SOB,They are almost mutually exclusive industries in that...

SOB,

They are almost mutually exclusive industries in that drilling has no real correlation or relationship to IMR or subsea work (except way down the track when they convert a find into a producing field).

I have a friend who is in the crisis management team for BP dealing with the blowout. He told me the other day that it is likely most of the deepwater exploration in the GOM will be shut down imminently and for an extended period. He even asked me if I had any work going over here so it doesn't look good. I dont think general shallow water exploration drilling (circa 100 to 800 metres) will be greatly affected. A move from Drilling activities to maintenance status is unlikely because the rigs will either depart the GOM for other regions like Brazil or the ME or will be cold stacked until the market goes back to some sort of normality (if there ever will be normality after an environmental disaster like this). What will happen without question will be huge delays on approvals processes and stringent vetting of drilling companies Integrated Management Systems and Safety Management Systems much as was the case with Piper Alpha. In the end the globe benefits because drilling will become a safer activity.

With regards to IMR activities I would be reticent to believe that IMR activities related to companies such as Neptune are going to increase exponentially as a result of this disaster (see Apache Varanus Island and Montara platform).