09-02-09 Deepwater oil and gas projects offshore West Africa and in the Gulf of Mexico are not profitable at today's commodity prices and are only being pursued in anticipation of a return higher prices, judging by analysts' comments reported in the energy-focused Norwegian press.
"One asks big questions about deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico, where only big finds are profitable at today's prices," StatoilHydro analyst Trond Omdal of Arctic Securities told.

Omdal pointed to projects off Angola, where Total reportedly indicated $ 60 to $ 70 oil achieved a profit. A StatoilHydro watcher, Omdal said the Norwegian oil company's portfolio of new projects contained "very little" that was break-even at $ 40 oil. Omdal said only monster fields in deepwater were profitable at $ 40 oil.
StatoilHydro managers have been quoted this month saying finds of 16 mm barrels in Norway's relatively shallow water were not considered financially viable at today's oil price.