Floods, Outages Slow Oil Companies' Efforts to Restart after Hurricane Ida
Widespread flooding from Hurricane Ida and power outages slowed efforts on Tuesday by energy firms to assess damages at oil production facilities, ports, and refineries.Nearly all of Louisiana lost electrical power on Monday after one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the region downed transmission lines and flooded communities. Coastal areas were swamped by a storm surge so great it reversed the flow of the Mississippi River.Analysts said it could take two to three weeks to restart producing platforms and fully resume output at Louisiana refineries.
As Operators Look for the Bottom, Gulf Gloom Persists
Gulf of Mexico vessel operators want to see sustained, higher oil prices. After a rough two years, supply boat owners and operators in the Gulf of Mexico hope crude oil prices will improve in 2017. That would encourage activity among the offshore drillers that they service and would put unemployed boats back in the water. Vessel owners aren’t necessarily banking on a good year ahead, however. “Utilization of OSVs and PSVs in the Gulf is below 50 percent now, down from about 70 percent a year ago and 90 percent two years ago…
GoM Energy Workers Testify Need of Offshore Lease Sales
Two members of the Gulf Economic Survival Team testified at a U.S. House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy & Mineral Resources Oversight hearing. Two members of the Gulf Economic Survival Team – Chett Chiasson, Executive Director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission and Cory Kief, Director of Business Development for Crosby Tugs – testified on behalf of the offshore industry.The hearing examined the economic importance and energy contribution of the industry, as well as the need to support industry growth through appropriate policies, including robust lease sales. Port Fourchon director Chiasson testified about the importance…
Offshore Vessel Operators Suffer As Gulf Oil Output Sags
As seen in the August edition of MarineNews, Susan Buchanan updates readers on the GOM oil production situation. BP's gushing well was capped more than a year ago but life is hardly back to normal in the U.S. Gulf--where rigs and vessels remain underutilized. At least ten rigs have moved overseas since last summer. Gulf oil production is below pre-spill levels and won't recover anytime soon, analysts say. Issuance of drilling permits picked up this spring as operators agreed to use oil-containment systems but permitting lags earlier rates.
Hurricane Patterns Could Crimp Gulf Oil Production
According to Salomon Smith Barney's mid-year weather outlook, the La Nina weather pattern stands to increase the number of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico this season and energy operations in the area must be monitored closely for any disruptions the storms may inflict,.
MMS: Oil Production Offshore GOM to Rise Steeply
The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico Region, released new oil and gas daily production rate projections that encompass the year 2006. According to the new report, Daily Oil and Gas Production Rate Projections From 2002 Through 2006, Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf, MMS is forecasting a daily oil production rate of between 2.00 and 2.47 million barrels by the end of 2006, and a daily gas production rate of between 10.97 and 16.39 billion cu. ft. by the end of the same year. These represent high case and low case estimates. MMS Director Johnnie Burton called the new projections "a healthy, sizeable increase in the range of possible oil production.
MMS: Oil Production Offshore GOM to Rise Steeply
The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico Region, released new oil and gas daily production rate projections that encompass the year 2006. According to the new report, Daily Oil and Gas Production Rate Projections From 2002 Through 2006, Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf, MMS is forecasting a daily oil production rate of between 2.00 and 2.47 million barrels by the end of 2006, and a daily gas production rate of between 10.97 and 16.39 billion cu. ft. by the end of the same year. These represent high case and low case estimates. MMS Director Johnnie Burton called the new projections "a healthy, sizeable increase in the range of possible oil production.
Keppel FELS Wins $130M Rig Order
Inking the deal for the second Gulf Drilling rig: (From left) Mr Nobuo Makabe, Deputy Managing Director/General Manager of Gulf Drilling International; Mr Yousif Rashid Al Khater, Managing Director of Gulf Drilling International; Mr Tong Chong Heong, Managing Director/Chief Operating Officer of Keppel Offshore & Marine; and Mr Michael Chia, Executive Director of Keppel FELS. Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) won a contract to build a $130 million jackup for Gulf Drilling International Ltd. (q.s.c.) (GDI). The jackup, to be named GULF-5, will be delivered by end 2007. This is GDI’s second jackup with Keppel FELS and follows shortly after the first rig, GULF-4, was signed in December 2004. GULF-4, whose keel was laid this morning at the Keppel FELS yard, is due for delivery end 2006.
GOM Offshore Ops Returning to Normal
Oil and natural gas production levels and the number of workers on offshore rigs and production facilities were close to or at normal levels today as offshore operations resumed after the threat of Tropical Depression No. 10 passed late last week. Workers remained evacuated from three production platforms, or 0.4 percent of the 834 manned platforms in the U.S. Gulf. All personnel evacuated from rigs have been redeployed to the 89 rigs operating in the Gulf. Approximately 19.3 percent of U.S. Gulf oil production remains shut-in, as does 8.8 percent of U.S. Gulf gas production. Estimated U.S. Gulf oil production as of April 2007 totaled 1.3 million b/d, while gas production totaled 7.7 Bcf/d at that time. [Source: http://www.energycurrent.com/index.php?print=5461]
Record Number of Rigs Drilling In Ultra-Deep Gulf Waters
The U.S. Minerals Management Service, which manages federal offshore leases, said a record number of drilling rig are working in ultra-deepwater in the Gulf of Mexico. Fifteen rigs are currently drilling for oil and natural gas in the ultra-deepwater of the Gulf at depths of 5,000 feet or greater. MMS officials say the record is the result of a decade-long trend of exploration companies looking to deeper regions of the Gulf. Currently, 70 percent of the Gulf’s oil production and 40 percent of its natural gas production comes from depths of 1,000 feet or greater. In July, Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s Independence Hub, a semi-submersible platform located in 8…
Offshore Drilling to Expand in Gulf
According to Newhouse News Service, energy companies find the Gulf of Mexico lucrative and are investing even more to tap further into its potential, despite the threats of hurricanes. Six months after Hurricane Katrina, Gulf oil production is still down 25 percent and natural gas is down 20 percent. More than 100 platforms were destroyed and almost 200 pipelines were damaged by the storm. But Newhosue News Service reported that all indications point to the Gulf of Mexico rebounding from the storm's effects by the end of this year and that companies were seeking to expand. Shell has plans to spend part of its $15 billion exploration budget this year in the United States. BP plans to spend about $2 billion a year through the end of the decade on exploration.
