Mexico News

Oil companies bid on less than 1 percent of the parcels offered in a sweeping U.S. auction of Gulf of Mexico exploration leases on Wednesday, showing tepid interest in the region for the second time this year.Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp was awarded 25 blocks, the largest of any company, followed by BP Plc with 19 high bids and Hess Corp and Equinor, which each had 16.Smaller companies, including Talos Energy Offshore, Houston Energy and W&T Offshore were among the top ten high bidders. In total, 23 companies bid in the U.S.

Today's U.S. auction of Gulf of Mexico exploration leases drew tepid response from oil companies, but marked notable progress for an industry still in a state of recovery.“While not a barn burner, Lease Sale 251 tops the previous Gulf sale in terms of increased participation, increased competition for offerings, and bid amounts,” said Randall Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA). “In addition, bidding activity demonstrates both continued interest in deepwater tracts and renewed interest in shallow water tracts.”Luthi continued…

The Mississippi River Ship Channel could be the first port complex on the Gulf Coast to reach a depth of 50 feet now that the Director’s Report has been signed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Elected officials and industry leaders have long worked to increase the channel’s depth to 50 feet, which is the same depth of the expanded Panama Canal.In signing the Report, Corps of Engineers Director of Civil Works James C. Dalton stated the project is “economically justified and…

Oceana, the largest international ocean advocacy organisation, has opened the organisation’s office in London to strengthen Oceana’s policy and research work to protect marine life and restore fish populations in the United Kingdom (UK).“Oceana is joining the marine conservation community in the UK at a turning point in public engagement and concern for the oceans. Now we need to move beyond conserving the oceans to actually restoring marine life and rebuilding fish populations…

TGS announces its latest multi-client project in the Delaware Basin, Quail Ridge East, which will be conducted in collaboration with Fairfield Geotechnologies. The collaboration also includes an Area of Mutual Interest (AMI) for further joint opportunities in the area.The Quail Ridge East 3D survey is optimally located on the north flank of the Delaware Basin, extending TGS' current data portfolio to cover a minimum of 330 km2 in Western Lea County, New Mexico. The area draws strong industry attention with proven production from multiple stacked zones including the prolific Delaware Sands…

Brazilian oil company Petrobras has awarded a second charter to the POSH-owned semi-submersible accommodation vessel (SSAV) POSH Xanadu.The 750-pax POSH Xanadu will be supporting Petrobras' production activities in the Campos Basin, right after she completes her current job at the Chevron Big Foot Tension Leg Platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The firm contract with Petrobras is for eight months, with an option for an additional eight-month extension.This is the second charter POSH Xanadu has won from Petrobras, having supported the company between 2015 and 2016, also in the Campos Basin.

The U.S. Navy’s 10th Expeditionary Fast Transport ship, Burlington, completed acceptance trials, August 3 after two days of underway evaluation in the Gulf of Mexico.The ship demonstrated the readiness of its equipment and systems for operations, both dockside and underway, for the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey. The ship returned to the Austal USA shipyard in Mobil Ala. and will now begin preparations for delivery to the Navy later this year.“Acceptance trials are a major step towards delivering Burlington to the Navy,” said Capt.

A federal auction of exploration leases in the Gulf of Mexico next week will test energy companies' appetite for acreage after the Trump administration left royalty rates for deepwater parcels unchanged, bucking an industry call to lower them.The U.S. Gulf of Mexico has faced waning interest in recent years as competition stepped up from other basins globally, as well as from onshore shale basins and Mexico's waters in the Gulf.Oil companies had lobbied for lower royalty payments for deepwater acreage because of the projects' high cost and long lead time before production can begin.

SEA\LNG, the multi-sector industry coalition aiming to accelerate the widespread adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel, announced that it has welcomed Mexico-based LNG company Enestas to its membership coalition.With the addition of Enestas, the SEA\LNG coalition bolsters its efforts to drive forward LNG as a marine fuel, and to progress its vital role as a viable solution in the energy transition within shipping.As the largest private LNG company in Mexico and with the largest LNG distribution network…

Rowan Companies plc announced that the Rowan EXL III, an EXL Class high specification jack-up rig, has been awarded a six-month contract from Cantium in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.The contract is expected to commence in early November 2018. The EXL III is currently under contract with Cantium in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico through mid to late August 2018. Rowan is a global provider of contract drilling services with a fleet of 27 mobile offshore drilling units, composed of 23 self-elevating jack-up rigs and four ultra-deepwater drillships.The Company's fleet operates worldwide…

Harvey Gulf International Marine has confirmed that it is going global with the reflagging of both Offshore Supply and Fast Supply Vessels to facilitate work in Mexico.Harvey will open additional offices in Mexico through its affiliate, Harvey Gulf International Marine de Mexico S.A.P.I. de C.V. Harvey will also establish itself in Trinidad and Guyana by opening offices and redeploying shore base personnel and vessels to those areas.Harvey will certify vessels for operation under Mexican flags to ensure its customers can receive Harvey service levels for their expanding Mexico operations.

