“This may slow down the drilling comeback when prices eventually climb back up.”
On the contrary, the new units that have to be purchased will be the latest state-of-the-art machinery available.
The incentive of rising prices will greatly enhance the margin of profit, therefore the means to purchase the more-advanced machinery.
Unlike consumer goods, goods used to produce other and more valuable goods get amortized fairly quickly, and no doubt, had they been in service at the original locations, these units would have been replaced anyway.
That would be a slower and more expensive first step than taking an existing, functional rig out of storage.
And where the newer state of the art machinery come from?
Who’s building it, and how fast will it come online? What are the lead times?
Leasing rigs instead of buying them would be a much better utilization of resources.