24.7 rig years) of backlog added. Equinor has exercised two options for Shelf Drilling Barsk to work at the Gudrun fields and Sleipner Vest, where the latter contract will commence in 1Q 2025.

The global committed semisubmersible count stayed around 65, with 14 available and 13 cold-stacked rigs remaining in the fleet. Marketed committed utilisation rose to 83% with total utilisation rising to 71% during the month. COSLPioneer will be drilling for Var Energi for 18 months off Norway, starting in 1Q 2025 with a further option of 3.5 years.

Finally, the global drillship count sustained at 84 units during the month, leaving six marketed rigs available plus 13 cold-stacked units. Marketed committed utilisation dipped to 93% with total utilisation sustaining at 82%. Noble Venturer secured awards from two new operators to drill in Africa, keeping the rig busy through 1H 2025. The first charter will commence in June 2024 with Trident Energy.

Offshore O&G-related engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract award value year-to-date is estimated at approximately US$8 billion (excluding letters of intent), of which contracting activities in the last 30 days have been driven by the announcement of a final investment decision (FID) at OKEA’s Brasse field (to be renamed Bestla) offshore Norway. OKEA awarded Aker Solutions a contract relating to the host field’s platform topside modification work scope, whilst Subsea 7 and OneSubsea were awarded a contract for the subsea work scope for the two subsea well developments tied back to the Brage platform located approximately 13km away.

Offshore Vietnam Mitsui Oil Exploration announced that FID has been taken, and related contracts have been concluded for the PetroVietnam-operated Block B project. Production capacity is estimated to be 490mmcfd, with production scheduled by the end of 2026. In 4Q 2023, McDermott confirmed that in consortium with Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation, it had received a limited letter of award from Phu Quoc Petroleum Operating Company for engineering, procurement, construction, installation (EPCI), and hook-up and commissioning services for the Block B gas development valued at over US$1 billion. Offshore the Philippines, Malampaya Energy announced a contract award to OneSubsea for the supply of wellheads, Christmas trees, control equipment and a subsea production system for the Malampaya Phase IV development. The two deepwater wells will be tied back to the Malampaya Shallow Water Platform, with first gas scheduled for 2026.

Other contract awards recorded during the period under review include the announcement from Seatrium that it secured contracts valued at approximately US$350 million for the conversion and upgrade of various vessels and facilities, which includes a contract from MODEC for the maintenance and upgrade of its Pyrenees Venture floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit currently installed at Woodside Energy’s Pyrenees Development offshore Australia.

Looking forward, Westwood forecasts a further US$51 billion of offshore O&G-related EPC spend for the remainder of 2024, driven by c.240 subsea trees, c.3,400km of subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF), c.3,600km of pipelines, c.120 fixed platforms and 13 FPS units. Key projects anticipated to be sanctioned in 2Q 2024 include Energean’s Katlan project (Israel), Shell’s Bonga North (USA), Petrobras’ Atapu & Sepia II project (Brazil), Pecan Energy’s Pecan field (Ghana) and Eni’s Maha & Merakes East fields offshore Indonesia.

Since the last update, no new turbine contracts were awarded, however, FID was taken on the 924MW Sunrise Wind project located offshore the US. A Record of Decision (RoD) was also granted for the project by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

Dominating headlines was news that the UK’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round (AR6) officially opened. £800 million (US$1.02 billion) has been set aside for fixed bottom offshore wind, which will compete in its own pot. Floating offshore wind will compete in a separate pot with other technologies and a total of £105 million (US$134 million) has been set aside for this pot.

Finally, several project transactions closed in the past month. Shell sold its 50% stake in the SouthCoast Wind projects located in the US to its joint venture partner OceanWinds for an undisclosed sum. The deal with Ocean Winds was structured to simultaneously sign and close, with an immediate effective date. Vattenfall also completed the sale of the Norfolk Boreas and Norfolk Vanguard wind farms located offshore England, UK. RWE purchased the full rights to both projects and Vattenfall stated that the agreed purchase price corresponded to an enterprise value of £963 million (US$1.22 billion).

*Correct as of 12th April 2024

The global committed jackup count averaged 415 units in March. Marketed available and cold-stacked jackup counts now stand at 26 and 58 respectively, with marketed committed utilisation and total utilisation at 94% and 83%, respectively. During the month, a total of seven contracts were awarded, amounting to 2,346 days (6.4 rig years) of backlog added. GEMPETCO has awarded a two-year extension to Shelf Drilling’s Rig 141 for US$51 million, of which one year will be farmed out to Petrogulf Misr.

The global committed semisubmersible count stayed around 65, with 14 available and cold-stacked rigs remaining in the fleet. Marketed committed utilisation stayed at 82% with total utilisation rising to 70% during the month. Diamond Offshore’s Ocean Monarch was sold to undisclosed buyers in March to be recycled after being cold stacked since April 2022.

Finally, the global drillship count increased to 84 units during the month, leaving four marketed rigs available plus 13 cold-stacked units. Marketed committed utilisation dipped to 95% with total utilisation sustaining at 83%. BP declared the option for Ocean BlackHornet for US$350 million. The rig will be working in the Gulf of Mexico until February 2027, with the extension commencing in direct continuation of its current charter.

The key highlight for O&G-related engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract award during the period under review is the integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation (iEPCI) contract awarded to TechnipFMC for Shell’s Sparta development in the US Gulf of Mexico (GoM). TechnipFMC will manufacture and install the subsea production systems, umbilicals, risers and flowlines. In the lower GoM, Dril-Quip announced a contract award for the supply of subsea wellhead systems for Woodside Energy’s Trion development offshore Mexico.

Challenges around supply chain cost inflation continue to stifle offshore EPC contract awards. However, Westwood anticipates that 68 field FIDs will be announced for the remainder of 2024, of which only 30% are classed as ‘Firm’. Whilst EPC award value for the remainder of 2024 is forecast at approximately US$51 billion, uncertainties remain on the contracting timeline for FPSO demand from Petrobras, as the Brazilian NOC has failed to agree to commercial terms on some of its matured FPSO tenders, whilst it has also postponed bid submission deadlines for units such as the SEAP I and SEAP II FPSOs and the Barracuda/Caratinga replacement FPSO, citing contractor’s difficulties in securing project financing. However, Seatrium is said to be in advanced negotiation with Petrobras for the manufacture and supply of the P-84 and P-85 FPSOs to be installed on the Atapu-2 and Sepia-2 fields in the Santos Basin offshore Brazil.

Outside Brazil, key FIDs anticipated for the remainder of 2024 include BP’s kaskida development in the US GoM, Eni’s Coral Phase II offshore Mozambique, ExxonMobil’s Whiptail (Guyana), Energean’s Katlan gas development offshore Israel, ADNOC’s Umm Shaif (LTDP-2) offshore UAE and QatarEnergy’s North Field South. Looking forward, Westwood forecasts c.250 subsea trees, c.3,500km of subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF), c.3,400km of pipelines, c.120 fixed platforms and 20 FPS units (including FLNG units).

Since the last update, the turbine contract for two Polish wind farms, MFW Baltyk 2 and MFW Baltyk 3, were finalised and signed. Siemens Gamesa has been contracted to design, supply, install and commission a total of 100 SG 14‑236 DD turbines that will have an individual capacity of 14.4MW. The contract also includes maintenance and warranty services. The turbine foundation contract has also been finalised for these two wind farms, with Sif being contracted to supply 100 monopiles. Manufacturing is scheduled to commence in 2Q 2025, and this is due to be completed in 2026.

Dominating headlines was news that the 924MW Sunrise Wind and 810MW Empire Wind Phase 1 projects have been granted off-take agreements via New York state’s fourth offshore wind solicitation round. The agreements are conditional on successful contract execution. Furthermore, the 1.3GW Community Offshore Wind 2 project has been “waitlisted” and might undergo evaluation for potential award and contract negotiation at a subsequent date.

Finally, several offshore wind lease rounds have been launched in Europe in the past month. These include the 4.5GW Celtic Sea floating wind lease round in the UK, the  GW IJmuiden Ver offshore wind tender in the Netherlands and a 5.5GW lease auction for three sites in Germany.

*Correct as of 12th March 2024

The global committed jackup count averaged 416 units in February. Marketed available and cold-stacked jackup counts now stand at 25 and 58 respectively, with marketed committed utilisation and total utilisation at 94% and 83% respectively. During the month, a total of 11 contracts were awarded, amounting to 2,713 days (7.4 rig years) of backlog added. Egypt’s GPC has awarded two, two-year extensions and a one-year extension to ADES jackups, with a total contract value of $120 million.

The global committed semisubmersible count stayed around 64, with 15 available and cold-stacked rigs remaining in the fleet. Marketed committed and total utilisation stayed at 81% and 68% during the month, respectively. Three contracts were awarded, including a letter of award for the Blackford Dolphin from Oil India on a 14-month drilling programme with expected commencement in 3Q 2024.

