"Rig days” tracks both the volume of business for upstream focused energy service companies and provides a proxy indicator of future new oil and gas production.   

Rig days refers to the number of days in a given period when there is a drilling rig in active operations - for example, if there were an average of two drilling rigs operating every day in a year, there would be 730 rigs days (2 x 365) in the year. 

The number of rig days gives an important estimate of the volume of business for energy service companies operating in Trinidad & Tobago, especially for these providing drilling services and related support activities.  When there are more rigs operating, there is more activity and more business for a myriad of energy service companies. 

In this graph, rig days have been broken down into offshore and onshore rigs.  Onshore drilling activity involves a lower level of capital investment and a lower value of spend from the operator with service companies.  However, local content levels are typically much higher on onshore drilling rigs and there is a lot of economic activity created by onshore drilling campaigns, including for smaller businesses involved in activities like transport and road and bridge construction to enable rigs to get to drill sites.

Rig days are also an important indicator of potential future oil and gas production.  More drilling activity usually results in more oil and gas production in the following years.  Trinidad & Tobago’s most prolific gas wells are off the east and north coasts, so the offshore rig day measure is important for gas production.  Traditionally, onshore wells produce crude oil rather than gas, so the onshore rig days would be more important for future oil production.  However, there is also onshore gas production, especially in southeast Trinidad, and offshore oil production off both the west and east coasts so this pattern does not always hold. 

Policy measures to encourage more drilling will both help future oil and gas production and economic activity for service companies, including many small businesses.