In recent years, offshore drilling has generated a lot of interest among commodities investors, and a flurry of activity has been taking place in this sector as oil on land becomes scarcer. Some of the leading companies engaged in the offshore drilling business include the following:
Diamond Offshore Drilling (NYSE: DO): With 50 offshore rigs, Diamond Offshore (DO) is one of the dominant players in the offshore drilling industry. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, DO has a wide global footprint, with deepwater drilling operations in Brazil, Scotland, Australia, and the Gulf of Mexico. The company has particular expertise in ultra deepwater drilling, with significant operations in Brazil through Petrobras, the state-owned oil company.
As easily accessible oil becomes scarcer, national oil companies and the majors will likely make more use of DO’s deepwater expertise.
Noble Corporation (NYSE: NE): Founded in 1921 in Texas, Noble is one of the oldest drilling contractors in the world. It has a fleet of more than 60 vessels and operations stretching from Brazil to the North Sea, and it has an edge in implementing technologically oriented solutions to meet customer demands.
Noble Corporation has a subsidiary, Noble Technology Services Division, that’s a sort of technological think tank dedicated to generating technical solutions for customers.
Transocean Inc. (NYSE: RIG): Transocean, whose company motto is “We’re never out of our depth,” is the ExxonMobil of the offshore drillers. It’s the largest company in terms of market capitalization and the size and scope of its operations.
The company has more than 90 offshore drilling units at its disposal and is an expert in operating under harsh and extreme weather conditions. It has offshore operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
In 2007, Transocean agreed to merge its operations with the operations of GlobalSanteFe, the second-largest offshore driller at the time. The combined entity saw the addition of 60 vessels and an expanded global footprint, to include the Middle East and Canada. If you’re looking for the largest and most diversified company in the group, Transocean is it.
If you want to dig deeper into this sector, you can check out the website Rigzone, which includes up-to-date information on the offshore industry and the oil industry as a whole.