Paula Dittrick
OGJ Senior Staff Writer
HOUSTON, June 3 -- Halliburton Co. executives said they might move workers and equipment in response to the 6-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
In a June 2 conference call with analysts, Halliburton executives did not say how many workers might be moved out of the gulf region in light of President Barack Obama’s 6-month moratorium on drilling in more than 500 ft of water in the gulf.
The moratorium followed the Apr. 20 blowout at BP PLC’s Macondo well that resulted in an explosion and fire on Transocean Ltd.’s Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible. The accident killed 11 people and resulted in an ongoing oil spill.
Separately, representatives for service rivals Baker Hughes Inc. and Schlumberger Ltd. also said they are considering moving people and equipment to international markets given the temporary gulf moratorium on deepwater drilling.
Halliburton executives said much of their business strategy depends upon the wishes of their customers.
“We shouldn’t consider the next 6 months to be a completely dead period,” said Tim Probert, Halliburton’s chief health, safety, and environment officer.
Probert sees potential for deepwater completions and workovers to continue during the moratorium. Meanwhile, Halliburton might move some of its drilling workers to the Eastern Hemisphere.
Probert noted, “It’s not quite as easy as it sounds to move rigs,” because customers wanting to do this have to get partners to agree. From a contract standpoint, contractors report that most drilling contracts provide clauses enabling rig to be moved.
The gulf region accounted for 13% of Halliburton’s North American revenue during the first quarter, said Mark McCollum, Halliburton’s chief financial officer. Over the last few years, that share has consistently been in the range of 12-16%, he said.
“In the Gulf of Mexico, 65% of our current business is deepwater,” McCollum said.
Probert said if the moratorium lifts on Nov. 30 as currently scheduled, he expects gulf deepwater activity would immediately increase, although he expects that it could take 12-24 months for industry to return to 50% of its previous activity level.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
