Global offshore drilling rigs market is anticipated to grow significantly in the forecast period due to increase in demand for oil and gas. Offshore drilling rigs are equipped with legs, fixed to the seabed for the oil extraction process. They support the established drilling platform with different depth heights. Semi-submersible rigs are utilized in the deep water area, jack-up rigs are utilized in shallow water area, and drill ships are utilized in ultra-deep water areas of the offshore field.
Offshore drilling rigs market is driven by factors like high demand for petrochemical and crude oil by several industries, such as plastics, energy, transportation, paints & coatings, textiles, etc., growing investments in ultra-deep and deep offshore exploration activities, high demand for crude oil derived goods like kerosene, gasoline, diesel, and increasing passenger and goods transportation due to globalization. Moreover, increasing demand-supply gap due to unsteady political conditions in Middle East and Africa is driving exploration activities in North America and Europe, which ultimately propels the market growth. However, growing environmental concerns and associated governmental regulations are hampering the market.
Increasing number of growth strategies adopted by market players like mergers and acquisitions, contract agreements is trending in the market. Nonetheless, growing environmental concerns caused by petrochemical products is challenging the market growth.
Offshore drilling rig market is categorized based on type, services, application, and geography. Based on type, market is divided into jack-up rig, drillship, and semi-submersible. Jack-up rig segment is expected to lead the market due to increased use in shallow water activities. Jack-ups are also witnessing an increasing demand in the Middle East and Africa and Europe regions.
Based on services, offshore drilling rig industry is divided into logging while drilling, sub-segments contract drilling, and directional drilling. Sub-segments contract drilling and directional drilling segments are expected to lead the market. By application, market is divided into deep water, shallow water, and ultra-deep water. Shallow water segment is expected to lead the market due to increasing commodity prices. Moreover, increasing use of shallow jack-ups ultimately increases the deployment of rigs with the growing demand.
Geographically, offshore drilling rigs market is segmented as North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the market in future due to high demand for oil and gas for offshore drilling activities. Moreover, new oil and gas discoveries in the offshore basin of Gulf of Thailand and Australia is also driving the market growth in the region. Furthermore, North America is also expected to lead the market owing to rigorous offshore exploration projects in the region.
The key players in offshore drilling rigs market include Halliburton, Transocean, Weatherford International, Schlumberger, Seadrill, Ensco, China Oil Field Services, Atwood Oceanics, Fred Olsen Energy, Superior Energy Services, Maersk Drilling, Diamond Offshore Drilling, Gyrodata, Nabors Industries, Noble, KCA Deutag, Rowan Companies, and Scientific Drilling International.