U.S. Gulf of Mexico pipeline activity statistics, trends and correlations

Abstract

ABSTRACTA total of 45,310 miles of pipeline has been installed in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in support of oil and gas operations circa 2016, but since the mid-to-late 1980s shallow water oil and gas production has been in decline and many of the bulk lines and export systems are no longer needed. In 2016, there were 21,872 miles of active pipeline, about 9906 miles of bulk and export pipeline in <400 ft water depth and 9462 miles of bulk and export pipeline in >400 ft water depth. The purpose of this paper is to describe pipeline installation and decommissioning activity in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico circa 2016, to discuss active and out-of-service inventory trends, and to develop correlations that quantify pipeline activity in terms of system attributes. Shallow and deepwater regions are described separately along with results that span various levels of categorisation.