Offshore staff
HOUSTON -- Mark Burns, vice president and division manager for Noble Drilling, gave attendees at this year's DOT a drilling perspective for 2007 and beyond.
In his assessment of current activity, Burns said the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico accounts for 66% of GoM oil and 32% of GoM gas. He pointed to the Jack test and the Kaskida discovery as successes in the Lower Tertiary play and predicted strong lease sales in the Gulf through 2009. Burns expects continued high activity and strong day rates in deepwater.
Burns also discussed lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, which blew through the Gulf in 2005. The considerable damage inflicted on offshore structures has led to new requirements for mooring and newbuild construction, Burns said.
Burns' third subject of discussion was the large number of newbuilds and their potential affect on E&P activity.
"There are 105 newbuilds on the books," Burns said. But he does not expect the presence of the newbuilds to negatively impact established drilling contractors. "HSE will be one of the biggest challenges for newcomers," he said.
Burns concluded with a list of challenges contractors face, including the continued focus on HSE, retaining personnel, developing new technology, and controlling cost while continuing to provide customer service.
Despite the challenges, Burns said, the future is promising. "Long-term contracts continue to be announced," he said, noting that Noble has several contracts in place that extend to 2012 and 2013.
11/28/2006
