DW said $US40 billion will be spent on deepwater drilling over the next five years, increasing its share of drilling expenditure from 20% in 2002 to 31% by 2007.

In 2002, about $US33 billion was spent on global drilling and this figure is expected to remain steady over the next five years. However, DW does expect significant changes to where that money is to be spent with big decreases forecast for Asia and Western Europe while Africa, Latin America and the Middle East can all expect increases.

About $US170 billion is forecast to be spent drilling 14,626 offshore wells worldwide over the next five years.

DW and industry data specialists Infield Systems also forecast strong growth in global capital expenditure for the subsea sector in the short term.

About $US49 billion is forecast to be spent on the subsea sector over the next five years, a 40% increase compared to the previous five-year period. The average value of the subsea market is expected to rise from $US6.8 billion in the 1998-2002 period to $US9.7 billion in the 2003-07 period.

DW said for the first time, the number of subsea wells coming onstream in deepwater will exceed those coming onstream in shallow water.