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Seven offshore drilling rigs stand in the vicinity, with three permanently shuttered, and four temporarily out of operation.

They had been propped open to allow cables and pipes to run through, as part of the rapid work going on board to convert the Kielland back into a drilling rig.

Billions of dollars worth of natural gas, now locked in shale rock deep underground, await Coterra’s drilling rigs.

The Flower Garden Banks weren’t damaged by the massive oil spill that followed the deadly 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, but other reefs in the Gulf were.

Overall, oil companies have cut 36 active drilling rigs in the Permian in the last year, a 10% drop.