Over the course of the month, floater utilization improved in the US GoM to 89% West Africa to 75% and South America to 97%, marking the first time since September 2015 that all three regions have averaged at least 75%.

&ldquo We believe this supports our view that the floating rig market is strengthening,&rdquo the report commented, &ldquo and dayrates should begin to trend higher.&rdquo These three regions that comprise the Golden Triangle make up nearly 50% of global demand, the report further noted, and thus drive the market for high specification floaters.

COSCO Qidong is expected to take delivery of the newbuild Sevan Developer next month and mobilize to Brazil for acceptance testing before commencing a new three-year contract for Petrobras. The reported $120k dayrate is well below the mid $400s for two newbuilds heading to the US GoM over the next year.

Overall, there are 51 floater tenders outstanding, of which 23 or 45% are for the Golden Triangle for a minimum of 27 or 64% of all rig years.


At this rate of recovery, some players will be ordering new high specs drillships by next year. Offshore boom is now.