2017

“Today’s sale, with 159 bids from 33 bidding companies on the 148 tracts offered, reflects the oil and gas industry’s improving market conditions and a regulatory environment which is favorable to the safe and responsible development of the vast amount of U.S. offshore natural resources.

“The State of Florida often points to its beaches and thriving tourism industry as justification for its exclusion from drilling activity. The reality is that outdoor tourism and offshore oil and gas exploration and production can coexist, and we believe that they should. The Eastern Gulf of Mexico alone, at 64.5 million acres, is projected to contain 3.6 billion barrels of oil, which would in turn support 230,000 jobs and contribute $18 billion per year to the economy. And for Florida, the available data indicates that the recoverable resources lie 100 miles or more off the coast; far from the beaches and the view of tourists who can only see 3-12 miles out on the horizon.”

International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) President Jason McFarland issued the following statement regarding Interior Secretary Zinke’s announcement that the 2019-2024 Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Leasing Proposed Program will exclude waters offshore Florida:

“Today’s draft proposed program is an important step forward in the legislatively mandated process that will ultimately determine the available leasing areas for oil and gas development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf."

Today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted on legislation that would open parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas development. It was approved with a vote of 13-10.

The International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) presented its Contractor of the Year Award to Dr. Tom Burke, President and CEO of Rowan Companies, during last week’s IADC Annual General Meeting in Austin, Texas.

n comments submitted today to the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, IADC affirmed its support for H.R. 4239, the Strengthening the Economy with Critical Untapped Resources to Expand American Energy Act (SECURE Act).

Today, a panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the government with regard to its attempt to exercise criminal enforcement powers against contractors and subcontractors.

Hurricane Harvey has devastated the Houston area that IADC Headquarters calls home. This storm and the flooding aftermath are without precedence in the United States.