Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged hurricanes, Isaias, oil production, shut-in production | Leave a Comment »
MMA estimates that approximately 9.24% of current Gulf of America oil production and 3.36% of natural gas production were shut-in as of 1130 CT today. No personnel had been evacuated.
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged Gulf of America, Invest 92L, production shut-in, tropical storm | Leave a Comment »
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has not yet ruled on the merits of the challenge to PHMSA’s assertion of exclusive Federal jurisdiction over Sable Offshore Corp.’s Las Flores (Santa Ynez) pipeline segments (CA-324 and CA-325) or related restart approvals. A three-judge panel ordered additional briefing after a status conference, and a decision is expected to take months.
The 9th Circuit panel held a video status conference on 10/5/2026, and consolidated petitions from the Environmental Defense Center (and other groups) and the State of California. The panel ordered further briefing rather than issuing an immediate decision on the core jurisdictional question—whether the onshore pipeline segments engage in “interstate commerce” under the Pipeline Safety Act (making them subject to exclusive PHMSA authority rather than California’s Office of the State Fire Marshal).
Concise background summary from Grok: PHMSA reclassified the pipelines as interstate in late 2025 (asserting jurisdiction because they transport crude from Outer Continental Shelf platforms through California to a Kern County terminal, with arguments that onshore processing does not break the flow of interstate commerce). This enabled restart approvals and special permits (initially emergency, later a longer-term one) that environmental groups and California challenge as unlawful, preemptive of state authority, and deficient under the Pipeline Safety Act, NEPA, and ESA. Sable restarted operations earlier in 2026 amid related litigation (including Defense Production Act issues and consent-decree matters in district court). The Ninth Circuit cases are Environmental Defense Center et al. v. PHMSA (No. 25-8059) and the consolidated California petition (originally No. 26-508 / related Nos.).
Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, pipelines, Regulation | Tagged 9th circuit, delayed decision, Las Flores Canyon, pipeline, Sable Offshore, Santa Ynez Unit | Leave a Comment »
This interesting Sunday Times (UK) piece was shared by JL Daeschler. A key point in the quote below is that you can’t neglect the gas (dispatchable energy) network when you increase the contribution of intermittent renewables.
When wind and solar generation are low, the nation switches on the gas — and in a big way. Take January 5 this year, when gas-fired generation jumped from 2.3GW to 26.1GW in the space of a day — enough to power 19 million homes. The upshot is that “less gas use doesn’t mean less gas network,” as one industry source puts it.
As Alex Epstein has frequently asserted “solar and wind aren’t real power sources, they’re intermittent fuel-savers.”
Winter Storm Fern (1/23-31/2026) affected much of the US stretching from the Southern Plains and the Gulf Coast through the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and New England. Power demand surged, and solar and wind power generation were minimal. (Alex Epstein charts below)
Posted in energy policy, natural gas | Tagged Alex Epstein, dispatchable power, intermittent energy, JL Daeschler, Jon Yeomans, natural gas, Winter Storm Fern | Leave a Comment »
Comments on the proposed “Revisions to the Requirements for Exploratory Drilling on the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf” are due today.
My submission (one page) is attached. Main points:
- Removing the same-season-relief-well (SSRW) requirements is an essential precursor to the renewal of arctic drilling activity. The SSRW provisions make Arctic operations cost prohibitive while at the same time increasing safety and environmental risks.
- The potential risks and benefits of a subsea isolation device (SSID) should be assessed on a case-by-case basis considering water depth, temperature related BOP failure risks, wellhead integration, ice and vessel traffic exposure, and other factors.
- As is the case for floating drilling operations anywhere, the focus in the Arctic should be on well design, integrity, and control, including carefully verifying casing and cement integrity, ensuring complete barrier redundancy, and having standby capping and containment capability.
Posted in Alaska, drilling, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, well control incidents | Tagged Arctic drilling, MMA, regulations, regulatory fragmentation, same season relief well, subsea isolation device, well control | Leave a Comment »
Sable’s update includes production and sales information, but nothing about the pipeline anomalies. Summary:
- Platform Hondo modernization and operational commissioning are complete. (Hondo is the last of the 3 platforms to come online.)
- Sable anticipates Federal (MMA) approval of the Platform Hondo instrumentation, control, and safety commissioning this month.
- Each of Hondo’s 9 perforation additions (Perf Adds) are expected to add ~600 barrels of oil per day to the base well production at a cost of approximately $800,000 per operation.
- Completing the Los Flores Canyon (LFC) operational and facility upgrades ahead of the restart of Platform Hondo is expected to allow the flow of all SYU wells, maintain continuous operations and reduce downtime in Q4 2026.
- Sable’s preliminary estimate of oil sales during the months of July and August is approximately 32 thousand gross barrels of oil per day averaged over the two months, with September oil sales volumes expected to be approximately 34 thousand gross barrels of oil per day.
