据油价网8月16日消息称，高管和分析师告诉路透社，近年来大型石油公司在美国墨西哥湾的原油产量中所占的份额显着增加，而较小的公司则受到疫情和联邦水域钻探许可暂停的拖累。
在最近的几个月和几年里，美国油气行业的并购浪潮并不局限于页岩气领域。与几年前相比，墨西哥湾的大型石油公司从近海地区开采原油的份额越来越大。
路透社根据美国安全与环境执法局(BSEE)的数据估算得出，今年迄今为止，美国墨西哥湾的十大产油国的产量已经达到该地区平均160万桶/天的86%。早在 2017 年，这一比例约为 75%。
一些规模较小的石油生产商在2020年市场崩溃后申请破产，而新的投资者犹豫不决，因为拜登政府今年早些时候推出了暂停在联邦水域和联邦土地上钻探石油的许可。
私营企业Arena Energy首席执行官Michael Minarovic对路透表示，海上石油拍卖的暂停"无疑令任何潜在投资者感到心寒"。
Arena Energy去年申请了破产，现在刚刚走出破产的阴影。
与此同时，包括超级巨头BP、壳牌和雪佛龙在内的巨头们正在加强他们在墨西哥湾的活动。
雪佛龙正准备在超高压油田进行钻探。荷兰皇家壳牌上个月宣布启动其在墨西哥湾的 Whale 深水项目，这是其在该地区的第12个项目。壳牌是墨西哥湾领先的深水油气生产商，每年生产1.5亿桶油当量，约为壳牌在美国石油和天然气总产量的一半。
一个月前，BP 表示已经启动了 Manuel 项目，其中包括为连接新奥尔良海岸140英里处Na Kika平台的两口新油井安装一个新的水下生产系统。BP和壳牌分别持有Manuel开发项目50%的开采权益。
曹海斌 摘译自 油价网
原文如下：
Big Oil Companies Expand Footprint In Gulf Of Mexico
The largest oil companies have significantly raised their share of crude oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in recent years, while smaller firms have been weighed down by the pandemic and the suspension of licensing for drilling in federal waters, executives and analysts tell Reuters.
The merger and acquisition wave in the U.S. oil and gas industry has not been limited to the shale patch in recent months and years. The Gulf of Mexico has seen Big Oil pump a growing share of crude from the offshore region compared to just a few years ago.
The ten biggest producers in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico have produced as much as 86 percent of the average 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) pumped in the area so far this year, according to Reuters estimates based align="justify"> Some smaller producers filed for bankruptcy after the markets crashed in 2020, while new investors are hesitant because of the moratorium align="justify"> The halt in the offshore oil auctions “has certainly chilled any potential investors,” Michael Minarovic, chief executive officer at privately-held Arena Energy, told Reuters.
Arena Energy has just emerged from bankruptcy, for which it filed last year.
Meanwhile, the top dogs, including supermajors BP, Shell, and Chevron, are boosting their activities in the Gulf of Mexico.
Chevron is preparing to drill at a super-high pressure field. Royal Dutch Shell announced last month the go-ahead of its Whale deepwater project in the Gulf of Mexico, its 12th project in the region. Shell is a leading deepwater oil and gas producer in the Gulf of Mexico, producing 150 million barrels of oil equivalent per year—which is about half of Shell’s total U.S. oil and gas production.
A month earlier, BP said it had started up the Manuel project, which includes a new subsea production system for two new wells tied into the Na Kika platform 140 miles off the coast of New Orleans. BP and Shell each hold a 50-percent working interest in the Manuel development.