Finally, the global drillship count increased to 84 units during the month, leaving four marketed rigs available plus 13 cold-stacked units. Marketed committed and total utilisation rose to 96% and 83%, respectively. TotalEnergies has declared the remaining options for Tungsten Explorer to work in Congo through early 2025. The drillship is under a JV between the operator and Vantage, where TotalEnergies has a 75% ownership stake and will utilise the rig over 10 years in different countries.

Offshore O&G-related engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract award value in January 2024 was estimated at US$7.4bn (excluding letters of intent). Key contract announcements during the period under review includes Qatar Energy’s contract award confirmation for four main engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract packages related to the third development phase of the offshore Al-Shaheen field. The first package, which is for nine wellhead platforms valued at US$2.1bn, was awarded to a consortium of McDermott Middle East and Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan Offshore Engineering. The second package for a central processing platform valued at $1.9 billion was awarded to a consortium of McDermott Middle East and Hyundai Heavy Industries, with Larsen & Toubro awarded the third EPC package for a riser platform valued at US$1.3bn. The fourth package for subsea pipelines and cables valued at US$900mn was awarded to COOEC.

During the period under review, Shell announced it had taken a final investment decision (FID) on the Victory gas field located in the west of Shetland, offshore UK. The development will feature a single subsea well that will be tied back to existing infrastructure in the Greater Laggan Area system via a new 16km pipeline. In its 4Q 2023 report published on 24 January 2024, Woodside Energy stated that the North West Shelf (NWS) project participants made FID on the Lambert West project offshore Australia, thereby supporting ongoing production from NWS.

TechnipFMC announced a contract award from BP for the development of the Mad Dog SouthWest Extension project in the US GoM. TechnipFMC stated it will install the pipe and an umbilical, tying back three new wells to the Argos platform, but the award will be included in its 4Q 2023 inbound orders.

Notable subcontracts recorded in January 2024 include a confirmation that ABB will deliver topside and hull electrical systems for the Errea Wittu floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit destined for ExxonMobil’s Uaru Field offshore Guyana,

Following an announcement by Saudi Aramco that it had received a directive from the Ministry of Energy to maintain its Maximum Sustainable Capacity (MSC) at 12mmbpd, there has been an US$8bn downward revision to Westwood’s 2024 O&G-related EPC contract award forecast, with two offshore oil increment projects, including the Safaniya and Manifa expansion that underpinned contract release and purchase orders (CRPO) 104 to 113 to be suspended. Westwood understands that all sanctioned brownfield expansions are expected to go ahead.

Since the last update, capacity reservation agreements were signed for the monopile turbine foundations that will be installed at the 1,080MW Inch Cape wind farm located offshore Scotland, UK. The project developer has signed agreements with Dajin Offshore Heavy Industry and Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard Heavy Industry (GWSHI). Fabrication is due to commence in late 2024 with delivery scheduled for late 2025.

Dominating headlines was news that the US state of New Jersey concluded its latest round of offshore wind solicitations. Conditional offers have been granted for the 2.4GW Leading Light Wind project with a price of US$112.50 per MWh and the 1,342MW Attentive Energy 2 wind farm with a price of US$131 per MWh. Leading Light Wind will be developed in two 1.2GW phases, with phase 1 scheduled to come online in 2031 and phase 2 is set to come online in 2032. Attentive Energy 2 is expected to come online in 2031.

Finally, Ignitis Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) won the development rights to the Liivi 1 wind farm, located offshore Estonia. The partners won the tender with a bid of US$1.26mn. This is the second site that the two companies have won the development rights for in the country. In December 2023 they were granted the rights to the Liivi 2 wind farm.

*Correct as of 12th February 2024

The global committed jackup count averaged 415 units in January. Marketed available and cold-stacked jackup counts now stand at 26 and 57 respectively, with marketed committed utilisation and total utilisation at 94% and 83% respectively. During the month, a total of 13 contracts were awarded, amounting to 4,367 days (12.0 rig years) of backlog added. Of these contracts, 46% were awards for drilling activities in the North Sea.

The global committed semisubmersible count stayed around 65, with 14 available and 16 cold-stacked rigs remaining in the fleet. Marketed committed and total utilisation fell to 82% and 69% during the month, respectively. Three contracts were awarded, including a letter of intent for the Noble Developer from the Rhino Resources to take on a two-well exploration campaign off Namibia in November 2024 for 100 days.

Finally, the global drillship count came in at 82 units during the month, leaving six marketed rigs available plus 12 cold-stacked units. Marketed committed and total utilisation was at 93% and 82%, respectively. Valaris was awarded a total of 1,854 days of work, including a 1,064-day charter with Petrobras for the Valaris DS-4 for work at the Buzios field starting in 4Q 2024.

