Vermilion Compass: Weekly Equity Strategy

Semiconductors and Technology Leading the Way We remain near-term bullish since our 4/22/25 Compass, and our intermediate-term outlook remains bullish as well (as of our 5/14/25 Compass). We will maintain our bullish view as long as market dynamics remain healthy and the S&P 500 (SPX) is above 5700-5785 (up from 5500). We continue to be buyers in the 5700-5785 range if it gets there, and we would also be buyers at 5804-5854 gap support. We are expecting all-time highs soon on the SPX. Technolo...

Vermilion Booster Shots: Attractive bottom-fishing stocks

For investors looking for bottom-fishing candidates; stocks that are breaking downtrends, exhibiting ascending reaction lows, and showing stabilizing relative strength.

Needs to lock in 2026

Offshore Drilling (DNB Markets) (, ) - (39 pages)

Well positioned for increased contract activity

Valaris (Buy, TP: USD40.00) - 2027 confidence building

With ARO Drilling extensions and two West Africa jobs (DS-10 and DS-15), Valaris is progressing well in building visibility for 2027, the first year set to have proper earnings as 2025–2026e will likely be affected by rig market challenges and idle time. On top of the recently announced drillship jobs, Valaris seems well placed to build additional backlog in Nigeria and Egypt, for deepwater opportunities with startup in 2026/27. In sum, we believe its cash flow story remains on the horizon, whil...

Energy Morning - 6 May 2025

Valaris (Buy, TP: USD40.00) - All roads lead to 2027

With recent energy markets uncertainty and 2025–2026 rig market challenges remaining, idle time and gaps between contracts have left near-term earnings looking uninspiring. On the positive side, we see the company as well placed for several deepwater jobs with startup in 2026e, which could help build visibility for 2027. Hence, its cash flow story remains on the horizon, while we consider earnings improvements key to closing the NAV gap and for intrinsic values to crystallise. We reiterate our B...

Another round of Aramco suspensions expected

Market sources suggest Saudi Aramco will further reduce its rig count in the coming months through early contract terminations and potentially more suspensions, which would mark the ‘fourth round’ of rig reductions. This follows last month’s request for dayrate discussions (historically, such requests have preceded it suspending rigs). We believe this round could be extensive, affecting c10 jackups out of its current rig count of c57 rigs. At the peak, Aramco had 92 jackups (22% of global demand...

Muted 2025 growth expectations

Following Q1 earnings calls by some of the oil service companies, 2025 outlooks appear more challenging than previously. Baker Hughes expects international upstream spending to decline by mid- to high-single digits, while Halliburton sees its international revenues flat to slightly down. Furthermore, Weatherford expects 2025 international revenue to decline by low double- to mid-double digits. Precision Drilling flagged additional rig suspensions by Saudi Aramco, and SLB highlighted a slow start...

Demand recovery continues to be delayed

Estimate uncertainty persists

ENI capex cut but maintains shareholder returns

Driven by macro headwinds and uncertainty around trade tariffs, ENI was the first large oil company to introduce capex cuts for 2025, contributing to a more challenging business environment for oil services. Over the past five years, we estimate ENI to have been the oil major with strongest offshore spending growth, and it has been considered active and opportunistic while others have been more conservative. Hence, we see its reduction as a soft datapoint for oil services. ENI has optimised its ...

Welcomed tender from Petrobras

Updates suggest Petrobras yesterday launched a new tender for “one or more” deepwater rigs for the Buzios field starting late-2026/early-2027. As it has been a while since the last Petrobras tender, and there has been uncertainty related to the timing of upcoming tenders, we believe a new Petrobras tender would offer relief for investors. As we count nine rigs already contracted with Petrobras to match the start-up window, we expect the requirement would be filled by rigs already in the country,...

Looking at required day-rates

Although there are several ongoing deepwater tenders, the lack of recent deepwater fixtures has created uncertainty among investors related to day-rates. Consequently, we have analysed the required day-rates to support current share prices and valuations. Given the high operating leverage and multiple variables involved (utilisation, lifetime and cost of capital), we estimate the sector requires 7G drillship day-rates from the mid-USD300k and above to support the current share prices.

E&P spending sensitivity explored

With an oil price at the mid-USD60s/bbl level, focus on the oil major overspending situation, and resulting impact on the outlook for offshore-focused oil services, is set to increase further. While oil companies would likely cut, or even eliminate, buyback programmes first, we expect increased focus on spending reductions and efficiencies, creating a more challenging business environment for oil services. Hence, we see a risk of oil companies taking a more cautious approach, resulting in projec...

Energy Morning - 1 April 2025

Energy Morning - 26 March 2025

Pemex seeks national partnerships to accelerate developments

In line with its earlier communication about Pemex looking for partners to re-start drilling activities and fight oil production decline, local news reports suggest that Pemex is seeking partnerships for 17 blocks (11 offshore and six onshore) to secure external capital. It is mostly considering local partners and intends to take the role as operator in most of the blocks. At first glance, the expected volume from the partnerships looks to be small, with only 66kbd to be added by year-end 2025. ...

Valuation and market update

In this note, we show updated valuation and market statistics for the Offshore Drilling sector.

Deepwater fixture activity set to increase

After a slow start to the year for deepwater awards, we see long- and short-term jobs nearing rig selection. On the positive side, we believe the capital markets will appreciate increasing fixture activity and oil companies committing to long-term development jobs, supporting cycle duration. From a dayrate perspective, we see the bifurcation thesis unfolding, as some contractors are more focused on prioritising utilisation, also with counterparty, rig quality and region playing a role. Hence, as...