EUROPEAN OFFSHORE RIG COUNT CONTINUES TO CLIMB
Utilization of offshore mobile rigs in
the European/Mediterranean area continued to show strong gains
last week, increasing nearly two percentage points to 46.1 pct,
Offshore Data Services said.
    The total number of working rigs in Europe and the
Mediterranean region was 71, reflecting an increase of three
during the week, compared to a total of 111 working rigs at
this time last year. In the previous week, the area also gained
three working rigs.
    Offshore Data Services said the worldwide utilization rate
for the week remained steady at 53.9 pct, reflecting a total of
392 working rigs. Last year, a total of 479 rigs were working
throughout the world.
    In the Gulf of Mexico, the utilization rate decreased
slightly to 35.5 pct, from 35.6 pct the previous week because
of the addition of one rig to the Gulf fleet. A total of 83
rigs were working last week in the Gulf out of a fleet of 234.
 Reuter
