Page 40: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 2000)

Gulf of Mexico Analysis shore West Africa and elsewhere.

Increasingly bullish projections about planned E&D spending will certainly encourage utilization of this new equip- ment.

A recent survey of 177 oil and gas companies by Salomon Smith Barney found that worldwide upstream spending in 2000 will be 11.4 percent higher than last year. Companies surveyed indicated that they plan to spend $92.6 billion on oil and gas E&P this year vs. $83.1 bil- lion last year. A survey by Lehman Bros, at the end of last year found that world- wide exploration and production budgets will increase by 10 percent in 2000. The companies surveyed based their budget- ing for 2000 on an assumed average

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Circle 288 on Reader Service Card price of $19.25 for WTI crude. While these forecasts are bullish, the E&P bud- gets for 2000 will likely be even higher should there be a sustained crude price higher than those assumed in the sur- veys.

Responding to political pressures, two bills have been introduced in Congress to provide tax breaks to encourage explo- ration and development in the U.S. One bill would enable producers to expense geological and geophysical cost of E&D.

At present, these costs must be capital- ized if the well is successful. The other bill would allow field lessees to expense payments to lessors when production from the lease is delayed. Currently, these payments must be capitalized if the property is being held for development.

While these are relatively modest initia- tives and there is little expectation that the bills will pass Congress this session, they may be forerunners of a variety of initiatives designed to ramp up onshore and offshore E&D activity in the U.S.

The Deep Water Royalty Relief Act of 1995 was an earlier initiative that cer- tainly got the interest of field operators in the Gulf of Mexico.

For additional, explicit details referenced in this report, please contact International

Maritime Associates, Inc. at 700 New

Hampshire Ave., A!W, Suite 103, Washing- ton, DC 20037; tel.- 202-333-8501; fax: 202- 333-8504; e-mail: [email protected]

Note: includes 3 production units relocated from other fields 59 Floating Production and 15 Storage Sys- tems Have Been Installed Since September 1996. 21 Floating Production and 5 Storage Sys- tems are On Order as of April 2000.

Maritime Reporter/Engineering News