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Perdido News

12 Dec 2023

Shell to Boost Production at Perdido's Oil Project

Š Troy V Smith / Adobe Stock

Shell on Tuesday said it has made a final investment decision (FID) to boost production at the Perdido oil project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, starting in April 2025.The company, which operates the platform, said it will add three wells that are expected to produce up to 22,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) at peak rates.

15 Sep 2021

Gulf Coast Oil Firms Return to Ida Recovery as Storm Nicholas Recedes

Royal Dutch Shell halted production at its Perdido offshore oil platform due to heavy winds caused by Nicholas - Image Copyright - Stuart Conway/Shell

Energy companies worked to restore pipeline service and electricity after Tropical Storm Nicholas passed through on Tuesday, allowing them to return to repairing the significant damage caused by Hurricane Ida two weeks ago.Nicholas, downgraded to a tropical depression late Tuesday, caused rain, flooding, and power outages in Texas and Louisiana, where some refineries remained offline in the wake of Hurricane Ida. The earlier storm shuttered most U.S. Gulf offshore oil and gas production.Colonial Pipeline, the largest U.S.

14 Sep 2021

Oil Output, Vessel Traffic Halted as Nicholas Lashes Texas

Š JACoulter / Adobe Stock

Hurricane Nicholas on Tuesday took another swipe at U.S. Gulf Coast energy facilities, cutting offshore oil and gas output gradually recovering from the last storm and disrupting power to onshore pipeline, gas and chemical plants.Royal Dutch Shell halted production its Perdido offshore oil platform due to heavy winds, and U.S. liquefied natural gas producer Freeport LNG said processing at its Texas coast facility was halted, likely due to a power outage.Power losses briefly cut Colonial Pipeline's main gasoline and diesel lines out of Houston…

13 Sep 2021

Energy Firms Face Another Storm in US Gulf

(Image: NOAA)

Royal Dutch Shell on Monday began evacuating staff from a U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil platform, and other energy companies began preparing for hurricane-force winds from a second Gulf Coast storm in as many weeks.Tropical Storm Nicholas was about 105 miles (115 km) south of Port O'Connor, Texas, and moving north with winds of 60 miles per hour (97 kph). It could become a hurricane just ahead of landfall on Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center.Waves stirred up by Nicholas neared 12 feet (3.7 m) in height were reported outside of Port Aransas…

13 Sep 2021

McDermott's Amazon Vessel to Install Pipelines at Shell's Whale Project

Credit: McDermott

Offshore installation firm McDermott said Monday that its upgraded Amazon vessel was coming to the Gulf of Mexico to support a subsea contract for the Whale Development in Alaminos Canyon.Oil major Shell in July reached a final investment decision for its Whale deepwater field development. Discovered in 2017, Whale will feature a semi-submersible production host in more than 8,600 feet (2621 meters) of water with 15 oil-producing wells.McDermott will provide engineering, procurement…

15 Mar 2021

Petronas, CNOOC to Collaborate on Cleaner Energy Solutions, LNG Bunkering

File image Petronas

Malaysian oil company Petronas and China-based oil firm CNOOC, have signed a memorandum of understanding to "pursue mutual growth through closer collaboration.""The MoU elevates the long-standing relationship between the two parties from primarily liquefied natural gas (LNG) and upstream projects towards a shared ambition in energy security and cleaner energy solutions," Petronas said.The parties will "intensify" collaboration in LNG, upstream exploration & development projects…

16 Dec 2020

DNV GL Scores Work at BHP's Trion FPU

Frank Ketelaars, Regional Manager, Americas, DNV GL - Oil & Gas

Australian oil and gas company BHP, working to develop the Trion field offshore Mexico, has hired DNV GL to verify that the new infrastructure built for the Trion project is compliant with local and global safety, as well as other requirements. BHP acquired the Trion asset in Mexico’s first-ever Deepwater Bid Round in 2016. The Trion field encompasses an area of 1,285 square kilometers and is located in the deep waters of the Perdido belt. BHP is the operator holding a 60% interest in the development and PEMEX is the non-operating partner with a 40% interest.Last week…

25 Aug 2020

Storms Marco and Laura Shut 82% of Gulf of Mexico Oil Production

NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDISLANCE and GIBSWorldview and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)

U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil companies shut around 82 percent of oil production on Monday and evacuated personnel bracing for the impact of two tropical storms Marco and Laura.From operator reports, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said Monday that approximately 82.4 percent of oil production and 56.92 percent of the natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico had been shut-in. Based on data from offshore operator reports submitted as of 11:30 CDT Monday, personnel has been evacuated from a total of 281 production platforms…

22 Jul 2020

TDI-Brooks' New Vessel Completes Its First Projects

Miss Emma McCall (Photo: TDI-Brooks)

TDI-Brooks’ newest vessel R/V Miss Emma McCall has recently completed its first projects for the U.S.-based marine data acquisition services company on behalf of Total and Cairn Energy offshore Mexico. TDI-Brooks has the vessel on a long-term bare-boat charter from Cameron Offshore Boats.The 2003-built Miss Emma is a multi-use oceanographic research vessel outfitted for a wide variety of oceanographic research duties for operations in the Northern/Southern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), U.S. East Coast and elsewhere in the Americas.

