Offshore Injury Attorneys — 3.1.16 Update

Houston injury lawyers at Morrow & Sheppard LLP are monitoring developments in the Gulf of Mexico drilling industry, with a focus on issues that might lead to serious safety incidents, personal injuries, and wrongful deaths.

Hornbeck Offshore to Delay Drilling

Covington, Louisiana-based Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc. reported a $2.7 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2015 amid continuing pullback in the Gulf of Mexico offshore drilling market.

Because of some asset sales, however, Hornbeck posted an overall profit of $66.8 million in 2015, down from $87.9 million in 2015.

It is anticipated that Hornbeck will push back deliveries of newbuild vessels.

Maersk To Cut Offshore Drilling Jobs In Houston

Maersk announced it will trim 80 offshore rig jobs based in Houston. The offshore workers are seamen aboard the Maersk Developer, a deepwater semisubmersible rig that was under contract with Statoil from 2009 until November 2015.

The Maersk Developer drilled an exploratory well in the Martin prospect that was found to be not commercially viable.

Gulf Of Mexico Oil Output Will Hit Record Levels In 2017

Despite continued struggles in the oil and gas market, particularly offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. government analysts anticipate oil production in the Gulf will reach a record $1.8 million barrels per day in 2017.

The growth will be fueled primarily by 14 older projects that have been in development for years. Exploration and production activity has slowed dramatically since the latest oil crash began.

The number of rigs operating in the Gulf has dropped dramatically, and there has been a tremendous drop in jobs for engineers, geologists, and other offshore workers.

17 percent of U.S. crude oil production comes from the Gulf of Mexico, and nearly half the U.S. refining capacity is located along the Gulf Coast.

BOEM To Offer 45 Million New Lease Acres In GOM

On March 23, 2016, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will auction 45 million of offshore Gulf of Mexico acreage in two lease sales.

The acreage is located offshore Alabama and Florida.

Offshore Workers Killed At Pemex’s Gulf Platform

In February 2016, two workers were killed and eight others were injured in an explosion offshore in the Bay of Campeche, Gulf of Mexico. This follows a serious explosion in 2015, which killed seven offshore workers and injured 16.

BP Engineer Found Not Guilty

At the conclusion of a criminal trial arising from the deadly 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, former British Petroleum rig engineer Robert Kaluza was found not guilty of violating the Clean Water Act.

Mr. Kaluza was a rig supervisor aboard the Deepwater Horizon when it exploded, killing 11 offshor workers and injury many more.

Kaluza’s defense lawyer successfully blamed Donald Vidrine, Kaluza’s coworker who pled guilty, for botching the negative pressure test that could have prevented the incident.

Previously, BP engineer Kurt Mix was convicted of obstructing justice for deleting text messages related to the incident, although the conviction was ultimately thrown out and Mr. Mix agreed to a plea deal.

Offshore Injury Lawyers Are Ready To Help

The offshore injury attorneys at Morrow & Sheppard LLP help injured sailors, seamen, and offshore workers nationwide. We only get paid if our clients win. We offer free consultations to everyone. Call us now at 1-800-489-2216 to learn more.