Contract Drillers and Causal Histories along the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Corporate mergers in the oil and gas industry in the late 1990s were accompanied by reduced spending for exploration and drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf of the gulf of mexico, even though oil prices were skyrocketing. this lack of response to a favorable price environment is an anomaly for product market theories and can better be understood within a framework of causal history. This approach begins with significant events and traces specific causes and consequences. One significant consequence of the mergers is a redefinition of loyalty among a workforce exposed to increasing employment insecurity.