For Petrobras and other operators offshore Brazil, success seems to come almost without exception.
The government of Mexico is looking to offshore reserves and a new contract structure to spur foreign investment and reverse a decline in oil production that has been ongoing since 2006.
Pacific waters offshore western Latin America take second place to the booming developments off the east side, but that does not mean operators are dormant.
Venezuela is projected to become Latin America's third-largest producer in the next five years.
The deepwater rig fleet has grown dramatically since 2010, the last time the Worldwide Survey of Deepwater Drilling Rigs was published by Offshore.
The number of jackups, semisubmersibles, drillships, and tender-assisted units under construction grew by nearly 12% over the number of rigs under construction a year earlier.
2012 Worldwide MODU construction/new order survey
Many factors influence rig construction cost. Market conditions, design type and class, construction shipyard, and rig specifications are the primary factors.
As Latin American drilling interests focus increasingly on deepwater prospects, operators are quickly applying lessons learned with managed pressure drilling (MPD) in other deepwater provinces.
For more than two decades, the oil and gas industry has invested millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours to develop a solution to a looming challenge affecting the ability to drill and complete deep wells.
Offshore drilling is expensive, especially in deepwater, and there is a strong focus on reducing both development cost and time-to-production to reap the best return on investment.
While subsea well intervention is necessary, traditional methods can take time and be costly, with drilling and semisubmersible rig costs running up to $1 million to $1.4 million a day spread rate.
Several issues need to be considered to design and configure a subsea development to be controlled and operated over a significant distance.
An offshore pipeline study for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) was completed in May 2012.
From 2008 to 2012, the number of active deepwater rigs rated for 4,000-ft (1,219-m)water depth and greater has increased by 56%, according to the latest edition of Offshore's Worldwide Survey of Deepwater Drilling Rigs, available in this issue.
Brazil is to remain at the forefront of Latin American production going forward to 2016, with presalt production expected to show substantial growth after 2012.
Pemex has commissioned McDermott International to build a new drilling platform for the Ayatsil field in the Bay of Campeche offshore Mexico.
Statoil and partner Petoro have sanctioned Norway's second subsea gas compression project.
Interest in the Gulf of Mexico remains high in the post-Macondo era, as evidenced by the results of the latest Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale.
Statoil to tieback North Sea Svalin structures to Grane.
Hallin Marine recently announced a major addition to its fleet of subsea operation vessels.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has yet another natural gas discovery offshore Mozambique in Offshore Area 1 of the Rovuma basin, and the potential of the area is looking better with each new well.
The recent EAGE (European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers) conference and exhibition held in Copenhagen brought out some new technologies for the oil and gas geologist and geophysicist.
Historically, the downstream and midstream sectors of the oil and gas industry have relied extensively on automation technology to help improve safety and optimize the operations of its refineries, gas plants, petrochemical plants, and pipelines.
ATP Oil & Gas Corp. had appointed Matt McCarroll as CEO, but was unable to reach a mutual employment agreement.
Major oil and gas operators are changing the way in which they shortlist and award inspection contracts, and many have begun to adopt a global strategy for procurement.
Senegal names Elenilto operator of Offshore SudElenilto is named operator of the Senegal Offshore Sud Shallow Oil block production sharing contract. Petrosen will have a minority participation interest. |
Hyperdynamics completes sale of interest offshore GuineaHyperdynamics Corp. subsidiary SCS Corp. has completed the sale to Tullow Guinea Ltd. of 40% gross interest in its exploration concession offshore Guinea. |
Chevron has two new gas finds offshore AustraliaChevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) has two new discoveries offshore Australia in the Exmouth Plateau area of Carnarvon basin. |
Keppel wins trio of offshore vessel ordersKeppel Offshore & Marine subsidiaries have won three construction contracts for offshore vessels with a combined value of S$420 million ($343 million). |
Service resumes at North Sea Victoria fieldBridge Energy (OSE:BRIDGE;AIM:BRDG.L) confirms that the gas export infrastructure system used by the Victoria field in the UK southern North Sea is up and running again, following a shutdown earlier this month. |
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