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MARKETS: OSVs ing, recrewing, training, resupplying the also looking to the west, on the landside, ratchet up oil production dramatically in the majors looking at the big offshore vessel is contractually covered or other- speci? cally to the Permian Basin, where the next few years. As Permian pipeline projects may pause before pulling the wise strategically justi? ed….We see no both Chevron and Exxon both plan to connections to the Gulf Coast open up, trigger on big offshore commitments.

logical reason to unstack a vessel for a contract that cannibalizes the value of not only that vessel, but the other vessels

Visit Us we have deployed in a given market.” at OTC 2019

Houston, USA

In late 2014, the Baker Hughes data

Booth 1015 shows 57 deepwater rigs working, more than double the present number, which, in retrospect provides a benchmark for full OSV utilization. In its end-2018

Form 10-K (including its annual report to investors), HOS estimated that 80

U.S. ? ag OSVs were cold-stacked.

A GOM turnaround is not without its challenges. At the end of 2018, ana- lysts at leading energy consultants Wood

Mackenzie had turned positive, provided that the oil majors moved forward with some mega-projects. Though production costs in the GOM have come down, eco- nomic prospects continue to be uncer- tain, so Final Investment Decisions are far from a sure thing. Wood Mackenzie’s senior research analyst, William Turner, said: “We expect 2019 to be a strong year for the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to exciting new project sanctions, which could usher in more than $10 billion of investment into the region, a couple of historic ? rsts set to occur next year could set the stage for years to come.”

They said that: “Shell and Chevron will lead the way, but the actual growth in ex- ploration will come from new entrants –

Kosmos Energy, Equinor, Total, Murphy and Fieldwood.” But the majors’ eyes are www.marinelink.com 17

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