Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for 2022

January GoM oil production held steady at ~1.7 million BOPD

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , on April 1, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Even after full recovery from Hurricane Ida, Gulf of Mexico production remained well below the August 2019 monthly peak of 2.044 million BOPD. Production should trend upward in the near term as the Vito, Anchor, Argos, King’s Quay, and Whale floating production units come online. However, to sustain production near or above 2 million BOPD, exploration activity needs to be stimulated. This will be difficult given the suspension of leasing, and the continuous legal and administrative challenges.

Meanwhile the April 1 rig count held steady at 14.

Read Full Post »

Fellow Democrats Manchin and Kelly urge President Biden to implement 5 year program “without delay”

Posted in climate, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on April 1, 2022| Leave a Comment »

The current 5 year leasing program expires on June 30, 2022. Absent a new program, no lease sales may be held.

We are writing to urge you to develop and implement a new Five-Year Program for oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico without delay.

gulf-production-letter-kelly-manchinDownload

Read Full Post »

SPR Withdrawal and the US offshore oil and gas program

Posted in climate, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , on April 1, 2022| Leave a Comment »

In addition to the obvious concerns about depleting the strategic petroleum reserve, further mortgaging our economic future, and increasing national security risks, the directive to withdrawal 1 million BOPD from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for 6 months raises a few comments specific to US offshore production:

  • The 1 million BOPD withdrawal is equivalent to ~60% of the daily production from the entire Gulf of Mexico offshore sector. How will this massive 6-month withdrawal will effect regional markets and logistics?
  • Will the Dept. of Energy have to assess the GHG effects associated with their withdrawal of oil from the SPR? More specifically, will DOE be required to assess the increase in GHG emissions as a result of the increased foreign oil consumption that will result from the reduction in oil prices? This is what Judge Contreras ordered BOEM to do when he vacated Gulf of Mexico sale 257.
  • If it’s okay to produce and consume oil from the SPR facilities (mapped below), why is new leasing and exploration being constrained in the adjacent Gulf of Mexico?

Read Full Post »

Fundamental reason why regular offshore lease sales are imperative

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , on March 31, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, EIAP issued a report for API and NOIA that estimates economic impacts from leasing program delays. The fundamental reason for regular sales has not received much public attention, but is summarized succinctly in the report:

In most cases, additional leases are required to produce an existing field fully or to underpin the economics of processing and transportation infrastructure. It is thus important for the industry to have continued opportunities to secure leases through a predictable leasing program.

Keep in mind that US lease blocks are the smallest in the offshore world, too small for optimal development in deepwater and frontier areas. The smaller the blocks, the greater the importance of regular lease sales. Pictured below is a 2017 graphic graphic which superimposes Kosmos Energy’s blocks off Senegal and Mauritania on the Central Gulf of Mexico.  Note that the six West African blocks encompass 36,000 sq km and are the equivalent of 1600 GoM lease blocks.  

Read Full Post »

Mr. Charlie, the world’s first mobile offshore drilling unit (1953)

Posted in drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on March 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Read Full Post »

Congratulations to Bryan Domangue, BSEE’s new Gulf of Mexico Regional Director

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , on March 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Mr. Domangue began his career with BSEE in 1997 and has more than 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He has served as the Deputy Regional Director for Districts, Investigations, Environmental, and Enforcement (DIEE), as Senior Technical Advisor for the BSEE Gulf of Mexico Region and was the Acting Chief of the National Offshore Training Center. Mr. Domangue also previously served as Office Supervisor for Regional Operations, and as District Manager for the Houma District Office of the BSEE Gulf of Mexico OCS Region. He holds a BS degree in petroleum engineering from Louisiana State University.

BSEE

Read Full Post »

Remember this?

Posted in climate, conferences, energy policy, tagged , , on March 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

COP26 bans oil industry. Is this helpful?

UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei has most definitely not forgotten:

“I think in COP 26 all the producers felt they were uninvited and unwanted but now we are again superheroes, it’s not going to work like that,” he said.

Reuters

Read Full Post »

Remember when the US was strictly an LNG importer?

Posted in energy policy, natural gas, tagged , on March 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Technological advances, most notably horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, and private initiative on private land changed all of that.

“The US is going to emerge this year as the world’s largest LNG exporter, and it is clear that US LNG is a geopolitical asset for the United States and for Europe.”

Daniel Yergin

Read Full Post »

C-NLOPB’s prompt public notification of incidents is good regulatory practice

Posted in accidents, Canada, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , on March 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Below and linked is the most recent C-NLOPB incident posting:

  • Timely
  • Front page
  • Advises about any casualties or pollution (none in this case)
  • Briefly describes incident without speculating on causes
  • Informs about next steps
  • Well done

INCIDENT DISCLOSURE 2022

NEAR MISS ON THE HIBERNIA PLATFORM

March 25, 2022

Hibernia Management and Development Company (HMDC) has reported that on March 20, 2022 a crane on the Hibernia Platform was lifting a mini container when it made contact with a scaffold hoarding. There were three people working inside the hoarding at the time of contact. No one was injured and there was no damage to the scaffold hoarding.

West pedestal crane operations were halted and HMDC has initiated an investigation to determine the potential classification of the incident.

C-NLOPB Safety Officers were already scheduled to travel to the Hibernia Platform in the coming days and will follow up with HMDC to review this incident and the near miss that occurred on March 15.

The C-NLOPB is also monitoring HMDC’s investigations of these incidents.

Read Full Post »

Alexander Kielland tragedy – 42 years ago today

Posted in accidents, Norway, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , on March 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »

123 workers lost their lives in the North Sea.

Tiå går og di seie tiå lege adle sår
Men ein mista bror e sår som aldri gror
Kanskje vil dårr gå vinter og vår
Sei oss klart kor dokker står
Håpte på at han sko komma
At han sko komma hjem igjen

Time is gone, they said; time would heal all wounds
But to lose a brother is a wound that will never heal
It could take as long as the never-ending winter and spring [i.e., never]
I hope that he should come
That he should come home again

Excerpt from the Alexander L. Kielland (1980) Song

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »