Deep water to dominate offshore activity, says study

DEEP-WATER drilling will show strong growth over the next five years, says a new report by Douglas-Westwood. At the same time, the long-term decline in shallow-water activity will continue, it says. The World Offshore Drilling Report projects that 15,000 offshore wells will be drilled worldwide, at a total cost of some $189bn in the next five years. Of these wells, nearly 4,500 will be exploratory, costing $75bn, and around 10,500 will be development, costing $114bn. Drilling and completion expenditure in 2003 is estimated at $36bn. Spending levels are expected to grow somewhat over the next two years and then decline slightly, stabilising at about $37bn a year. But the biggest change is con