The offshore drilling segment of the energy industry was among the hardest hit by the 2014 downturn. Many went under, and those that did survive were on their last legs when prices began to climb back up. Now, things are looking up and the sector could see a full recovery by 2020. Reuters recalls in a recent story how offshore drilling rigs fetched around US$180,000 per day during the worst of the downturn, from as much as half a million dollars before. Now, according to offshore drilling giant Transocean, it is raking in US$300,000 per day for its specialized vessels deployed in the North Sea. That should come as no surprise: just like oilfield service providers, offshore drillers first suffered more than producers and are now reaping the benefits of a recovering industry. But the future of offshore drillers was always less certain than that of the oilfield service […]