Deepwater

The rapid improvement in efficiencies to produce deepwater oil and gas, which usually has taken years and millions of dollars, has put the expensive offshore within reach of tight/shale oil development costs, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Oil and gas output has ramped up at the Appomattox floating production system in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) months ahead of schedule, operator Shell Offshore Inc. said Thursday.

Schlumberger Ltd. and Norway’s TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co. are collaborating on next generation ocean-bottom node projects to assist exploration clients in their quest to develop U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) oil and natural gas.

The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) on Thursday issued final regulations covering blowout preventer (BOP) systems and well control, which officials said would reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens.

Murphy Oil Corp. on Tuesday said it has snapped up producing deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) assets from units of LLOG Exploration Co. for $1.375 billion.

Royal Dutch Shell plc has agreed to sell to Israeli-based Delek Group Ltd. its stakes in the producing Caesar-Tonga field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) for $965 million.

The coming year appears to be a turnaround for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM), as drilling increases for the first time in four years and more projects are sanctioned.

Midstream operators are trying to capitalize on the rapidly growing interest in deepwater port crude oil export capabilities along the Gulf Coast with two separate pipeline projects that could be capable of transporting more than 1.5 million bbl combined.

The deepwater oil and gas industry has come out of its sustained downturn, but it now faces impending cyclical cost inflation that could wreak havoc on its work to cut expenses, according to Wood Mackenzie.