The Houston Chronicle has a depressing and concerning article.
Quote:
What's worse than a deep-water drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico?
No deep-water drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Obama administration's response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster has been reduced to a bad joke, but no one in the oil industry is laughing.
The moratorium on new deep-water drilling was enacted in the weeks after the rig explosion on April 20, which killed 11 workers. At the time, the industry feared that the six-month ban would force dozens of rigs operating in the Gulf to move to more lucrative oil fields elsewhere in the world.
[...]
That didn't happen. A few rigs left, but most of the larger rig owners worked out agreements with their customers, accepting lower day rates in exchange for keeping the rigs and their crews in place. Everyone involved wanted to be ready to go when the moratorium was lifted and drilling resumed.
It wasn't an easy call. As I wrote in October, some of the biggest rig operators lost more than $100 million in revenue apiece while the moratorium was in place.
Then, the government lifted the ban a month early, and since then ... nothing's happened.
Even for shallow-water wells, which weren't covered by the ban, few permits have been issued as companies race to comply with new safety requirements. In the deep water, no permits have been issued since the ban was lifted.
[...]
Now, companies have had enough. Last week, Marathon Oil Corp. said it intends to terminate its contract for Noble Corp.'s Jim Day rig on Dec. 31 if the deep-water semisubmersible doesn't resume work by then. Both Marathon and Noble are working to finish testing for the new rig, which arrived in the Gulf in September, but the new safety standards are a moving target.
[...]
Meanwhile, Transocean, which owned the Deepwater Horizon, has said it's in talks with Shell Oil Co., Anadarko and BHP Billiton to extend deep-water contracts that expired last month.
Another big rig operator, Ensco, said it is sending a newly built deep-water rig to French Guiana from the Gulf under a sublet arrangement while the Gulf operator awaits new permits.
In other words, the long-feared exodus may be about to begin.
Five deep-water rigs have either already left the Gulf or are scheduled to go as a result of the moratorium.
[...]
Now, faced with the uncertainty of when drilling might resume, they are unwilling to keep their biggest moneymaking assets idled indefinitely.
The administration has managed to take a difficult situation and make it untenable for many drilling companies.
UPDATE: Marathon is canceling their contract with Noble LINK
Disaster!!
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