Posted in drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged Borr Drilling, Cantium, jack-up rig, Lars Herbst, Odin, Pensacola on June 12, 2026| 1 Comment »
Lars Herbst saw this “beauty” while sitting at a rooftop “establishment” in Pensacola. Reminded him of our temporary Pensacola office and Destin Dome drilling. Lars had visions of returning to work as Pensacola District Manager! 😉
Upon returning to his senses, Lars reports that it’s the Borr jack-up rig Odin purchased from Noble’s fleet. The rig was brought from Mexico to Pensacola for modifications, and will be under contract to Cantium to drill in the GOA, but not the Eastern GOA!
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged 2025 safety compliance, AnadarkoOxy, BOE Exploration, bp, Cantium, Chevron, Gulf of America, INCs, LLOG, Murphy Oil, Shell, top performers, violations on February 5, 2026| Leave a Comment »
The 2025 Gulf of America Safety Compliance Leaders are ranked below according to the number of incidents of non-compliance (INCs) per facility inspection. To be ranked, a company must:
| operator | W | CSI | FSI | total INCs | facility insp | INCs/ fac insp | insp | INCs/ insp |
| Shell | 3 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 231 | 0.05 | 557 | 0.02 |
| Chevron | 10 | 8 | 0 | 18 | 260 | 0.07 | 772 | 0.02 |
| Oxy | 2 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 133 | 0.07 | 325 | 0.03 |
| BP | 8 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 122 | 0.08 | 304 | 0.03 |
| Murphy | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 70 | 0.11 | 177 | 0.05 |
| Cantium | 5 | 7 | 4 | 16 | 121 | 0.13 | 488 | 0.03 |
| Gulf-wide 2025 | 815 | 445 | 84 | 1344 | 3179 | 0.42 | 10218 | 0.13 |
| Gulf-wide 2024 | 957 | 398 | 109 | 1464 | 3133 | 0.47 | 10664 | 0.14 |
Criteria: This ranking is based solely on BSEE’s published compliance data. The absence of timely public information on safety incidents (e.g. injuries, fires, pollution, gas releases, property damage) precludes inclusion of these data. Although Panel Investigations are conducted for fatalities, serious injuries, and significant pollution events, the last panel report was for an incident on 3/25/2022, and no information is available for any ongoing investigations. BSEE District offices investigate the more significant incidents that don’t qualify for panel investigations. These District Investigation reports are more timely, but some are not issued within 90 days of the incident. The District reports will be reviewed later in the year. Note that there were no occupational fatalities in 2025.
Observations:
Not meeting one of the activity level requirements, but nonetheless noteworthy, were the compliance records of LLOG and BOE Exploration & Production (younger than and unrelated to the BOE blog 😀). See their impressive results below:
| operator | W | CSI | FSI | total INCs | facility insp | INCs/ fac insp | insp | INCs/ insp |
| BOE | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 0.03 | 78 | 0.01 |
| LLOG | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 29 | 0.10 | 78 | 0.04 |
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged 2025 safety compliance, AnadarkoOxy, bp, Cantium, Chevron, Gulf of America, INCs, Murphy Oil, Shell, top performers on February 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Shell topped the list followed by Chevron, Oxy/Anadarko, bp, Murphy, and Cantium.
Details and observations will be posted tomorrow.
Posted in drilling, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged AnadarkoOxy, Arena, Beacon, bp, Cantium, Chevron, discoveries, few active rigs, Gulf of America, rig count, Shell, Talos on September 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The latest Baker Hughes Rig Count Report shows only 10 rigs actively drilling in the Gulf. All are at deepwater locations – 7 in the Mississippi Canyon area, 2 in Green Canyon, and 1 in Alaminos Canyon. Per the BSEE borehole file, Shell accounts for most of the current MS Canyon wells and the Alaminous Canyon well. Beacon is also drilling in the MS Canyon, and the Green Canyon well appears to be a Chevron operation.
This current rig count, which has hovered between 9 and 12 all year, is troubling if you are concerned about long-term production. By comparison the Gulf rig count reached 22 last year and was 100+ during the 10 year period from 1994 to 2003.
Only Anadarko/Oxy, Beacon/BOE, BP, Chevron/Hess, Shell, and Talos have spudded deepwater exploratory wells in 2025 YTD. Arena and Cantium are the only shelf drillers – all development wells.
Technological advances and extensions of past discoveries have sustained Gulf production, but declines are certain over the longer term if drilling activity doesn’t increase. Oil price uncertainty is an issue, but that’s always the case. Semiannual lease sales are now legislatively required and the terms will be attractive, so those issues are off the table. Let’s see what the bidding looks like at the upcoming sale.
The decline in deepwater discoveries (BOEM data below) is particularly discouraging. Per BOEM, the last deepwater field discovery was in March 2023.
