ARE INCENTIVES TO EXPLORE IN THE CARDS?
Despite the gloomy mood of the offshore industry this year, executives could take solace in the federal regulators getting new marching orders. The Bureau of Offshore Energy Management, in particular, has been instructed by President Donald Trump to open more areas to drilling — and some industry executives are hoping that the agency might help in other ways, too.
“There’s been a real concern about the lack of exploration,” an employee of Wood Group, a Scottish offshore services provider, said in a question and answer session after a speech by bureau director Walter Cruickshank. “Is there any thought about the possibility of offering some incentives to the operators to encourage some exploration drilling?” He mentioned tax breaks as a potential boost.
Cruickshank responded that he might be making things easier in whatever ways he can — the agency is already expediting appeals of the previous administration’s denials of certain drilling permits.
“We’re not in a position to do anything in taxes, but we are looking at the fiscal terms that we put on leases,” Cruickshank said. “We have been analyzing things that we do considering where the markets are right now.” — Lydia DePillis
Can only go so far
The energy sector’s activity in the Gulf of Mexico may eventually rebound, but it’s likely to never return to its levels of five years ago, said Larry Ryan, Dow Chemical Co.’s business president for energy and water solutions.
“It’s going to be sluggish for a while,” Ryan said. “We’ll have to see how it develops in the Gulf of Mexico.”
While Dow is known for its chemicals and plastics manufacturing, it also works in offshore oil and gas. Dow does coatings and linings for subsea pipes and equipment, demulsification and other types of water treatment.
However, Dow has primarily grown in oil and gas through the onshore shale boom, helping with water treatment and the chemicals that go into the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process.
Offshore, Ryan isn’t even sure if President Donald Trump’s push to open up more acreage for drilling will help.
“At the end, it’s what’s your cost versus the price of oil,” Ryan said. “The regulatory part is important, but the math still has to work.” — Jordan Blum Robot legs and rhino faces
A pair of rust-colored metal robot legs, one draped over the other’s knee in a striking pose, sit atop an array of 3-D printed gizmos that traveled to Houston this week from a manufacturing plant in southeast China.
Another robot with twisting arms reached out toward the aisles — one of the weirder displays at the Offshore Technology Conference.
“We’ve also got the big rhino,” said Anas Alqadi, a salesman at Aseeder Corp., pointing to the giant face of a metal rhinoceros mounted on the wall of the company’s display booth.
The company, which has its U.S. sales offices in Houston, does high-precision machining and 3-D printing of various components of drill bits, valves and pumps. Since 2006, most of its additive manufacturing work is done for aerospace, medical and transportation industries. But as drilling rigs enter harsher enviroments, they need precisely cut components that can be crafted quickly, and they’re increasingly turning to 3-D printing, Alqadi said. — Collin Eaton
Home sweet container
As some exhibitors waited for oil and gas professionals to stop by their booths at the Offshore Technology Conference this week, one German company, ELA Container, found that it had all the business it wanted.
ELA Container, which designs and builds offshore living quarters, found that business surged during the oil downturn, when offshore project managers have time to shop for smaller and cheaper living arrangements for offshore crews, said Katharina Pleus, a marketer for ELA.
The company made its OTC debut in 2016 — when attendance suffered in the wake of plunging oil prices — and returned this year, even as the industry struggles to recover. The company just opened a Houston branch, Pleus said.
A container with two beds, each in a separate room and joined by a bathroom, costs $90,000. The company’s exhibit at NRG Park featured two 20-by8-foot living containers, stacked on top of each other.
They look like standard shipping containers but are built to offshore requirements, reinforced with several millimeters of steel and fire-resistant components.
The containers will withstand up to 60 minutes of flame and heat, Pleus said. — Ryan Maye Handy