Offshore drilling is a type of oil extraction in which wellbores are drilled through the seabed, either by shallow water drilling ordeep water drilling. The total drilling depth depends on the location of the reservoirs and the type of drilling facilities used. Different types of drilling equipment used for offshore drilling are jack-up rigs, barges, platform rigs, submersible rigs, semi-submersible rigs, and drilling ships.

The Global Offshore Drilling Market is expected to witness rapid growth at a CAGR of 10.9 percent during the period 2013-2018. Technavio analysts have pinpointed the top 18 companies in the Offshore Drilling Market that are expected to help fuel market growth during the forecast period:

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“A top-tier oilfield service company with a century-long track record, Baker Hughes delivers solutions that help oil and gas operators make the most of their reservoirs. Our history of technology innovation is a cornerstone of our success. Local teams are supported by global centers of excellence where scientists push the boundaries of value-adding technology to find solutions for progressively more complex technical challenges.”

Baker Hughes is also a top vendor in our Global Smart Oilfield Market 2016-2020 report

Schlumberger is the world’s leading provider of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production, and processing to the oil and gas industry. Working in more than 85 countries and employing approximately 113,000 people who represent over 140 nationalities, Schlumberger supplies the industry’s most comprehensive range of products and services, from exploration through production and integrated pore-to-pipeline solutions for hydrocarbon recovery that optimize reservoir performance.

Schlumberger is also a top vendor in our Global Silica Minerals Mining Market 2016-2020 report

“Ensco plc brings energy to the world as a global provider of offshore drilling services to the petroleum industry. For more than 25 years, the company has focused on operating safely and going beyond customer expectations. Ensco is ranked first in total customer satisfaction with top honors in eight of 14 categories in the latest annual survey by EnergyPoint Research. Operating one of the newest ultra-deepwater rig fleets and the largest premium jackup fleet, Ensco has a major presence in the most strategic offshore basins across six continents.”

“Founded in 1919, Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry. With more than 75,000 employees, representing 140 nationalities in approximately 80 countries, the company serves the upstream oil and gas industry throughout the lifecycle of the reservoir – from locating hydrocarbons and managing geological data, to drilling and formation evaluation, well construction and completion, and optimizing production through the life of the field.”

Halliburton is also a top vendor in our Global Distributed Acoustic Sensing Market 2016-2020 report

“Seadrill is a leading offshore deepwater drilling company, aiming to be our customers’ most important partner in making oil and gas available in a safe and cost-effective manner. The company operates a versatile fleet of 69 units that comprises drillships, jack-up rigs, semi-submersible rigs and tender rigs for operations in shallow to ultra-deepwater areas in harsh and benign environments.”

“Transocean is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells. The company specializes in technically demanding sectors of the global offshore drilling business with a particular focus on deepwater and harsh environment drilling services, and believes that it operates one of the most versatile offshore drilling fleets in the world. Transocean operates a fleet of 79 mobile offshore drilling units consisting of 46 high-specification floaters, 22 midwater floaters and 11 high-specification jackups. In addition, the company has nine ultra-deepwater drillships and five high-specification jackups under construction.”

Transocean is also a top vendor in our Global Subsea Pumps Market 2015-2019 report

“Weatherford (NYSE/Euronext Paris/SIX:WFT) is one of the largest global providers of products and services that span the drilling, evaluation, completion, production and intervention cycles of oil and natural gas wells. Weatherford is a new breed of service company—one that can provide the industry with extended products and services, more efficient operations, more powerful research and development capabilities and greater geographic diversity.”

Weatherford is also a top vendor in our Global Oil and Gas Cementing Services Market 2015-2019 report

“Atwood Oceanics is a leading offshore drilling company engaged in the drilling and completion of exploration and development wells for the global oil and gas industry. The company currently owns 13 mobile offshore drilling units and is constructing three ultra-deepwater drillships. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Atwood Oceanics, Inc. common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ATW.”

“China Oilfield Services Limited (COSL) is an integrated oilfield service solution provider with nearly 50 years of experience in offshore operation. With its four major business segments of geophysical services, drilling services, well services and marine & transportation services covering the exploration, development and production phases of oil and gas industry, COSL is an all-round offshore oilfield service company with integrated functions and bundled service chain in China and even in the world. COSL possesses the largest fleet of offshore oilfield services facilities in China.”

“Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. is a leader in offshore drilling, providing contract drilling services to the energy industry around the globe with a total fleet of 45 offshore drilling rigs, including seven rigs under construction. Diamond Offshore’s fleet consists of 33 semisubmersibles, three of which are under construction, five dynamically positioned drillships, four of which are under construction, and seven jack-ups.”

“The offshore fleet of Fred. Olsen Energy ASA with subsidiaries (the Group) consists of two ultra/deepwater units and five mid-water semi-submersible drilling rigs in addition to one tender support vessel and one accommodation unit. Three of the semi-submersible drilling rigs are operating on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. In addition, one ultra deepwater drillship was delivered end of February 2014. The Group has one other newbuild under construction, an ultra deepwater semi submersible for harsh environment scheduled to be delivered in 3Q 2015.”

“Gyrodata’s precision survey services have had a major impact on drilling and production operations. High accuracy surveys assure precise wellbore targeting and reservoir delineation, and they prevent costly problems such as missed objectives and wellbore collisions in multiwell structures. Today, Gyrodata is the leading supplier of precision wellbore survey services as well as industry leading directional drilling technology and services to the energy, mining, environmental and construction industries.”

“KCA DEUTAG is one of the largest international drilling contractors. The company employs 8,000 staff in more than 22 countries and it had revenue in 2012 of US$1.7 billion. KCA DEUTAG is currently the drilling operations contractor on 33 offshore platforms worldwide and owns and operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units consisting of 2 jack-ups and 3 self erecting tender barges. The company also owns and operates a fleet of more than 60 land drilling rigs.”

“Maersk Drilling has an ambition of becoming a significant contributor to the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group with a profit (NOPAT) of USD 1bn by 2018, while conducting incident free operations. In addition to the three drillships and four jack-up rigs in order, the modern fleet counts 17 drilling rigs including deepwater semi-submersibles and high-end jack-up rigs. Maersk Drilling employs an international staff of 4,000 people and generated a profit of USD 528m in 2013.”

“Nabors owns and operates the world’s largest land-based drilling rig fleet and has one of the largest completion services and workover and well servicing rig fleets in North America. The company is a leading provider of offshore platform workover and drilling rigs in the U.S. and multiple international markets. Nabors provides innovative drilling technology and equipment, directional drilling and comprehensive oilfield services in most of the significant oil and gas markets in the world.”

“Noble is a leading offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. Noble performs, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of 77 offshore drilling units (including two ultra-deepwater drillships and four high-specification jackup drilling rigs currently under construction), located worldwide, including in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and Alaska, Mexico, Brazil, the North Sea, the Mediterranean, West Africa, the Middle East, India, Malaysia and Australia.”

“Rowan Companies is a global provider of offshore contract drilling services, focused on operating safely and efficiently to exceed customer expectations. We are a market leader with one of the youngest fleets in our industry, including four ultra-deepwater drillships, three of which are currently under construction, and 30 jack-up rigs, 19 of which are rated high-specification. Our mission is to be recognized by our customers as the most efficient and capable provider of demanding contract drilling services.”

“Scientific Drilling International (SDI) is an independent directional drilling and wellbore navigation, surveying and logging service company serving customers worldwide.The company serves a diverse range of customers in all energy sectors. Besides participating in some of the most complex conventional and unconventional oil and gas projects in the world, SDI also has extensive experience in working on geothermal wells and drilling horizontal laterals in coalbed methane reservoirs.”