The six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon disaster has forced oil & gas companies to redraw their plans for the rest of the year. But the effects of the ban could linger long after, as Russell McCulley reports…
OE's analysis of current rig market data is updated monthly using statistics provided by Rigzone.comWorldwide utilization for the mobile offshore drilling fleet is tracking at about 74%, within the tight 74%-76% band it has seen for the past 10 months…
BP in mid-June began collecting oil & gas from the first phase of a system that taps into the choke and kill valves on the Macondo well's failed blowout preventer. The system employs the same flow lines and manifold used in the company's unsuccessful top kill attempt in May…
The Titanic, Columbia space shuttle and Deepwater Horizon disasters span a period of almost 100 years but have more in common than might at first be apparent. All three were avoidable and foundered on a misguided belief in their indestructibility…
BP struggled to stop the flow of oil from the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico as the disaster entered its second month, and the spill, the worst in US history, was having repercussions far beyond the environmental catastrophe. Russell McCulley reports…
Around 73,000 attendees packed this year’s OTC in Houston, nearly 5000 more than last year. But the still-unfolding Deepwater Horizon drama in the Gulf of Mexico kept the usual celebratory mood at bay, writes Russell McCulley.--It wasn’t exactly…
Andrew McBarnet forecasts some damaging consequences for marine seismic operations offshore the US as a result of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.The enormity of the blow-out and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig at the BP Macondo…
The oil & gas industry and analysts greeted President Obama’s offshore drilling plan as a step in the right direction. But subsequent events surrounding the Deepwater Horizon disaster (see Heavy losses in Horizon tragedy ) could complicate matters…
In a development that could have far-reaching implications for oil & gas operators in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, researchers last month released the findings of a two-year study that could help scientists better predict the behavior of the region’s powerful loop current and its eddies…
Lower prices, weak demand and competition from vast onshore shale plays helped put a damper on offshore liquefied natural gas terminal projects in the Gulf of Mexico. Russell McCulley talks to companies that are bucking the trend and pushing through with plans for deepwater LNG ports…
BJ Services' new stimulation vessel built for deepwater wells, the Blue Dolphin, made a recent stop in Houston on its way to Louisiana, where it will be based while doing short-term contract work in the Gulf of Mexico. Russell McCulley was on…
Drilling has long led the industry when it comes to technology, leaving completions with a need to catch up. During the IADC's Completions Conference – the first one the International Drilling Contractors Association has organized devoted solely…