In early 2020, prior to the the COVID shutdowns in mid-March, the offshore oil and gas industry in the US GOM was showing strong signs of a sustained recovery. By the end of February 2020, there were 22 deep water rigs actively drilling, the most since 2017. After the pandemic shut the world down, offshore activity dropped dramatically…
Posts By: npayne
Capitalizing on Increased Oil Prices: Now Is the Time
I recently did an analysis of oil prices and the number of deepwater rigs in the US Gulf of Mexico going all the way back to 2014. I wasn’t sure what the results might indicate but I had a general idea of what the averages were at the end of each respective year. In summary, here are…
New Industries Provide Positive Outlook for OSV Market
While the offshore market is showing signs of a sustained recovery with OSV demand increasing dramatically over the last few months, there are other industries that will drive even more OSV demand. There has been much made of the need for existing OSVs to support offshore wind farm activities in the US. Though the desire is for…
2021 Wrapped: Will Omicron Derail An Increase GOM Activity?
As 2021 draws to a close, there are many reasons to be both optimistic and cautious about our industry in 2022 and beyond. While there have been positive trends in market drivers for OSV demand, we are still faced with the threat of COVID and the impact it may have on oil and gas demand. Overall,…
Lease Sales and Alternative Energy Fuels US GOM Commitments
Back in August, I touched on the growing sentiment among Super Major and Major energy companies that the US Gulf of Mexico will remain a critical offshore oil and gas basin for years to come. In that same month, during the annuals Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Shell announced as part of its long-term energy…
Jackson Offshore Operators Announces Acquisition of New PSV and Long-Term Contract
NEW ORLEANS — Jackson Offshore Operators, LLC (JOO) is pleased to announce that it is growing its Platform Supply Vessel (PSV) fleet with the acquisition of the M/V STORM. Once it has completed regulatory requirements, the M/V STORM will commence a five-year contract with a Super Major in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Built in…
Oil and Gas Markets See Renewed Signs of Recovery
As oil prices continue their steady march upward, there is yet to be a meaningful increase in floating rig activity in the US Gulf of Mexico. Some may see this as a negative sign for offshore activity, but I disagree. It was widely believed that once oil eclipsed the mid-$60 threshold for a sustained period,…
A Look At Post-Ida Vessel Activity in the USGOM
Currently, offshore activity in the US Gulf of Mexico is still struggling to get back to pre-Hurricane Ida levels. It has now been almost a month since Ida made landfall directly over Port Fourchon where repairing the damaged infrastructure is proving to be a major hurdle. Luckily, the amount of offshore damaged is not as bad as…
USGOM Positioned For Long-Term Production
Over the past few years, I’ve commented that the projected demise of oil and gas as fuels (as a result of renewables) was greatly exaggerated. The very aggressive goals to achieve net-zero carbon emissions within the next few decades has seemed unsustainable ever since those goals were first announced by major oil and energy companies….
New, Longer Deepwater Contracts Tighten US GOM Market
Deepwater drilling activity in the US GOM is a topic I tend to cover frequently and, more often than not, it is the total number of active rigs that guides my industry position. The count is very much still a focus and currently remains steady with 14 active deepwater rigs in the GOM. However, another interesting…