Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
After dedicating 42 years to offshore safety, pollution prevention, marine operations, and responsible offshore energy development, John Cushing is retiring from Federal service. During his impressive career with the Coast Guard and the Dept. of the Interior, John earned the respect of energy professionals throughout govt and the offshore industry.
John’s impressive academic achievements include engineering degrees from the Coast Guard Academy and MIT. This training launched the career that followed.
Among other duties during his 24 years as a Coast Guard officer, John worked on cutters, was a marine inspector, served as a structural and stability engineer, managed the Commercial Vessel Safety Program, was Chief of the Vessel & Facility Operating Standards Division, and served as Executive Director of the National Offshore Safety Advisory Committee (NOSAC), the most important ongoing industry-govt forum for addressing offshore safety issues.
Following his military retirement, we were fortunate to recruit John to the OCS regulatory program, which is part of a DOI bureau that, rather remarkably, has had 4 different names (acronyms: MMS, BOEMRE, BSEE, and MMA) during John’s 18-year tenure.
At Interior, John applied his training and experience to provide engineering support for both the offshore oil and gas and wind programs. He rose to Chief of the Inspection Policy Branch, which managed the national inspection program, helicopter contracts, medical standards, and related offshore safety functions.
John has been similarly proactive during his “leisure time.” He is an avid hiker, kayaker, cyclist, ice hockey player, and more! This physical activity is not surprising given that his mother was among the pioneering women runners in the Boston Marathon. At 87, she continues to be enjoy hiking in the Central Massachusetts hills!
It was an honor to have worked with John and gotten to know him better. Congrats on a great career! Keep on rolling!
Enjoy the pictures that follow:
Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized | Tagged Coast Guard, John Cushing, Marine Minerals Administration, Minerals Management Service, retirement | 4 Comments »
Over the coming decades, superhot geothermal will race past intermittent, low density, non-dispatchable alternatives as the leading source of renewable energy.
Currently, geothermal pioneers like Mazama and Quaise are focusing on a volcanic area in Central Oregon, a superhot “hot spot.” The area is unique in that temperatures of 700°F occur at subsurface depths of ~15,000′. (By comparison, the highest bottomhole temperatures in high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) wells in the Norphlet and Wilcox formations in the Gulf are <420°F.)
Mazama Energy’s second geothermal well, Athena, at Newberry, Oregon, reached a depth of 10,350 feet through volcanic rock in 15 drilling days. Their Project Athena builds on the 2025 record breaking effort at Newberry where Mazama created the world’s hottest engineered geothermal system (EGS) pilot at 629°F (331°C). Mazama continues drilling and is targeting temperatures exceeding 750°F.
Quaise Energy’s intends to establish the world’s first superhot geothermal energy power plant with Project Obsidian. See the video below.
The extent to which Quaise will employ their “Star Wars” millimeter wave gyrotron drilling system on the relatively shallow Oregon wells is uncertain. Gyrotron drilling will be critical if superhot power plants are to be established in areas where much deeper wells are needed to reach superhot temperatures.
Posted in drilling, energy | Tagged geothermal, gyrotron, Mazama Energy, Newberry Oregon, Quaise Energy, superhot geothermal | Leave a Comment »
According to the LA Times and other reporting, the Dept. of Commerce (NOAA) 92-page draft review of California’s federally approved (1978) Coastal Management Program finds:
- A “pattern of jurisdictional and regulatory overreach.”
- “Unjustified hostility and political bias against offshore drilling opportunities, oil and gas projects broadly, and SpaceX’s launch activities.”
Among the corrective actions specified:
- Meeting with SpaceX to discuss concerns about political bias and productive next steps.
- Discussions with Sable Offshore Corp. regarding regulatory burden/overreach related to restarting offshore operations off the Santa Barbara coast.
- Issuance of an official statement (by January, per reports) pledging that California will not categorically oppose initiatives related to certain industries (e.g., oil and gas) or activities (e.g., offshore drilling).
Future federal funding for the state’s coastal management program is described as suspended “unless and until the identified deficiencies are satisfactorily addressed.” State agencies were given a response deadline (initially around mid-November 2026; extension requested).
Legal, political, and administrative fireworks are sure to follow!
Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged California Coastal Commission, Commerce Dept., CZMA, Federal review, NOAA, offshore oil and gas, Sable Offshore | Leave a Comment »
- Supports the farm-out process by providing potential farm-in partners clarity on the execution pathway for a future exploration campaign
- Identifies a double-digit pool of suitable available rigs all assessed against capability, timing and regional positioning
- Affirms that the key Colibri target well (406 MMbo) and the deeper-water Thunderball follow-on (603 MMbo) could be targeted in a single exploration campaign
- Identifies a Jamaica-based logistics model that combines local port infrastructure and services with specialist regional offshore services
- Outlines long-lead requirements identifying critical equipment, sourcing options and procurement timelines
UOG has also posted a video describing the existing Jamaican infrastructure:
This is all good, but UOG is barely solvent and has yet to secure a partner after years of trying. Are their terms unreasonable or are other companies less optimistic about the production potential? Decisions by the Govt of Jamaica to grant UOG multiple license extensions, the latest through 1/31/2028, are puzzling.