16 Dec 2018

Qatar Buys Eni's Mexican Oil Stakes

Qatar Petroleum (QP) signed an agreement with Italy’s Eni SpA to acquire a 35% stake in three offshore oil Fields in Mexico.The agreement cover the Amoca, Mizton, and Tecoalli offshore oil fields, which lie in Area 1 in Mexico’s Campeche Bay, said a press statement from the Arab country's government-owned energy company.The agreement is subject to customary regulatory approvals by the government of Mexico. Following such approval, both Eni and Qatar Petroleum will jointly hold 100% interest in the Area 1 production sharing contract.Commenting on this agreement, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum…

07 Aug 2018

McDermott Wins Shell Contract for Gulf of Mexico

McDermott International announced a contract from Shell Exploration and Production Company, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) plc, for subsea umbilical and flowline installation at the Perdido development, located 230 miles south of Galveston, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico."This award strengthens McDermott's relationship with Shell as we work together to safely and competitively deliver this next-generation deepwater energy project," said Richard Heo, McDermott's Senior Vice President for North, Central and South America. "Our proven track record of project execution in the Gulf of Mexico, industry-leading subsea capabilities…

24 Aug 2017

Oil Firm Evacuate Workers as Storm Approaches Texas

Oil companies evacuate workers as storm takes aim at Texas. Royal Dutch Shell, Anadarko Petroleum and Exxon Mobil announced they were curbing some oil and gas output on Wednesday at facilities in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a storm expected to hit the Texas coast later this week. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a hurricane watch Wednesday for much of the Texas coast, calling for slow-moving Tropical Depression Harvey to intensify as it nears landfall. Shell said it was evacuating all personnel from the roughly 100,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Perdido oil and gas production platform as a precaution. Anadarko said it had shut in production and was evacuating workers from its Boomvang, Gunnison, Lucius and Nansen platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

05 Dec 2016

Offshore Deepwater Rebound?

Photographer: Øyvind Hagen/Statoil

Statoil was awarded blocks 1 and 3 in the Saline Basin in the Deepwater exploration tender in the Mexican Round 1. The blocks cover an area of about 5,650 km2 (18,500 square miles) in the largely unexplored deepwater areas of the Saline Basin. Statoil will be the operator of blocks 1 and 3, at 33.4% equity, with partners BP and Total participating equally with the remaining equity. The licences were awarded in a competitive bid round. A total of 10 deepwater blocks were on offer, with four in the Perdido Area and six in the Saline Basin.

20 May 2016

Exxon, Total, Chevron in Talks With Pemex on Gulf

Oil majors are in talks with Mexico’s state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) as the struggling state-run oil producer seeks partners to develop deepwater crude in the Gulf of Mexico, reports Bloomberg. Petroleos Mexicanos is in talks with Exxon Mobil Corp., Total SA and Chevron Corp. as Mexico’s struggling state-run oil producer seeks partners to develop deepwater crude in the Gulf of Mexico. Pemex seeks Areas of Mutual Interest agreements to evaluate whether the companies have opportunities to work together in offshore areas. The talks would indicate the world’s oil majors are interested in partnering with Pemex to produce the country’s underdeveloped crude reserves or bid with Mexico’s state-owned operator in the country’s first-ever deep water auctions in December.

09 Dec 2015

EMGS Sells Daybreak Data in Gulf of Mexico

Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS) announces that the Company has entered into a data licensing agreement with an international oil company for the provision of 3D EM data from the multi-client data library over the Daybreak project located in the western US Gulf of Mexico worth a total of USD 1.5 million. The Daybreak data set is bordering Mexico's Perdido offshore oil province, and we find it encouraging that sales also are emerging from cross boarder exploration strategies in this region, say's Juan M. Santana, EMGS President - NSA.  This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

16 Jul 2015

EMGS Permitted for Multi-client Survey in Mexico

EMGS has received permits from Mexico's Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH) authorizing the acquisition of up to approximately 88,000 square km 3D EM multi-client data in the Salina de Itsmo Basin. EMGS will prioritize acquiring EM data for the future bid rounds in Mexico as outlined in the ''Plan Quinquenal de Licitaciones para la Exploración y Extracción de Hidrocarburos 2015-2019'' announced by theSecretaría de Energía (SENER) in early July. "We are pleased and encouraged by the recently announced 5 year plan for future licensing rounds offshore Mexico. It pairs well with our plans in Mexico and the received CNH permits and enables us to now actively seek funding of our projects", says Juan M. Santana, President EMGS North and South America.

