WorldWide Drilling Resource

34 MAY 2021 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Drilling Activity Poised for Growth Adapted from Information by Rystad Energy After a challenging 2020, gas and oil demand recovery is proving good for drilling activity. According to Rystad Energy, onshore drilling activity is expected to increase by 12% from the 46,000 wells drilled in 2020 to about 51,700 wells in 2021, before climbing by another 19% in 2022 to reach around 61,700 wells. Well services spending in North America is expected to grow from $50 billion in 2020 to $54 billion in 2021, with the stimulation segment seeing higher growth compared to other well services segments. This is driven by a high number of drilled but uncompleted wells, supporting stimulation spending at the start of 2021. If the oil price remains above $60 for the rest of the year, shale operators would be well-positioned to increase activity in the second half of 2021 and into 2022. Although this projected activity is promising, it still looks like drilling needs more time to recover to prepandemic levels, as the onshore well count in 2019 was nearly 71,000. “To recover production levels, operators will have to launch new drilling plans in tandem with maintenance and enhancement programs for existing wells, opening significant opportunities for well service suppliers in the years ahead,” said Daniel Holmedal, energy research analyst at Rystad Energy. G&O

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