UOG’s stock trades well below £1 per share (currently 0.23 GBX/share) on the London Exchange.
Posted in Jamaica, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged farmout, infrastructure, Jamaica, rig study, United Oil and Gas | Leave a Comment »
Update from ‘Borr Drilling on the Prospector 5 incident offshore Gabon:
Search and rescue operations are ongoing for the five individuals who remain unaccounted for. The Company is in contact with the families of the missing personnel.
Posted in accidents, drilling | Tagged 5 missing, Borr Drilling, jackup rig, Prospector 5, punch-through | Leave a Comment »
Borr Drilling confirmed that, at 20:37 local time on October 24, 2026, the Prospector 5 jack-up drilling rig collapsed and sank while conducting jacking operations offshore Gabon. The rig wass contracted to support BW Energy’s drilling operations.
Preliminary information indicates that the rig experienced a punch-through event during preload activities, resulting in loss of stability and the subsequent sinking of the rig.
At the time of the incident, there were 115 personnel onboard the rig. Five individuals remain unaccounted for, with search and rescue operations ongoing.
Bruno Morand CEO of Borr Drilling: “We are deeply concerned for those who remain unaccounted for and everyone affected by this incident. Our immediate priority is supporting the ongoing search and rescue efforts and the welfare of all personnel involved.”
Example of a jackup punch through:
Posted in accidents, drilling, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged 5 missing, Borr Drilling, Gabon, jack-up rig, Prospector 5, punch-through, rig collapse | Leave a Comment »
Chevron is marketing its share in several Gulf of Mexico facilities, including Petronius, the 2100′ compliant tower which was initially installed by Texaco in 2000.
Petronius and Baldpate (supportively named for those of us who are follicly challenged 😉) are the Gulf’s only compliant towers – freestanding structures that sway up to 2% of their height to safely absorb ocean forces.
Also on the market are Chevron’s interest in Tubular Bells, a floating spar platform in 4300′ of water, and Llano, a subsea development tied back to Shell’s Auger tension leg platform.
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged Baldpate, Chevron, compliant tower, for sale, Hess, Llano, Petronius, Tubular Bells | 2 Comments »
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged Bid Evaluation Results, Gulf of America, Lease Sale BBG3 | Leave a Comment »
The diligent folks at Scotland Against Spin (SAS) have updated their turbine incident data through Sept. 2026. Their latest summary is attached, and their detailed historical table (347 pages) is linked.
The SAS data indicate that the number of wind turbine incidents has risen sharply in recent years (see chart below). The increased number of turbines worldwide and the inclusion of SafetyOn data (from 2020 on) for UK onshore wind facilities contributed to the sharp increase. Nonetheless, the growing number of incidents is disconcerting, as is the absence of comprehensive industry and government summaries and reports.
SAS has records of 274 fatalities from 195 fatal incidents. 67 of those fatal incidents have been since 2016.
SAS acknowledges that their list, which is dependent on publicly available reports, is merely the “tip of the iceberg.” For example, their list does not include the June 2, 2025, Empire Wind project fatality.
Unsurprisingly, SAS data (table below) show that blade failure and fire are the most common incident types. We previously reported on a Windpower article suggesting an average of 3800 blade failures per year. Presumably, “routine” blade failures, are not classified as incidents.
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 as of 9/30 | |
| blade failure | 21 | 19 | 28 | 25 | 32 | 18 | 24 | 15 | 23 | 17 | 12 |
| fire | 28 | 26 | 27 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 23 | 16 | 15 |
A high priority for wind industry regulators in the US and internationally should be establishing a consistent wind energy incident reporting regime and making the data available to the public in a timely and organized manner.
Posted in accidents, Wind Energy | Tagged blade failures, Empire Wind, fires, Scotland Against Spin, Vineyard Wind, wind turbine incidents | Leave a Comment »
- The UK government has approved extraction from the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea
- Jackdaw “will start to supply gas to British homes and businesses from as early as the end of this month, helping heat millions of homes and protecting hundreds of jobs”
- Chancellor John Healey says a new “Energy Wealth Fund”, using tax revenue from oil and gas extraction, will invest in “green transition” (but of course!😉🙃)
- What about Rosebank?
Posted in energy policy, natural gas, Offshore Energy - General, UK | Tagged Govt approval, Jackdaw field, Rosebank field, UK energy policy | Leave a Comment »
