Skip to footer

Oil companies return to the Gulf of Mexico

Two years after the BP oil spill, drilling in the US Gulf of Mexico is growing again. It may soon reach the levels that it was at before the spill, according to OilPrice.com.

|
Rusty Costanza/The Times Picayune/AP/File
In this August 2010 file photo, tugs slowly move the Noble Frontier Driller into port at Signal East Shipyard in Pascagoula Ms. The Nobel Frontier was one of dozens of deepwater rigs that were forced into port because of the Gulf of Mexico drilling moratorium. Oil companies are attracted to the Gulf of Mexico mainly due to the stable political environment and clear regulations, Burgess writes.
  • By James Burgess Guest blogger

Following the infamous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico back in 2010, all deepwater drilling in the area was shut down, and the whole sector was sent into chaos. However now, according to GlobalData, drilling in the US Gulf of Mexico is starting to grow again, and may soon reach the levels that it was at before the spill.

The study performed by GlobalData suggests that despite the increased restrictions placed upon oil companies working in the Gulf of Mexico, and the high risks and costs involved in deep-water drilling, companies are increasing operations in the area due to the high oil prices. (RELATED: Oil Prices Dive 5% on Speculation and Mystery)

In the first quarter of 2012 the US government issued 44 drilling permits for the area, compared to just 74 and 79 for the whole of 2010 and 2011 respectively. This growth will see drilling operations return to pre-2010 levels by the end of the year.

Oil companies are attracted to the Gulf of Mexico mainly due to the stable political environment and clear regulations. Operations in oil fields in other parts of the world are constantly under threat from changing regimes, and local unrest. However in February of this year the US and Mexican governments signed an agreement which set a clear framework for the exploration and extraction of oil in the Gulf. (RELATED: Shell to Build the World's First Ever Floating LNG Plant)

Major international oil companies dominate deepwater drilling in the Gulf due to the necessity for high technological expertise, the high set up costs, and the potential multi-billion dollar liability rick if anything bad goes wrong. Of the 44 licenses that were granted, BP received 13, and Chevron 14.

Source: http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Oil-Companies-Race-Back-to-the-Gulf-of-Mexico.html 

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Oil companies return to the Gulf of Mexico
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2012/0921/Oil-companies-return-to-the-Gulf-of-Mexico
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe