In 2012, newbuilding drillship would be contracted as about the same as this year's 27 vessels.
Analyst Park Mu-Hyun from E*TRADE Securities of South Korea recently forecast that about 25 drillships or $15bn of new order would be placed next year, among which Korean Big3 being expected to win 90% of 23 vessels, $13.5bn.
Ordinarily, it takes 3-4 years from oil exploration to production. As E&P investment sharply decreased in 2009 on account of global economic crisis in previous year, energy projects by oil majors should be expanded to maintain previous output. Therefore, investment on existing on-land oil field and new sub-sea fields are expected to continue.
Drillship market having firstly developed by Korean builders, Korean Big3, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung HI and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, would seal public tenders for project new order, except that oil majors place new orders at their domestic yards, Brazil's Petrobras, for instance.