As we look ahead to 2024, a review of offshore O&G-related engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracting activities in 2023 indicated that the total EPC contract award value closed at approximately US$39 billion, excluding letters of intent (LoI). A total of 273 subsea tree unit awards were recorded, over 3,330km of subsea umbilical riser and flowline (SURF) and 2,800km of pipeline in 2023. A total of 13 floating production systems (FPS) were sanctioned in 2023, including newbuild floating liquified natural gas (FLNG) units, of which four units were newbuilds, three conversions and six upgrades/redeployments. 99 fixed platform EPC awards were recorded, with the Middle East accounting for 77%. Since the turn of the year, several notable contracts have been awarded, including an award to Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) for a newbuild FLNG unit that is set to be installed at Cedar LNG’s project in British Columbia, Canada. Seatrium also confirmed an EPC contract award for a newbuild floating production semi-submersible (FPSS) unit for Shell’s Sparta field, for which the supermajor announced a final investment decision (FID) in the final week of 2023. Considering fixed platform-related awards during the period under review, China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) was awarded an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for the supply of wellhead platforms, the modification of existing platforms as well as associated subsea pipelines and umbilical at QatarEnergy’s Idd El-Shargi North Dome (ISND) expansion project offshore Qatar.

In the subsea sector, Trendsetter Engineering will supply subsea manifolds with foundations, valves, and connection systems at Woodside Energy’s Trion project offshore Mexico, whilst TechnipFMC announced an integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation (iEPCI) contract award to supply the HISEP technology at Petrobras’ Mero-3 development offshore Brazil. In the USA, Shell took FID on a phased drilling campaign at its Great White field, which will be developed as a three-well subsea tieback. Finally, Saudi Aramco continued its investment into brownfield expansion projects in Saudia Arabia through the awards of CRPOs 135, 136, and 137, which comprise multiple sections of subsea pipelines and cables and upgrade existing platforms.

Looking forward, Westwood anticipates 2024 O&G-related EPC contract value will rebound to close at approximately US$76 billion, a 77% increase compared to 2023. This will be driven by the demand for approximately 324 subsea trees, 22 floating production units (including seven FLNG units), over 130 fixed platforms, 4,500km of SURF and approximately 3,900km of line pipes.

Since the last update, Vestas secured a preferred supplier agreement to provide 26 V236-15MW turbines for the 390MW Shinan Ui project offshore South Korea. The agreement also covers a 20-year operations and maintenance service element.

Dominating headlines was news that Orsted took FID on the 2,852MW Hornsea Three wind farm offshore UK. In July 2022, Orsted was awarded a Contract for Difference (CfD) for Hornsea Three at an inflation-indexed strike price of GBP 37.35 per MWh in 2012 prices. The CfD framework permits a reduction of the awarded CfD capacity. Orsted will use this flexibility to submit a share of Hornsea Three’s capacity into the UK’s upcoming CfD Allocation Round 6.

Finally, the developers of the 1,260MW Empire Wind 2 project located offshore New York, USA, have come to an agreement with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to terminate the Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate (OREC) for the wind farm. Inflation, interest rates and supply chain disruptions were the reasons cited for the OREC being considered unviable. The wind farm is being jointly developed by BP and Equinor. The project developers are aiming to continue developing the project via new offtake opportunities.

*Correct as of 10th January 2024

The global committed jackup count averaged 413 units in December. Marketed available and cold-stacked jackup counts now stand at 26 and 57, respectively, with marketed committed utilisation and total utilisation at 94% and 83%, respectively. During the month, a total of 17 contracts were awarded, amounting for 8,258 days (22.6 rig years) of backlog added. Of these contracts, 62% were awards for drilling activities in the Persian Gulf.

The global committed semisubmersible count remained at 67 during December. There are 11 available and 16 cold-stacked rigs remaining in the fleet. Marketed committed and total utilisation remained at 86% and 71% during the month, respectively. Seven contracts were awarded in December, including a three-year contract awarded to Essar Wildcat from Pemex off Mexico, with work starting in 2Q 2024.

Finally, the global drillship count came in at 81 units during the month, leaving five marketed rigs available plus 12 cold-stacked units. Marketed committed and total utilisation fell to 94% and 83%, respectively. Seadrill was awarded two contracts for work in Brazil’s Buzios field from Petrobras for the Polaris and Auriga. Total contract value for both rigs is at US$1.1bn with commencement in 4Q 2024.