When the Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible rig exploded, caught fire, and then sank while on station at BP PLC's Macondo prospect in 4,993 ft of water 40 miles off Venice, La., triggering an oil leak estimated at 5,000 b/d mere days before the 2010 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC 2010) in Houston, it could not help but have some bearing on the conference's course.
The Woodlands, Tex., has opened a new office and warehouse in Shreveport, expanding its operations to better serve customers in the ArkLaTex region for oil and gas exploration and development. The facility is to be operational by August 2010.
Despite the overhanging pall of the tragic Macondo blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, the 2010 Offshore Technology Conference on May 3-6 in Houston was generally upbeat with business better than a year ago and hopes of steady improvement through the rest of the year.
Testifying May 11 before two US Senate committees, top executives from BP America Inc., Transocean Ltd., and Halliburton Co. said that full investigations would be required to determine the cause behind the blowout of the Macondo well and subsequent explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Gulf of Mexico rig accident and oil spill has made prospects for US Senate passage of a compromise climate bill with more offshore oil and gas activity bleak, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-Ala.) conceded.
The leading US oil and gas, automotive, and outdoor power equipment trade associations are concerned that the US Environmental Protection Agency might permit ethanol's allowable motor fuels limit to rise without fully considering the consequences.
Many oil companies offered technical expertise and equipment to BP PLC and the oil spill response team in a cooperative effort to stop the flow from a leaking deepwater well and help mitigate environmental damages.
US Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar proposed dividing the US Minerals Management Service and separating its environmental and safety regulations enforcement from its leasing and royalties collection operations.
Predictably enough, tensions between Argentina and the UK again are on the rise after Rockhopper Exploration PLC last week said further tests indicate the oil it discovered near the Falkland Islands can be commercially exploited.
In its latest Stockwatch Quarterly Review, Energy Security Analysis Inc. (ESAI), Boston, forecasts that over the next 2 years, the fundamentally sustainable price range for crude is $70-90/bbl.
A growing number of independents plans to accelerate development of crude oil and liquids-rich plays, driven largely by horizontal drilling results in the Eagle Ford shale of South Texas and by growing production in North Dakota's Bakken formation.
Heightened concerns for cleaner air are leading to more stringent regulations on sulfur content in transportation fuels. That in turn is making desulfurization in hydrocarbon processing more important.
Both the frequency and scale of releases from hazardous liquids pipelines in the US have declined since the 1999 introduction of the Pipeline Performance Tracking System.
