Posted in Offshore Energy - General, tagged Atlantic, leasing, legislation, offshore drilling, Virginia on May 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »
….. and oil prices fall by more that $10. See how easy this is 🙂
Even if the legislation is passed by the Senate and enacted (unlikely), the only mandated sale outside of the Gulf of Mexico would be a small wedge in the Atlantic. This wedge would likely be reduced to a sliver by Defense Department concerns.
See our previous comments on this and the two companion House bills.
Posted in energy, Wind Energy, tagged New Jersey, renewable energy, solar energy, wind turbines on May 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »
…. not every project makes sense.
NY Times photo
Like a massive Christo project but without the advance publicity, installations have been popping up across New Jersey for about a year now, courtesy of New Jersey’s largest utility, the Public Service Electric and Gas Company. Unlike other solar projects tucked away on roofs or in industrial areas, the utility is mounting 200,000 individual panels in neighborhoods throughout its service area, covering nearly three-quarters of the state. NY Times
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged accidents, blowouts, BOP, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, macondo, offshore drilling, OTC, safety, well control on May 4, 2011| 1 Comment »
“I didn’t have a lot of set ideas about how things should work in the energy industry,” Jahnke said. “So I thought ‘Why can’t we try a curved blade?’ like the curved hook on a Swiss Army Knife can opener.”
Since January, T-3 has been testing Jahnke’s design, slicing through just about every size of drill pipe and casing used in the Gulf.
National Oilwell Varco is showing customers its new shear rams — a pair of trident-like blades that puncture a drill pipe before cutting it to shreds. The ShearMax Low Force Casing Shear Rams are aimed at cutting through tool joints – the thickest section of a drill pipe where it screws into another section of pipe.
GE Oil & Gas’ Hydril line of blowout preventers include a hardware and software system that allows an operator to know exactly how far shear rams close within the blowout preventer.
Another new Hydril product captures the natural pressure thousands of feet underwater to help activate a shear ram.
Weatherford International has touted its new “closed-loop” drilling system, which allows for better monitoring for gas as mud comes back from a well during drilling.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Canada, offshore drilling, offshore oil on May 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »
From Platt’s Oilgram News: 
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper turned two minority election victories since 2006 into a clear-cut majority win May 2, giving him the freedom to govern unchallenged for four years and, if he chooses, open the door to Canada’s first offshore oil and natural gas exports, climate change legislation, a national energy strategy and increased resource sector takeovers by foreign state owned companies.
Harper wasted no time telling reporters May 3 that Western Canada, whose economies rely heavily on oil, natural gas and mineral resources, can “breathe a lot easier.” He said NDP and Liberal policies calling for a ban on crude oil and LNG tankers off the northern British Columbia coast and a cap-and-trade emissions-reduction plan “were pretty seriously threatening” to Western Canada. “It’s a great thing those policies won’t be coming to fruition,” Harper promised.
Posted in conferences, tagged offshore drilling, offshore oil and gas, OTC on May 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Helix 15000 psi capping stack on display at OTC
Posted in conferences, cuba, tagged conference, cuba, drilling, IADC, Trinidad on May 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »
From Platts Oilgram News:
The US has given permission for a Cuban delegation to attend a conference sponsored by the International Association of Drilling Contractors in Trinidad next month to discuss Cuba’s deepwater drilling plans, the IADC said April 29.
If the Cuban delegation, which includes a top drilling regulator, attends, it will be the first time the Cubans have discussed their deepwater drilling plans in an international forum.
The IADC had applied to the US Treasury Department for a license to allow Cubans to attend the conference and was told on April 29 the license had been granted, Brian Petty, IADC senior vice president of government affairs, said.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Australia, blowouts, Montara, offshore drilling, PTTEP, safety, well control on May 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »
PTTEPAA, through its responsible and proactive response to the Incident has shown its commitment to responsible environmental management.
Comment: Those who read the Montara submissions and closely followed the official inquiry are likely to question this conclusion. Perhaps PTTEP should have emphasized the lessons learned and their commitment to better performance in the future.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged exports, Mexico, oil production on May 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Mexico, the third-largest supplier of foreign oil to the United States, could lose the capacity to export crude altogether within a decade without major new investments in exploration and production, warns a research group report released on Friday. New York Times
Posted in drilling, well control incidents, tagged BOP, design, JL Daeschler on May 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »
JL Daeschler, subsea engineer and inventor, sent me some preliminary drawings for a new BOP concept.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 