- Sable is working with midstream and downstream partners to alleviate third party sales constraints experienced in the second half of August and September 2026. (This is presumably why July/Aug sales were lower than previously forecast.)
- Nominations to Sable’s crude purchaser are expected to increase to an average of 38 thousand gross barrels of oil per day in October 2026. An October 2026 estimated exit rate of approximately 45 thousand bopd prior to the expected addition of Hondo volumes.
- Sable expects increasing oil sales rates after this month.
Also Sable related:
- Gov. Newsome has signed AB 1448 which adds more obstacles for Sable and other OCS producers. (More on AB 1448.)
- A Houston Chronicle article about Sable CEO Jim Flores focuses on his compensation.
- Sable advocate Phil Mickelson is reported to have voluntarily checked himself into an addiction treatment center. We wish him well.
Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation | Tagged 2025 Gulf of America oil production, AB 1448, MMA, Platform Hondo, Sable Offshore, Santa Ynez Unit | Leave a Comment »
2025 was a record production year for the Gulf. Assuming the continued absence of tropical storms, 2026 will likely surpass 2025.
The EIA’s Gulf production revisions have been more significant in recent months. For example, May production was increased by 48,000 bopd over the past 2 months. Yesterday’s report increased June production by 44,000 bopd.
More importantly, the EIA and official ONRR production totals for 2025 are now aligned! Is the EIA reading this blog? 😉
The July production bump in the Pacific was slightly less than expected. Given that Sable reported July production of 38,000 bopd and the production estimate for the other platforms is ~12,000 bopd, a total of 50,000+ bopd was expected.
Posted in California, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged EIA, Gulf of America, offshore oil, Pacific, production | 3 Comments »
I asked two AI wizards if they could tell me the total number of lawsuits filed against Sable Offshore or the Federal govt regarding the restart and transport of production from the Santa Ynez Unit. One said the total fluctuates as new petitions are filed and consolidated. (Duh! 😉)
Grok gave it a good shot, qualifying the answer as appropriate:
“There is no single official or comprehensive public tally of every lawsuit ever filed on this topic. As of late September 2026, reporting describes roughly a dozen active/related lawsuits tied to the Santa Ynez Unit (SYU) pipelines and restart; many more have been filed overall (some resolved, consolidated, or mooted).” (Reasonable answer.)
The most recent Court filing is by a group of NGOs challenging PHMSA’s June 25, 2026, order granting a “Special Permit” to Sable Offshore. The Special Permit, which is the subject of a number of lawsuits pertinent to the restart of Santa Ynez Unit production, applies to onshore pipeline segments CA-324 and CA-325. The pipeline originates at Las Flores Canyon in Santa Barbara County and terminates at Pentland Station in Kern County (map above).
In brief, the petitioners claim that the Special Permit and related documents were issued in excess of PHMSA’s statutory jurisdiction and authority and were issued unlawfully, and that PHMSA’s conclusions are arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion. Petitioners also challenge FWS’s concurrence with PHMSA’s determination that its order(s) will not likely adversely affect endangered species.
Here is a link to the complete Court filing, courtesy of Politico. For those who are following these matters, the PHMSA permit and related documents are included as exhibits. This compilation is helpful.
Posted in California, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation | Tagged AI, litigation, number of cases, PHMSA, Santa Ynez Unit, special permit | Leave a Comment »
Kudos to EPA for their Notice (attached) informing that carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) doesn’t meet the Clean Air Act’s definition of “best system of emissions reduction” (BSER). This common sense determination is a setback for companies chasing the generous 45Q tax credits that their lobbyists succeeded in retaining and enhancing in the One Big Beautiful Bill (table below).
Per the Notice: “EPA is finalizing the determination that 90 percent CCS is not the BSER for existing long-term coal-fired steam generating units because 90 percent CCS has not been adequately demonstrated, the costs of 90 percent CCS are not reasonable, and the associated degree of emission limitation is not achievable.”
EPA further determined “that previous projects that failed to achieve 90 percent CCS were not a sufficient basis to conclude the technology has been adequately demonstrated. Additionally, the carbon dioxide (CO2) capture, pipeline, and sequestration infrastructure necessary to implement 90 percent CCS for the fleet of existing coal-fired steam generating units does not currently exist and would need to be broadly deployed.“
EPA sensibly concludes (p. 58969) that the 45Q tax credit should NOT be accounted for when evaluating the reasonableness of the costs of the BSER. The carbon disposal industry has discounted the risks and overstated the benefits of CCS in their pursuit of those tax benefits, on which that industry is dependent.
Meanwhile. the Texas Railroad Commission by a 2-1 vote just approved a major carbon disposal project despite strong local opposition. The Rose Project will dispose of 53 million metric tons of carbon dioxide ($4.5 billion in tax credits).
