Mexico

BP plc plans to “retrieve and rebuild” all of the seabed production equipment from the Thunder Horse field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM), a significant setback which could push the ramp-up to mid-2008 — as much as three years longer than originally anticipated.

The Senate voted late Thursday to approve a measure that would put an end to the “royalty holiday” for oil and natural gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico when energy prices reach high levels.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has issued a safety alert expressing its concern over the high number of deaths of offshore workers in the Gulf of Mexico so far this year.

Shell Exploration & Production Co. reported it has resumed partial production flows from its Mars Tension Leg Platform (TLP), the largest producing platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The platform was shut-in due to damage from Hurricane Katrina last August.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has issued a safety alert expressing its concern over the high number of deaths of offshore workers in the Gulf of Mexico so far this year.

Call it “storm hype” if you will, but there was no doubt that the ominously growing threat to Gulf of Mexico production from then-Tropical Depression Five (upgraded to Tropical Storm Ernesto Friday afternoon, well after cash trading had finished) was a major reason why prices increased at a sizeable majority of points Friday.

Petroleo Brasilerio (Petrobras), Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, has become a force to be reckoned with in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Over the past two years, the producer has quickly become a major foreign investor in the U.S. offshore, outbidding its rivals to obtain key tracts auctioned by the Minerals Management Services (MMS) in the western GOM.

Because of unprecedented damage from last year’s record hurricane season, Gulf of Mexico (GOM) oil and natural gas production and infrastructure remain vulnerable to even modest storms, which could affect commodity prices this season, according to energy consultant Wood Mackenzie.

An ultra-deep natural gas well being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico on the Treasure Island play by a consortium of producers will be temporarily abandoned after failing to reach its primary targets. The well failed to reach its targets because of higher than expected pressure, said 23%-stakeholder Newfield Exploration Co.