The Crude Genie? - Gulf of Mexico Production Buoyant Despite Crashing Oil Prices
Work continues on several major deep- and shallow-water crude oil production projects in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM), despite the fact that oil prices are far lower than they were when the commitments to develop these projects were made. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for prompt delivery closed yesterday on the CME/NYMEX futures market at $26.55/Bbl – its lowest level since May 2003 – threatening to strangle resilient domestic onshore shale production. Yet GOM production levels will rise again this year--and likely for at least another couple of years—offsetting some of the expected decline in onshore U.S. crude output. Today, we continue our examination of steadily rising crude output in the GOM with a look at projects coming online in 2016 and beyond.