Posted in accidents, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged 2024 OCS safety leaders, Anadarko, Arena, bp, Cantium, Chevron, compliance ranking 2024, Hess, INCs, Murphy, Shell, violations, Walter Oil and Gas on April 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The 2024 Gulf of America Safety Compliance Leaders are ranked below according to the number of incidents of non-compliance (INCs) per facility inspection. To be ranked, a company must:
This ranking is based solely on BSEE’s published compliance data. The absence of timely public information on safety incidents (e.g. injuries, fires, pollution, gas releases, property damage) precludes inclusion of these data.
District investigation reports are more timely and provide additional insights into safety performance. Impressively, Hess had no incidents warranting a District investigation, and was the only ranked operator with this distinction. I will comment more on the District reports in a future post
Chevron’s 2024 compliance record was among the best in the history of the US OCS oil and gas program. Was it the absolute best? Were it not for the FSI INC at a Unocal (Chevron) facility, one could unequivocally assert that it was. Further evaluation of that INC would be helpful. However, details on specific INCs are not publicly available, so the significance of that violation cannot be evaluated.
| operator | W | CSI | FSI | total INCs | facility insp | INCs/ fac insp | insp | INCs/ insp |
| Chevron | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 117 | 0.02 | 311 | 0.006 |
| BP | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 93 | 0.05 | 251 | 0.02 |
| Anadarko | 8 | 9 | 1 | 18 | 143 | 0.13 | 344 | 0.05 |
| Hess | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 26 | 0.19 | 67 | 0.07 |
| Walter | 6 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 50 | 0.22 | 161 | 0.07 |
| Shell | 23 | 17 | 5 | 45 | 199 | 0.23 | 495 | 0.09 |
| Cantium | 24 | 8 | 0 | 32 | 123 | 0.26 | 537 | 0.06 |
| Murphy | 8 | 9 | 1 | 18 | 70 | 0.26 | 191 | 0.09 |
| Arena | 29 | 28 | 3 | 60 | 189 | 0.32 | 803 | 0.07 |
| Gulf-wide | 957 | 398 | 109 | 1464 | 3133 | 0.47 | 10664 | 0.14 |
Not meeting the production facilities requirement to be ranked among the top performers, but nonetheless noteworthy, was the compliance record of BOE Exploration & Production (no relation to the BOE blog 😀). See their impressive inspection results below:
| W | CSI | FSI | total INCs | facility insp | INCs/ fac insp | insp | INCs/ insp | |
| BOE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 0.1 | 48 | 0.04 |
Transparency on inspections and incidents is important for a program that is dependent on public confidence. For independent observers to better evaluate industry-wide and company-specific safety performance, publication of the following information should be considered:
Posted in CCS, decommissioning, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged Arena Energy, Byron Energy, Cantium, Focus Exploration, GOM Shelf, leasing, rental, royalty rate, Sale 257, sale 259, sale 261 on March 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »
A post from last March discussed the high and seemingly unfair royalty and rental rates for new leases in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico shelf. A 50% increase in the shelf royalty rate for lease sales 259 and 261 combined with rather punitive rental rates have likely contributed to the sharp decline in bidding for shelf lease blocks (see table below).
This decline in shelf bidding is unfortunate because the smaller companies that operate in the shallow waters of the Gulf are critical to sustaining the production infrastructure. These companies are also significant producers of environmentally favorable nonassociated (gas-well) natural gas.
| lease sale | shelf blocks with bids (excluding CCS bids) | sum of high shelf bids ($million, excluding CCS bids) |
| 257 | 46 | $8.1 |
| 259 | 29 | $4.1 |
| 261 | 13 | $1.7 |
BOEM has completed their evaluation of the Sale 261 shelf bids (see below). Each of these blocks received only a single bid, and every bid was accepted. Ironically, the invalid CCS bids for blocks that have no oil and gas value, were the first to be accepted. This was also the case for Sales 257 and 259.
| Company | Block | high bid ($) per acre ($) | date accepted |
| Byron | SM 60 | 128,750 25.75 | 2/2 |
| Byron | SM 70 | 182,235 33.32 | 2/20 |
| Cantium | GI 35 | 125,000 25.00 | 2/20 |
| Cantium | GI 36 | 125,000 25.00 | 2/20 |
| Cantium | MP 314 | 125,000 25.00 | 3/12 |
| Cantium | SP 63 | 125,000 25.00 | 3/12 |
| Arena | EI 231 | 135,000 27.18 | 2/20 |
| Arena | EI 277 | 135,000 27.18 | 2/20 |
| Arena | EI 281 | 135,000 27.18 | 2/20 |
| Arena | EI 340 | 135,000 27.18 | 2/20 |
| Arena | EI 343 | 135,000 27.18 | 2/20 |
| Arena | WD 119 | 135,000 26.75 | 3/12 |
| Focus | V 152 | 121,152 25.16 | 2/20 |
| Repsol | 36 CCS bids | 187,200 (1) 32.50 | 1/23 |
Suggestions:
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Anadarko, bp, Cantium, Chevron, Eni, Hess, LLOG, Murphy, QuarterNorth, Shell on February 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »
The Honor Roll companies for 2023 (listed alphabetically) are Anadarko, bp, Cantium, Chevron, Eni, Hess, LLOG, Murphy, QuarterNorth, and Shell.
