Offshore Sector SCORE Remains Flat

GlobalSantaFe reported that the company's worldwide SCORE, or Summary of Current Offshore Rig Economics, for January 2002 was down from the previous month's SCORE by 0.2 percent. GlobalSantaFe President and CEO Sted Garber said, "Worldwide SCORE showed little change from the previous month. Rig supply and demand remain in balance in the key international markets and dayrates show signs of leveling out in the Gulf of Mexico. However, despite increasing drilling activity internationally, excess rig capacity in the Gulf of Mexico could result in near-term dayrate softness in West Africa as rigs in this region may end up competing with rigs mobilizing from the Gulf." GlobalSantaFe's SCORE compares the profitability of current mobile offshore drilling rig dayrates to the profitability of dayrates at the 1980-1981 peak of the offshore drilling cycle. In the 1980-1981 period, when SCORE averaged 100 percent, new contract dayrates equaled the sum of daily cash operating costs plus approximately $700 per day per million dollars invested. In addition to a worldwide SCORE covering key types of competitive offshore drilling rigs in key drilling markets, a separate SCORE is calculated for certain types of rigs and certain regions to indicate the relative condition of rig markets. The release, which is made available for publication on the third Monday of each month, includes separate SCORE calculations for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, West Africa, and Southeast Asia. Rig types include jackup and semisubmersible rigs.