Sustainable high dividends and investments

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...

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.

Europris (Buy, TP: NOK90.00) - Well-equipped for a harsher climate

Q1 earnings were below expectations, partly due to negative currency hedging effects in Norway and Sweden, and continued weakness in Sweden. However, we believe Europris is well-positioned for the current market climate and expect a successful turnaround in Sweden by 2028. We reiterate our BUY as we continue to find the valuation attractive, but have cut our target price to NOK90 (95) on lowered estimates.

Sweden fuels the unknown

EBIT below driven by SWE and GP

EBIT -37m vs cons +6m on lower sales in SWE and lower group gross profit. Gross profit hit by unrealized FX as the NOK has strengthened.

Built for resilience

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...

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...

In a mid-cycle plateau

Following recent updates from E&P companies, we have reduced our 2025 offshore spending estimate to 0.5% (from c3% earlier this year). This is driven by a combination of actual 2024 spending being higher than expected (8% versus 4% previously), creating tougher comparables and a reduction in spending plans from Pemex in 2025. Despite growth flattening out, we still see the cycle building in duration, with execution of deepwater developments remaining on the agenda, albeit with a delayed executio...

Valuation and market update

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

Europris (Buy, TP: NOK95.00) - Strong Q1 masked by late Easter

We are positive ahead of Q1, expecting results in line with consensus and on a par with last year, on solid LFL growth in Norway despite a late Easter. We reiterate our BUY and NOK95 target price, as we continue to find the valuation attractive relative to peers on earnings multiples excluding ÖoB’s long-term value potential.

Valuation and market update

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

Valuation and market update

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

Petrobras claim to drilling contractors related to Sete project

Seadrill said on its earnings call that it recently had received a claim of USD213m from Petrobras related to its involvement in the Sete project in Brazil. Sete was launched in 2011, looking to build 29 deepwater rigs in Brazil, with involvement from several drilling contractors; Seadrill, Odfjell Drilling, Queiroz Galvao (now Constellation), Odebrecht (now Foresea), Petroserv (now Ventura Offshore) and Etesco. Seadrill said local and international peers have received similar claims. It further...