Posted in energy policy, UK, tagged OEUK, offshore licenses on August 31, 2022| Leave a Comment »
It’s disappointing that this statement was even necessary. Under the circumstances, the need for new UK offshore licenses would seem to be obvious and undeniable.
“The European energy sector right now is cracking at the seams. Without the contribution of UK oil and gas resources, that crack would be a gaping hole.”
Mike Tholen, OEUK
Posted in CCS, climate, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged CCS, fair market value, Inflation Reduction Act, Lease Sale 257 on August 31, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Per legislation signed by the President on Aug. 16, 2022:
(b) LEASE SALE 257 REINSTATEMENT.—
(1) ACCEPTANCE OF BIDS.—Not later 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, without modification or delay—
(A) accept the highest valid bid for each tract or bidding unit of Lease Sale 257 for which a valid bid was received on November 17, 2021; and
(B) provide the appropriate lease form to the winning bidder to execute and return.
The Department of the Interior has been silent on their implementation of this provision. We are particularly interested in:
Posted in accidents, California, pipelines, Regulation, tagged alarms, Amplify, BSEE, DOT, Huntington Beach, lead detection, pipeline spill, plea agreement, USCG on August 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »
In addition to the penalty and reimbursement elements of the plea agreement, there are two Amplify commitments that may be of particular interest to BOE readers:
Also, given that the investigating agencies have still not issued their report on the October 2021 spill and no action has yet been taken against the shipping companies that caused the pipeline rupture, the congratulatory Coast Guard, EPA, FBI, and DOT quotes in the announcement seem rather premature and self-serving.
Two final thoughts:
Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, rigs-to-reefs, tagged North Sea, rigs-to-reefs, Rigs-to-Roosts, Wenlock platform on August 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »
GUILDFORD, UK — Alpha Petroleum Resources, Energean UK and Orsted Hornsea Project Four will consider repurposing the Wenlock gas platform in the UK southern North Sea, which is nearing the end of its productive life.
One possibility is to reuse the facility as an artificial nesting site to offset the impact on certain bird species of offshore wind developments in the area.
Black-legged kittiwakes have set up nests on various North Sea platforms, according to Orsted’s recent surveys. Repurposing an existing platform as an artificial nesting structure is seen as an alternative to building a new artificial nesting structure to support the local development of the Hornsea Four offshore wind farm.
Offshore Magazine
Posted in hurricanes, tagged hurricanes, Joe Bastardi, tropical storm on August 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I fully expect feature number 4 to be a TC by Wednesday and Hurricane by Friday as it threatens the NE Caribbean first. Eventual track toward Bahamas SE US in 10-15 day period. Feature in Africa develops, stays way out. 1,2,3 weaker right now
Joe Bastardi Twitter
Posted in accidents, California, Offshore Energy - General, pipelines, tagged Amplify, Huntington Beach, pipeline spill on August 26, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Martyn Willsher, Amplify’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased to have reached an agreement in principle regarding the civil litigation resulting from the Southern California Pipeline Incident last October. Although we are unable to provide additional detail at this time, we negotiated in good faith and believe we have come to a reasonable and fair resolution. We will continue to vigorously pursue our substantial claims for damages against the ships that struck our pipeline, and the Marine Exchange of Southern California that failed to notify us of the anchor strikes.”
Amplify Energy
Posted in energy policy, tagged depletion, dubious milestones, energy security, SPR, Strategic Petroleum Reserve on August 26, 2022| Leave a Comment »
The SPR withdrawals are scheduled to end just prior to the mid-term elections. What happens if oil markets tighten further, perhaps with OPEC assistance?
Remember that the SPR was intended to diminish the vulnerability of the United States to the effects of a severe energy supply interruption!
Updated SPR “milestones”
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Andrew, safety valves on August 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »
After devastating South Florida during August 25, 1992, Hurricane Andrew struck Gulf of Mexico facilities the following day. Sustained winds were 140 mph with gusts to 160 mph, and significant wave heights were 35-40 feet. About 700 platforms were exposed to hurricane force winds. 241 platforms and 83 pipeline segments incurred substantial damage.
All workers had been evacuated from the offshore facilities without incident. Surface and subsurface safety systems performed as intended, and there were no uncontrolled flows from production wells. According to respondents to a JP Kenny survey for MMS, 2698 valves were closed during the storm as follows:
| valve type | activated | failed |
| subsurface safety valves | 716 | 0 |
| master surface safety valves | 729 | 5 |
| wing surface safety valves | 460 | 0 |
| pipeline shutdown valve | 415 | 0 |
| pipeline check valve | 378 | 0 |
The five MSSV failures were at facilities directly in the path of the eye in an area where the storm damage was most severe.
The valve performance reporting was associated with a research project and was thus voluntary. It’s therefore important to give credit to the companies that participated (a number of which no longer exist): Amoco, Aquila Energy, BP, Chevron, Four Star O&G, Gulfstream, Houston Expl., Kerr-McGee, Mobil, Pennzoil, Samedan, Shell, Sonat, Stone, Tennessee Gas PL, Texaco, and Unocal.
Also, in reviewing the survey responses it’s clear that there was some confusion about what to report. Most facilities were completely shut-in well ahead of the storm’s arrival and the survey requests information on valves that were shut-in (presumably automatically) during the hurricane. Reporting was therefore inconsistent, and the total number of shut-in valves was under-reported.
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged Anadarko, offshore compliance, Oxy, Warren Buffet on August 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »
It was revealed on Friday that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) has received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval to acquire up to 50% of Occidental Petroleum’s (NYSE: OXY) common stock.
StreetInsider.com
Oxy (Andarko) fared very well in BOE’s mid-year review and apparently the “Oracle of Omaha” noticed. 😉
Posted in conferences, energy policy, Norway, tagged Elon Musk, energy security, ONS 2022, Zelenskyy on August 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Energy security will be a featured topic at the conference. Note the lineup for the Zelenskyy session:
President Zelenskyy will be introduced by the Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, and will be followed on stage by Elon Musk, Ben Van Beurden (CEO, Shell), Patrick Pouyanné (CEO, TotalEnergies) and Anders Opedal (CEO, Equinor) among others.
ONS 2022
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 