Work class ROV operations total US$1.46 billion

Since 2002, expenditure on work class ROV operations has more than doubled, and further strong growth is expected over the next five years, leading to a total market of some US$1.46 billion per year by 2011. This is one of the findings of a new market study The World ROV Report 2007-11, from energy analyst Douglas-Westwood.

Announcing the launch of the report, Rod Westwood, lead analyst commented: “Offshore utilisation and ROV day rates have increased dramatically over the past five years and stand at an all-time high. Between 2002 and 2006 alone, the work class day rate increase was around 30 per cent.

“We estimate that, in 2006, some US$827 million was spent on the operation of work class ROV units worldwide – an increase of some 86 per cent on the 2002 value. We forecast that this will increase by a further 76 per cent to a 2011 value of US$1,458 million – more than tripling the market over the 10 year period.

“Regionally, we expect North America and Western Europe to account for the largest proportion of ROV activity – some 50 per cent of the total units we expect to operate in 2007 are associated with these regions,” he explained.

The report concludes that by the end of the period, over 120 new work class ROVs will needed to be built annually to satisfy the dual demands of market growth and attrition of the existing fleet. A more detailed examination of the work class ROV market based on the report can be found elsewhere in this issue of OSJ.OSJ