The World Deepwater Report forecasts that over the next five years some $US21 billion is likely to be spent on deepwater floating production systems, $US18 billion on drilling and completing subsea wells and $US11 billion on flowlines and control lines, while subsea hardware and surface completed wells could account for a further $US8 billion.

The reports said global activity in deepwater reserves is expected to result in a major growth in demand for the services of the offshore contractors. Over the 1998-2002 period, a total of 65 deepwater fields were brought onstream. For the 2003-2007 period, there are currently over 150 development prospects in deepwater listed on the Infield systems' database, including several multi-billion dollar prospects, notably off West Africa, Brazil and in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Douglas-Westwood said the report is based on data on historic and future development activity in water depths of more than 500m and is analysed on a project-by-project basis.

According to Douglas-Westwood, there are currently over 140 deepwater field developments around the world targeting prospects that total almost 32.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe).