Kurt Abraham

Offshore activity on the US Gulf Coast continued to outperform much of the US land sector in 2024 in terms of return on investment, due particularly to deepwater projects, and it was hoped that this would carry over into 2025. This was not the case. Wells drilled during the second half of the year versus the first half were expected to be down by 2.5%, at 39, while wells drilled for the year as a whole were forecast to decline by a whopping 25%, to just 79, compared with 2024.

Petroleum Economist and World Oil's Deepwater Development Conference (MCEDD) got underway on 25 March in Madrid, Spain, and ran until 27 March. There was no mistaking the renewed, growing interest in deepwater projects, and the attendance and programme confirmed it. Attendance ran significantly ahead of last year’s conference, and the list of topics presented/debated was more extensive. The opening edition of MCEDD featured a half day of panels and presentations during the afternoon of 25 March.

Special Focus: Advances in Production Gordon Fryers Digitalized machine learning and data analytics elevate values of mature fields Terry Moffat Kirby Jabusch Digital technology and smart devices have fundamentally changed the way that we manage our lives. These advances are now improving operational efficiency in the chemical management sector of the oil and gas industry.