On a superficial level, an Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas mineral lease is an ordinary two-party contract between the federal government and a willing third party, write Anthony C. Marino and C. Jacob Gower of Slattery, Marino & Roberts of New Orleans.

“However, an OCS lease implicates far more than the usual ‘four corners’ of the contract because lessees and their agents must navigate a labyrinth of rules and regulations to remain in compliance with their lease obligations. Given the large volumes of oil and gas production from the OCS, understanding this maze is a daunting, yet important, task,” they write.

A decade-old oil leak that could last for another century was caused by an “act of God” during a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, the president of the company responsible said Wednesday, according to an Associated Press report.

“This event hits home for us,” said Taylor Energy President William Pecue, the last remaining full-time employee at the New Orleans-based company. “This is our community. We live here and it is very special to us.”

The AP said the public meeting at an LSU research center is a requirement of a court settlement that Taylor Energy reached in September with environmental groups, which accused the company of withholding information about the leak.

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Rigzone.com reports that oil and gas chief information officers (CIO) faced with budget cuts in 2016 will implement plans for preserving innovation while making low-cost investments to minimize business operational costs, according to a recent forecast by IDC Energy Insights.

“When oil traded at $100/barrel, oil companies were more focused on expanding their geographic footprint, but the decline in oil prices now has companies focusing instead on reducing costs, either through layoffs or spending cuts. Reducing costs is the top priority behind IT spending, followed by improving efficiency and productivity of processes and boost revenues, Chris Niven, research director for IDC Energy Insights, told Rigzone.”

“Niven said IDC estimates that 25 percent of all oil and gas companies will be using cognitive plus advanced analytics in the oilfield by 2019 to improve performance and production by 10 percent,” wrote Karen Borman.

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