With just under half of the US Gulf of Mexico’s technically recoverable reserves lying undiscovered – is the glass half full or half empty?

The US deepwater industry has likely passed the nadir of the downturn, with a productive lease sale and projections of a slow but steady increase in activity. Exploration activities are particularly sensitive to the oil price and whilst it remains stable, operators are able to design cost effective solutions for field developments through project streamlining and competition for contracts. To this end, small scale tiebacks to existing infrastructure are proving the most fruitful developments. Investments in projects currently under development total at least $36.3 billion.