Rotorcraft
Gulf Offshore Auction Could Lift Helo Operators
Major oil producers—including Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, BP, Murphy, Anadarko, and Statoil—bid $121.1 million for drilling rights.

Yesterday's offshore rights auction in the Gulf of Mexico, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), could signal a resurgence in deepwater oil drilling projects and a return of demand for helicopter service companies to support them. Major oil producers—including Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, BP, Murphy, Anadarko, and Statoil—bid $121.1 million for drilling rights in 508,000 acres out of almost all 76 million acres offered.