15 Jun 2015

Pilot of Grounded Tug Sentenced for Negligence

The pilot of a tow vessel that ran aground in June 2014 was sentenced for negligence. Gerold Holt Bosarge was sentenced June 12 in United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama to a violation of Title 46, United States Code, Section 2302(b), Negligent Operations and Interfering with Safe Operations, a class A misdemeanor, United States Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama announced. Bosarge received one year of probation. The conduct occurred June 2, 2014, when Bosarge was piloting the tow vessel Lady Lone Star pushing a 175 foot barge loaded with 171,000 gallons of diesel fuel. The vessel ran aground in Bayou St. John just north of Ono Island and Perdido Pass. The vessel was approximately one mile off course from the Intracoastal Waterway.

27 Feb 2015

Mexico Approves 5 Shallow Water Areas in Round One Oil Tender

Mexico has approved the terms for five shallow water areas containing around 355 million barrels of oil equivalent as part of its Round One tender to open up the country's oil fields, the country's energy regulator said on Friday.   The whole of Round One covers areas including the Chicontepec basin and the Perdido area, as well as shallow and deep waters, and sees investment of up to $50.5 billion between 2015 and 2018, the energy regualtor said in November.     (Reporting by Adriana Barrera, Ana Isabel Martinez, Christine Murray and Joanna Zuckerman Bernstein; Editing by Simon Gardner)

25 Sep 2014

BHP Billiton & Pemex Agree to Exchange Deepwater Expertise

BHP Billiton and Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) today signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation (MOU) to exchange technical knowledge, information, experiences and practices in activities related to the oil and gas industry. On signing the MOU, BHP Billiton Petroleum and Potash President, Tim Cutt said: “We see considerable opportunity in Mexico following the recent economic reforms, and we are excited about the deepwater and the extension of the Paleogene play into the Perdido play. “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with Pemex due to its exceptional capability and experience. We are confident that we are one of the lowest cost and best drillers in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

15 Aug 2014

Round Zero Makes Pemex Major Player

Mexican regulators on Wednesday granted Pemex the bulk of its acreage request as the nation's oil industry opens to private participation, consolidating the state-led company's status as a major force despite losing its monopoly status. Meanwhile, the country's initial Round One acreage offering will include a range of opportunities including shale, deep-water, shallow-water, heavy oil and the nation's Chicontepec area. Those contracts, to be awarded between May and September of next year, will cover probable reserves for development of 3.78 billion cubic feet equivalent and prospective reserves for exploration of 14.6 trillion cfe. Round One will include ample feedback from industry and see some initial terms released at the end of November.

29 Apr 2014

Offshore Energy Timeline:1806-2014

1806  - Spring pole cable drilling developed in US. 1844  - Fluid circulating rotary well drilling patented in England. 1845  - Circulated fluid used to remove drill cuttings for first time. 1860  - Fluid circulation rotary diamond coring drill developed in France. 1869 – T homas Fitch Rowland  patents  a “submarine drilling apparatus,” a fixed, working platform for drilling offshore to a depth of almost 50 feet. The anchored tower had telescoping legs, similar to modern offshore platforms. 1878  - First bulk oil tanker begins operation in the Caspian Sea. 1891  - First ocean-going tanker launched. 1897  - Wells drilled off piers in Summerland, Calif. 1905 – Oil discovered in the Caddo Pine Island field in Lousiana. 1911  -  Gulf Refining Co.

30 Apr 2014

The History of Offshore Energy

Gracing the cover of the June 1, 1957 edition was a  “Huge Oil Drilling Barge” the Margaret which was one of the largest ever built at 300 ft. long, 200 ft. wide and 93 ft. high, capable of an operating depth of 65 ft. Margaret was built by Alabama Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Company for the Ocean Drilling and Exploration Company, New Orleans.

Offshore exploration is a history of man v. Prospecting for oil is a dynamic art. From a lake in Ohio, to piers off the California coast in the early 1900s, to the salt marshes of Louisiana in the 1930s, to the first “out-of-sight- of-land” tower in 1947 in the Gulf of Mexico, the modern offshore petroleum industry has inched its way over the last roughly 75 years from 100 ft. of water ever farther into the briny deep, where the biggest platform today, Shell’s Perdido spar, sits in 8,000 ft. of water. As a planet, we have two unquenchable thirsts – for water and for oil.

10 Oct 2013

BMT to Upgrade MIS/MAS Systems For Shell TLP Fleet

BMT SMS_Integrated marine_monitoring system rack computer

Shell has selected BMT Scientific Marine Services (BMT) to implement the replacement of marine instrumentation and advisory systems (MIS/MAS) across Shell’s Gulf of Mexico tension-leg platform (TLP) fleet. The updated systems will use BMT’s WinMon data acquisition software to implement the MIS functions to monitor, log and display data from the existing suite of sensors. The system performs data quality monitoring and processing and provides storage of measured time series and derived operational information.