More consolidation among US Gulf of Mexico oil producers

Oil and gas producers in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico have consolidated at a quicker speed during the pandemic, due to crashing prices that squeezed out smaller drillers, government data shows. 

"We’re only going to see further consolidation,"Colin White, an analyst with consultant Rystad Energy told Reuters. He added to the news agency that “private-equity backed producers are being swallowed up by larger firms or are abandoning exploration for safer infrastructure investments.”

Data from regulator Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) shows that the top 10 producers - led by Royal Dutch Shell, BP Plc and Chevron, pumped 86 percent of the region's 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 which is an increase of about 11 percentage points since 2017.

Due to the pandemic and oil prices, some Gulf of Mexico producers were pushed to end their activities and exit.