BOE Honor Roll criteria:
| platforms | 2023 well starts | 2023 (10 mos.) oil prod. (million bbls) | 2023 (10 mos.) gas prod. (bcf) | |
| Anadarko | 10 | 11 | 66 | 60 |
| BP | 7 | 11 | 105 | 65 |
| Cantium | 96 | 10 | 5 | 6 |
| Chevron | 8 | 10 | 67 | 39 |
| Eni | 3 | 1 | 6 | 13 |
| Hess | 3 | 3 | 18 | 36 |
| LLOG | 10 | 7 | 25 | 35 |
| Murphy | 7 | 4 | 42 | 57 |
| QuarterNorth | 9 | 1 | 13 | 23 |
| Shell | 20 | 20 | 141 | 140 |
Also noteworthy:
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Arena Energy, Byron Energy, Cantium, Gulf of Mexico shelf, Lease Sale 261 on January 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »
The interest of the majors and most independents has shifted entirely to deepwater prospects, as evidenced by the above graphic and sale data. Nonetheless, a few resourceful companies continue to find value in the shallow waters of the continental shelf.
“There’s an art to finding oil—particularly in the Gulf of Mexico. After decades of drilling, this world-class basin still holds vast potential for those skilled enough to unlock it. Arena energy is applying expert insight and advanced technology to identify new Gulf of Mexico oil and gas exploration opportunities. This is the art of oil finding in the 21st century.“
Arena Energy
Arena Energy, a successful shelf operator for a quarter of a century, was the leading shelf bidder with 6 high bids. In 2023 Arena was once again the most active shelf driller with 20 well starts. They claim a 94% drilling success rate. Arena currently operates 123 platforms and is the GoM’s 7th ranked natural gas producer and the 11th ranked oil producer.
Cantium, another leading shelf operator, was the high bidder on 4 tracts. Cantium drilled 10 wells in 2023 and currently operates 86 platforms. Cantium claims to maintain “the highest level of operational safety and regulatory compliance by maximizing efficiencies and empowering employees,” and publicly available compliance data bear that out. Cantium was a BOE Honor Roll company for 2022, and a preliminary look at the data indicates that their 2023 performance was also excellent. Cantium is ranked 18th in both oil and natural gas production.
Byron Energy, which is headquartered in Australia, is the only international company investing in the GoM shelf. Byron was the high bidder on 2 tracts and currently operates 2 platforms. The company drilled 3 wells in 2023. Byron intends to continue focusing on the shallow waters of the Gulf.
Thoughts on the attributes of a successful shelf operator:
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged Beacon, Cantium, civil penalties, Gulf of Mexico, Hess, Kosmos on September 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Impressively, 4 GoM operators with significant production and well activity did not incur a single civil penalty payment during the most recent 4 year period. Each of these operators also had low incident of noncompliance (INC) to inspection ratios. The companies are as follows:
| Operator | 2022 oil production (million bbls) | 2022 oil production rank | 2022 gas production (bcf) | No. of platforms | No. of well starts (2019-2022) |
| Hess | 21.6 | 7 | 46.5 | 3 | 5 |
| Kosmos | 8.5 | 14 | 7.8 | subsea tiebacks | 6 |
| Beacon | 7.2 | 15 | 12.2 | subsea tiebacks | 4 |
| Cantium | 4.7 | 19 | 6.1 | 86 | 37 |
“The Pickerel-1 prospect was our first (exploration well on the Mississippi Canyon 727) and we are delighted that it was an oil discovery. Black Pearl will be the next and that will hopefully be a tieback (to Tubular Bells with first oil expected mid-2024).
“Then we have a wildcat opportunity (the Vancouver exploration prospect) later in the year in the Green Canyon. With the other 80 exploratory blocks that we have in the Gulf, we will be actively drilling for the next several years,” Hess said.
OilNow
Posted in drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 150th well in greater than 8000', Arena, Baker Hughes rig count, Cantium, Chevron, Gulf of Mexico milestone, Shell, well starts on May 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Per the BSEE borehole file, there were 2 deepwater exploratory well starts since 4/1/2023. The Shell well is another GoM milestone in that it is the 150th well spudded in >8000′ of water. The first was in the year 2000.
| Operator | spud date | location | water depth |
| Chevron | 5/5/2023 | Mississippi Canyon 608 | 6678′ |
| Shell | 4/13/2023 | Alaminos Canyon 728 | 8660′ |
Arena and Cantium continue to drive shelf drilling. Below are the shelf development wells since 4/1/2023:
| Operator | spud date | location | water depth |
| Arena | 5/6/2023 | Eugene Island 261 | 160′ |
| Cantium | 4/8/2023 | Main Pass 38 | 60′ |
| Cantium | 4/1/2023 | Main Pass 299 | 217′ |
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 