What's it going to take to prevent another disastrous oil spill in the Gulf? That's a difficult question that industry professionals and regulators are wrestling with daily.
On Monday, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement issued an 18-page document (PDF) seeking to clarify some of the new regulatory requirements imposed following the BP
The main deficiency the regulators are seeing in these spill response plans is their "lack of sufficient subsea containment equipment and other resources." Operators need to demonstrate that they have access to sufficient containment resources, which isn't the easiest thing to do, considering that the next-generation containment system being developed by ExxonMobil
Of course, there is existing equipment such as was used to contain the Macondo spill. Helix Energy Solutions Group
The prospect of Helix getting paid simply to have its containment system available is an interesting prospect. You can't get much better margins than that. I also imagine operators will be willing to pay a pretty chunky sum for the retainer, given how eager they are to secure drilling permits and get back to drilling in the Gulf. This piece of business may not in itself recommend a purchase of Helix shares, but existing shareholders should be cheered by the development.
Check out our recent coverage of the offshore drilling scene:
- Welcome to permit purgatory.
- Someone's got shiny new rigs.
- Jackup drilling's still a drag.