Extension of the carbon disposal industry to Federal offshore waters appears to have failed. Only 7 of the 163 OCS oil and gas leases wrongfully acquired by Exxon and Repsol for carbon disposal purposes remain in effect. Those 7 leases will probably be relinquished before they expire in 2027.
Posted in CCS, energy policy, Regulation | Tagged 45Q tax credits, BSER, CAA, carbon disposal, CCS, EPA, Exxon, Repsol, Rose Project, TRC | Leave a Comment »
Dale Kunitomi, a distinguished Petroleum Geologist, was a good friend of Joan Barminski, geologist and retired Pacific Region Director for BOEM. Dale passed away on August 29, 2026. Joan shared the inspiring Coast Geological Society tribute to this remarkable man.
Dale was born at the Heart Mountain, Wyoming, Japanese concentration camp during World War II, where he spent the first year and a half of his life. When the camp closed, his family returned to Hollywood California to rebuild their lives with Dale and his four siblings. Growing up conflicted about his family’s hardship, he found his way back to his personal history as an adult, when he attended his first Manzanar Pilgrimage in 1988.
Dale’s parents were both college graduates and longtime teachers in the LA school system. After graduation from Belmont High School, Dale enrolled in Los Angeles City College then transferred to UCLA where he discovered geology courses. After graduation he worked for and lived in the City of Long Beach, California where the easterly extension of the giant Wilmington field had just begun. During that time, he attended four years of graduate night classes at USC in an attempt to “absorb the huge volume of literature documenting the emerging Plate Tectonics Revolution”. His education at UCLA and USC resulted in episodes of schizophrenia during fall football seasons.
From Long Beach his career took him to the Southern California Gas Company in Los Angeles, then to Santa Barbara, Ventura, Bakersfield, and Camarillo working for various small oil companies (Pauley, Argo, Celeron) concentrating on oil and gas exploration and development in California and Alaska. Dale’s work has also included geotechnical investigations, hydrogeologic assessments, and 3-D geologic modeling of oilfields. While living in Camarillo, he became an independent consultant in 1988 working for individuals, companies, municipalities and utilities on various aspects of oil and gas geology. A large portion of this work was as a contractor for Exxon / ExxonMobil from 1994 to 2003, as an operations geologist in the Santa Ynez Unit in the Santa Barbara Channel. Dale was the Exxon representative for most of the well logging operations during that time.
Dale and Grace enjoyed deep-sea fishing from their fifteen-foot 1978 Boston Whaler and from charter boats. The Whaler is still floating and berthed in the Channel Islands Harbor, and retains his classic sticker, “I brake for kelp paddies.” After one of his fishing trips, Dale treated the entire Exxon geology group to an exquisite self-prepared sushi lunch from his catch. Dale and Grace also enjoyed traveling to foreign lands that included China, Kenya, Kamchatka, Alaska, Canada, Australia, and Mexico. Many of these trips mixed geology and culture, and included a number of CGS folks.
The first presentation Dale made was to the Coast Geological Society in 1977 on transforming the Honor Rancho Oilfield to a Gas Storage Field after visiting the area. In 1993 Dale and Bob Michael presented on Kamchatka – The Russian Ring of Fire after a trip to the area. In 2005 he presented on Climate Change: The Paradox of Global Warming Causing A New Ice Age in a joint meeting with AEG. Dale was a CGS member and then an honorary member for over 45 years. Within CGS he proudly held the position of Assistant BBQ Chief under the tutelage of Dr. Eugene “Iron Chef” Fritsche. No doubt he was also proud to be CGS President in 1993-1994. He served as vice-president of the LABGS in 1976.
Dale was very active in the PSAAPG, where he was Vice President in 1999. He assisted with a successful convention held in Santa Barbara and was Convention Site Chairman for two conventions held in Ventura. Dale contributed or edited four Pacific Section publications including Structure and Petroleum Geology, Santa Barbara Channel as well as geology field guides and presented technical papers to the Pacific Section conventions.
In 2004 Dale S. Kunitomi was chosen to receive the Distinguished Service Award presented by the Pacific Section AAPG in recognition of his contribution to and involvement with the western United States geological community. In 2013 Dale received Honorary Life Membership, which is the highest award given to PSAAPG members. It is bestowed upon members who have distinguished themselves by their contributions and devotion to the science and profession of petroleum geology and by outstanding service to the Pacific Section.
In his DSA nomination autobiography, Dale wrote:
“I believe being born in the shadow of the geologic marvel of Heart Mountain, where Mississippian Madison Limestone overlies Eocene sediments, in some way influenced my life and career choices. I have been fortunate to have learned my craft from many knowledgeable geologists.”
Posted in California, Uncategorized | Tagged Coast Geological Society, Dale Kunitomi, petroleum geologist, PSAAPG | Leave a Comment »
