Energy Level: Deepwater development is holding steady

摘要

Committed Gulf of Mexico deepwater development work still appears to be largely on schedule, albeit with some modifications, even as smaller operators shut-in production closer to shore. "The capex savings that we take this year are not coming from deepwater," Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden said on April 30, after the company trimmed 2020 capital spending by $5 billion to cope with the oil price collapse aggravated by the demand sapping Covid-19 pandemic. Chevron suggested the same. CEO Michael Wirth said during a May 1 investor call, "the Gulf of Mexico has been resetting its cost structure to compete in a world like this. I think it means we've got more work to do to make the Gulf of Mexico compete even more, with more focus on tiebacks, infill drilling, utilizing existing infrastructure and finding efficient ways to develop in the Gulf of Mexico. And so that trend is one that we need to stay on."