Overseas expansion requires careful analysis for contractors

For the most part, the oil industry's exodus from the U.S. and the corresponding overseas expansion in the past 5 years have gone unnoticed by the national media and certainly by the U.S. government. In the past decade, 380,000 domestic jobs have been lost in the oil industry and another 350,000 jobs are at stake. For an offshore drilling contractor, the implications of the exodus from domestic waters are far reaching, especially in light of the poor economics that contractors have faced in recent years. Aware of the economic and political benefits of producing oil and gas to offset unsettling shifts in world trade and military power, every coastal nation worldwide now encourages offshore drilling. The U.S. is the only exception.