Parker Conrad, a shipbuilding pioneer and a legend along the Gulf of Mexico coast and beyond, founded Conrad Shipyard in 1948. The company, headquartered in Morgan City, Louisiana, is now a public company with new generations of Conrad’s at the helm. “I grew up in the shipyard working side by side with my father,” said Johnny Conrad, President, Chairman and CEO explains. “I saw firsthand how he treated customers, and how his handshake was as good as a contract. Many of our current customers did business with Parker…

Innovative waterway concept vessel could deliver transportation savings for shippers on the Mississippi River. Plans to transport freight via innovative waterway vessels that backers say will revolutionize the inland waterway system and provide significant transportation cost savings for shippers, especially those accessing the Midwest by utilizing the Mississippi River and its tributaries, are underway, according to Sal Litrico, CEO for American Patriot Container Transport, a…

Venezuela's state-run PDVSA is organizing a contingency plan to address its latest oil-export problem following a minor accident last week at the country's main crude terminal, two sources from the firm told Reuters on Friday.A tanker collision that damaged Jose port's South dock and forced its closure has added to delays in loading crude for export, especially to customers such as Russia's Rosneft and U.S.-based Valero Energy Corp and Chevron Corp.Oil tankers that were assigned…

Waves began to batter parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast on Tuesday as the region felt the first hit of Tropical Storm Gordon, which is expected to become a hurricane before it comes ashore with high winds and heavy rain, forecasters said.The storm also caused a jump in global oil prices after the evacuation of two oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.Gordon was due to come ashore late on Tuesday near the border between Louisiana and Mississippi, and drop as much as 12 inches (30 cm) of rain in areas still recovering from last year's hurricanes…

Twill, a digital freight forwarder designed to make shipping simple, has announced a change in its brand affiliation from Damco to Maersk.Launched in April 2017, Twill was created as a ‘Damco innovation’ and operated as a partner with the freight forwarder and supply chain management company, which is part of A.P. Moller - Maersk.The realigning of the brand will make it possible to offer Twill to all Maersk customers, in line with the A.P. Moller - Maersk strategy to become a…

Offshore oil driller Transocean Ltd said on Tuesday it would buy peer Ocean Rig UDW Inc in a $2.7 billion cash-and-stock deal, its second major acquisition this year as the company bets on a recovery in the offshore sector.The acquisition signals new optimism for offshore drillers, which were hit hard by the steep plunge in oil prices from 2014. Offshore projects, which are more costly than onshore work and take years to develop, became less attractive after oil prices fell to below $30 a barrel in 2016.Global crude prices have since recovered to above $70…

U.S. oil prices edged up on Tuesday, rising back past $70 per barrel, after two Gulf of Mexico oil platforms were evacuated in preparation for a hurricane.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $70.04 per barrel at 0034 GMT, up 24 cents, or 0.3 percent from their last settlement.Anadarko Petroleum Corp said on Monday it had evacuated and shut production at two oil platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico ahead of the approach of Gordon, which is expected to come ashore as a hurricane.International Brent crude futures…

Tropical Storm Gordon forced a cut of 9.36 percent of crude oil production in U.S.-regulated areas of the Gulf of Mexico, slightly more than Tuesday, the U.S.

A sunken derrick barge has been raised from the Gulf of Mexico seafloor following several months of planning, engineering, on-site preparations and the heaviest salvage lift ever accomplished in the Americas, said marine services and wreck removal specialists Resolve Salvage and Fire Americas.The 350 ft x 100 ft derrick barge DB1 sank 30 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico on October 22, 2017, when adverse weather caused it to drag anchors and contact the offshore platform that the DB1 was engaged in removing.

Several vessels, including two oil tankers and one carrying liquefied natural gas, were stalled and unable to enter the Sabine Pass shipping channel near the Texas-Louisiana border due to draft restrictions, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday.Port Arthur's Vessel Traffic Service implemented 32-foot restrictions on draft, or vessel depth, on Wednesday, after a 24-inch steel dredge pipeline was struck and pulled out to sea by a ship moving through the Sabine Pass Channel to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard said in a notice.As much as 1,000 feet of pipeline is missing, prompting the limits on vessel draft in order that surveys could be carried out to locate the displaced line…

Avantida, an INTTRA company, announced that CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd, two of the world’s largest liner shipping companies, are offering reUse container management services in Mexico. reUse is a container triangulation service for transporters made available on Avantida’s online platform. It is the first time that this service is offered in Mexico, and for Avantida it is their first step into the North American market.This is how reUse works: once an import container has been unloaded it must be taken back to the port or assigned depot.

Swiss commodities trader Trafigura has applied to build a deep-water port in Corpus Christi, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico, which will be able to load supertankers, reports FT.The report said that the plan would see the commodity house build an offshore deepwater port facility  with a view to accommodate very large crude carriers (VLCC) capable of carrying more than 2m barrels of crude. It requires approval from the US Department of Transportation’s maritime division.According to a Reuters report…