Shallow Gulf drilling slumps ahead of lease sale

摘要

The administration of US president Barack Obama is gearing up for the first Gulf of Mexico lease sale since before the 2010 Macondo oil spill amid a decline in shallow-water drilling in the region. Oil companies have drilled 57 wells in federal waters less than 1,000ft (305m) deep since the start of 2012, down from 81 at this point in 2011, the US Interior Department says. The decline comes even as regulators speed up a revised permitting process and despite shallow-water rigs technically not being subject to the federal drilling moratorium imposed in 2010. The pace of shallow-water drilling is less than half of 2009-10 levels and about a quarter of the 2007-08 rate. The industry has 3,816 wells producing in Gulf watersless than 1,000ft deep, 28pc fewer than four years ago.