A S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G F E A T U R E
oil combined with the development of offshore Gulf of
Mexico resources are projected to push domestic crude
oil production to 6.7 million barrels per day in 2020, a
level not seen since 1994. That could spell boom times
for offshore companies like Noble Drilling, one of the
largest offshore drilling contractors in the world. While
this worldwide company has operations in the North
Sea, the Mediterranean and the Asia-Pacific region, it also
has a large presence in the Gulf of Mexico, where new
resources are being discovered almost daily. Indeed, there
are estimates that with new technological improvements,
offshore drilling could account for up to 40 percent of our
domestic oil production in the future.
As one of the world’s leading engineering, project
management and consultancy companies, and with
revenues of $6.6 billion, AMEC also has an interest in
Gulf Coast oil production. The company is currently
involved in the Mad Dog II “Big Dog” project, support-
ing BP assured delivery. The main platformwill be the
largest new floating production system to be installed in
the Gulf of Mexico. Deep water drilling does pose some
serious problems, which can now be overcome thanks to
technological advances.
This has created opportunities for a wide variety of
world class companies, including ADEDE, an underwa-
ter geophysical and UXO detection/remediation firm
based out of Belgium. “What a lot of people don’t realize
is that there are large quantities of munitions that have
been dumped near the drilling areas,” says Bart Van
der Speeten, CEO of ADEDE. “ADEDE specializes in the
clean up of these underwater hazards, which are pres-
ent not only in North America, but around the globe.”
But deepwater drilling in the Gulf is but one of the
resources that North America is bringing to the world’s
energy table.
“
North America is at the forefront of a sweeping
transformation in oil and gas production that will affect
all regions of the world, yet the potential also exists for a
similarly transformative shi in global energy efficiency,”
