Shallow Gulf of Mexico Drilling Rises
Monday, October 08, 2012
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has reported that natural gas drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico has increased over the past 12 months, despite a drop in natural gas prices over much of the same period.
During September, the average number of rigs drilling for gas in the gulf was more than double the total for September 2011, according to data provided by Baker Hughes Inc. Virtually all of the rigs were positioned in shallow waters (up to 152.4 m).
EIA said the higher activity reflects the resumption of well permitting by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which had halted approvals to develop new safety and environmental standards in response to the BP blowout in April 2010.
A second factor, according to EIA, is the comparatively high prices that producers are getting from hydrocarbon liquids extracted from the gas production stream.
For more information: www.eia.gov
