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Archive for November, 2022

Stemming the decline in deepwater Gulf of Mexico exploration?

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on November 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Was 2021 the low point? Hopefully that is the case, but consistent leasing is essential.

Looks like Woodside is now officially the GoM operator of record (was BHP prior to merger). Kudos to them.

Shell continues to be the GoM bellwether. There is no OCS program without them.

What’s up with BP and Chevron? Big declines from both.

US super-majors Exxon and ConocoPhillips remain out of the picture, both in terms of lease acquisition and exploration. Disappointing.

Tip of the hat to Hess, LLOG, Murphy, and Talos – independents committed to deepwater production.

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Nord Stream explosives confirmed

Posted in energy, Offshore Energy - General, pipelines, Russia, tagged , , on November 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Sweden’s prosecutor’s office said Friday that an investigation into gas leaks from two underwater pipelines connecting Russia to Germany found traces of explosives, confirming that it is a case of “serious sabotage.”

CNBC

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“Deep Geothermal Is Closer Than You Think”

Posted in CCS, climate, energy, tagged , , , on November 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Update on the most promising renewable energy alternative:

Quaise has received a grant from the Department of Energy to scale up Woskov’s experiments using a larger gyrotron. With the larger machine, the team hopes to vaporize a hole 10 times the depth of Woskov’s lab experiments by the end of this year. After that, the team will vaporize a hole 10 times the depth of the previous one — what co-founder Matt Houde calls a 100-to-1 hole.

“That’s something [the DOE] is particularly interested in, because they want to address the challenges posed by material removal over those greater lengths — in other words, can we show we’re fully flushing out the rock vapors?” Houde explains. “We believe the 100-to-1 test also gives us the confidence to go out and mobilize a prototype gyrotron drilling rig in the field for the first field demonstrations.”

Rather than getting deep in the weeds of carbon capture, imagine powering those existing facilities with steam generated without carbon emissions at all.

The key is that ultradeep geothermal has the power density and scalability of fossil fuels.

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RIP Mike Conner, deepwater safety leader

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on November 16, 2022| Leave a Comment »

On Monday, the offshore world lost Mike Conner, an outstanding engineer and a major contributor to the success of the US offshore program.

Mike is the person most responsible for the Deepwater Operations Plan (DWOP), a pioneering safety-case approach to regulating deepwater oil and gas development. The DWOP program was initiated 30 years ago and facilitated deepwater production at a time when there were no deepwater-specific regulations or standards. Innovative tension leg platform, compliant tower, spar, production semisubmersible, and subsea projects would not have been possible without the DWOP program. 93% of Gulf of Mexico oil production and 76% of the gas is now attributable to deepwater production facilities. Thanks in large part to the DWOP program, these facilities have had a nearly flawless safety and environmental record.

While his obituary is no yet available, this link announces Mike’s well-deserved selection for the OTC Heritage Award in 2017, and provides good information on Mike and his career.

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SPR decline continues – down to 392.2 million bbls as of 11/11/2022

Posted in energy policy, tagged , on November 16, 2022| Leave a Comment »

 Lowest volume since 3/30/1984; 46% below capacity; 36% one year decline

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2021 Flaring Intensity – 10 largest flaring nations vs. US Gulf of Mexico

Posted in climate, flaring and venting, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on November 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Using the World Bank’s worldwide flaring data and ONRR flaring and venting data for the GoM, I compared GoM flaring intensity for 2021 with that of the World Bank’s top ten flaring nations. This is just one example of why US offshore production is a preferred and vital component of our energy mix.

Further discussion: Kudos to the World Bank for their use of satellite data to estimate flaring volumes worldwide. Their primary performance indicator is flaring intensity (volume flared per bbl of oil produced). Absent better worldwide reporting regimes, satellite data are essential. However, there are issues with the World Bank’s system that merit further consideration:

  • Satellites miss some flares and vented gas (a more significant GHG concern) is not detected
  • A prior review of Gulf of Mexico data indicated that the World Bank flaring estimates are low.
  • The flaring intensity indicator penalizes higher gas-oil ratio (GOR) wells. Production upsets of the same duration yield higher flaring intensity scores at higher GOR facilities.
  • Associated gas is an environmentally favorable energy source that should not be discouraged. Most Gulf of Mexico gas production is now from oil wells. Efficient collection and utilization is the key.
  • There will always be some production upsets that result in flaring. The objective should be to minimize the % of oil-well and gas-well gas that is flared, irrespective of the amount of oil production. See the recent GoM summary data posted here and here.

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Nord Stream and the buzz about “dark ships”

Posted in pipelines, Russia, UK, tagged , , , on November 14, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Using satellite data, SpaceKnow detected 2 “dark ships” near the pipelines prior to the explosions. The ships were operating with their automatic identification system (AIS) transponders turned off or malfunctioning. While this is cause for suspicion, no data were provided on the frequency of such issues in the Baltic. Also, what were the specific routes and timelines for these vessels? Absent this information. the “dark ship” reports aren’t terribly meaningful.

Although the assumption that the explosions occurred outside the pipeline seems most likely, some observers have suggested that the explosions were internal. It’s unknown whether the investigators have ruled out this possibility.

Meanwhile, the folks in Germany and elsewhere in Europe are understandably impatient. They want answers from their governments!

https://twitter.com/derleugner/status/1589487376979873793

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BOE’s weekend Geoscience recommendations 😀

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on November 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »

A. Pangea dining

B. Seismic touchdown

Lars Herbst assures us that no marine mammals were harmed by the Baton Rouge shock waves!

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Comments on revisions to BSEE’s Well Control Rule

Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, well control incidents, tagged , , on November 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Comments on the proposed revisions to BSEE’s Well Control Rule are due on Monday (11/14/2022). My comments were submitted yesterday, and I have attached a copy for those who might be interested. Bud

wcr-comments-2Download

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SPR update: down to 396.2 million bbls as of 11/4/2022

Posted in energy policy, tagged , on November 9, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Lowest since April 1984.

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