Business
Rig shortages delaying East Africa oil and gas exploration
The average price for offshore rigs that drill deeper than 4,000 metres is about US$450,000 per day, data firm RigZone says.
Drilling Boom
Bonno said the shortage has been caused in part by a drilling boom and a slowdown in production of new drillships as a result of the economic recession in late 2008.
This year the industry plans to build more than 50 new rigs, but Bonno expected the problem would persist for some time and would continue to push up the price of contracts.
While rig shortages are global and have existed for many years, the outlook tends to be worse in areas with nascent oil and gas exploration, such as East Africa.
“Demand for deepwater rigs has gone up for use in East Africa, there is definitely more international interest in the region,” Marne Beukes, an analyst who studies sub-Saharan Africa for global data firm IHS, said.
“In the long-term it could get more difficult to secure a rig.”
