Picking up the pace: The Ensco 99 drills “Sparkplug” in South Timbalier 67 as part of a development program for Energy XXI in the shallow-water Gulf of Mexico.

Sun shimmers off the placid, green shallow-water Gulf of Mexico, 17 miles offshore Louisiana, as the helicopter banks around the Ensco 99 jack-up rig. Thunderstorms lace the nearby shore midday in late May. The rig sits in 70 feet of water and is drilling South Timbalier 67 B-3 Sidetrack 1, also known as "Sparkplug," a development well for Energy XXI. Ensco 99 ...