Gulf Of Mexico NEWS

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico added six rigs week on week, Baker Hughes’ latest rotary rig count, which was released on February 10, revealed. The latest additions take the total U.S. Gulf of Mexico rig count up to 18, according to Baker Hughes, which highlighted that the total U.S. rig count increased by two week on week. Although the country added six offshore rigs week on week, it dropped four land rigs during the same time period, Baker Hughes outlined.

Energy firms shut 57.6% of offshore crude oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico because of the twin threat from Hurricane Marco and Tropical Storm Laura. Also, 44.6% of natural gas output was shut ahead of the storms by the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Workers have been evacuated from 114 production platforms out of the 643 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Aker Solutions has secured a contract from Subsea 7 to deliver umbilicals for Murphy Oil subsidiary Murphy Exploration and Production’s King’s Quay development in the US Gulf of Mexico. Murphy Oil holds a 50% stake in King’s Quay floating production system (FPS) while the remaining interest is held by private equity firm Ridgewood Energy Corporation.

bp Plc began shutting down production at three platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico and evacuating workers, in preparation for the Tropical Storm Cristobal. The storm is forecasted to make landfall in Louisiana over the weekend. bp is reducing production at its Thunder Horse, Atlantis and Na Kika platforms. Non-essential workers are being pulled from the Mad Dog platform, but production is not being cut back.

Equinor has discovered oil at its Monument exploration well in the Gulf of Mexico. The company said that further drilling is still required to establish its size. A statement from Equinor read, “We are pleased to have proved an accumulation of movable hydrocarbons in the Monument exploration well. However, determining the full potential of the discovery will require further appraisal drilling,”. Equinor holds a 50% stake at the prospect.

Norway's BW Offshore has landed a five-year contract for the lease and operation of the BW Pioneer from MP Gulf of Mexico, LLC. The contract, concluding in March 2025, has an option to extend for another five-year. CEO, BW Offshore said, “We are very pleased to have reached a long-term agreement with MP GOM for the BW Pioneer, confirming our strong relationship with MP GOM on the Cascade and Chinook fields”.

Subsea 7 has secured the subsea installation service contract from Chevron for the at the St. Malo field. The contract terms require Subsea 7 to provide project management, engineering, procurement, construction and installation services for the multiphase pump system at the field. The St. Malo field in Gulf of Mexico is a 14-mile water injection flowline system, which includes a Swagelining polymer lined flowline, and the water injection control system.

Norwegian oil major, Equinor has concluded the acquisition of Shell’s stake in the Caesar Tonga oil field. The acquisition has increased Equinor’s interest in the field to 46%. The operatorship of the field remains with Anadarko Petroleum, with a 33.75% interest, while Chevron owns a 20.25% interest. The deal between Equinor and Shell which was first announced in May 2019, recently received approval from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

After facing a downturn in the previous session, oil prices went uphill on Wednesday. WTI showed a substantial increase and was traded at $57.68 per barrel. Brent crudes went up by 0.4% and were traded at $64.60 per barrel. According to analysts, as the operations in the Gulf of Mexico return to normal, halt in price gains will be witnessed.

Oil prices declined on Tuesday with the return of more and more production facilities to operation in the U.S. Gulf. Meanwhile, the Chinese data diminished the outlook of crude demand. Brent slipped by 0.2%, to $66.38 a barrel. WTI dropped by 0.2% and was traded at $59.48 a barrel. However, it might take several days for the production to resume fully after a storm leaves the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil prices continued its journey uphill on Friday, supported by production cut due to a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico and growing tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude futures jumped by 0.4% to $66.81 per barrel. US WTI crude futures were priced 0.5% higher at $60.51 a barrel. The tropical storm in the Gulf has forced oil majors in the region to cut production by over 1 million bpd.

Oil prices jumped in the international market on Thursday, amidst tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico and the tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude futures were priced 0.5% higher, at $67.31 a barrel. US WTI crude futures were traded 0.6% higher, at $60.77 a barrel. With a tropical storm expected to hit Gulf of Mexico on Friday, 15 production platforms and four rigs were vacated in the region.

In lieu of the upcoming tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico, oil supermajpr Chevron Corp began the shutdown and evacuation process at five of its production platforms in the region. The oil firm joined major oil companies in their preparation for the storm. A spokeswoman at Chevron said that they are also removing some non-essential workers at Jack/St. Malo.

In an unfortunate event on Sunday morning, two crew members at the Shell Auger Tension Leg Platform were killed during a routine test. A Shell spokesperson informed that the accident happened while crews were performing a mandatory test of the lifeboat launch at the rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Apart from the two killed during the accident, another one was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

W&T Offshore has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with ExxonMobil. After this, W&T will acquire the assets of the energy major in the eastern region of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and other related facilites. This deal is worth $200 million. This acquisition includes working interests in nine shallow water producing fields and related operatorship in the Mobile Bay area. It will help W&T become the largest operator in the area.

C-Innovation has received a contract to perform riserless light well intervention (RLWI) activities for BP in the Gulf of Mexico. The initial contract includes both mechanical and hydraulic acid stimulations which will be performed by C-I’s flagship Gulf of Mexico assets. Subsea Manager of C-I said, "We look forward to continuing to grow our relationship with BP by offering unique and cost-effective turnkey solutions”.

Subsea engineering expert, Oceaneering International, has bagged a deepwater AUV survey contract in the Gulf of Mexico, which will also be the first ever deepwater survey by an AUV. The contract pertains to BHP’s Trion development, for which Oceaneering will deploy the DP-2 Ocean Investigator, equipped with its OS-VI AUV and light geotechnical capabilities.

UK-based Subsea 7 has awarded two contracts to ACE Winches for the provision of linear winch pull-in systems to be utilized in two Gulf of Mexico projects. While the first contract pertains to the Shell Vito project, the other contract is for BP’s Mad Dog Phase 2 project. ACE Winches’ linear winching system design lowers the winch deck footprint and deck structure loadings for riser installations.