Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 5 year leasing plan, DOI, Gulf of Mexico, oil and gas leasing on September 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The Proposed Final Program includes a maximum of three potential oil and gas lease sales – the fewest oil and gas lease sales in history – in the Gulf of Mexico Program Area scheduled in 2025, 2027 and 2029.
DOI News Release
Tearing down what a lot of dedicated folks worked hard to build. 😢
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Regulation, tagged BSEE, Contingency Plan, government shutdown, offshore production on September 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The plan looks good. It appears to be consistent with previous contingency plans. Offshore operations should not be impacted.
“During the shutdown BSEE will continue critical permitting, oversight, preparedness verification, and related activities that are necessary to protect workers and the environment from operations associated with conventional and renewable energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf. Approximately 40% of the 851 BSEE employees will be retained to accomplish these activities and will be designated as exempt, as their salaries will be funded from non-lapsing prior year carryover. Should an extended shutdown occur, exhausting current funding sources, all the exempt personnel would be designated as excepted as they are essential for life and safety.”
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged BLM, BSEE, Contingency Plan, DOI, Federal shutdown, Petroleum Assoc. of Wyoming on September 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Federal funding lapses, real or threatened, are rather common. They range from false alarms to the extended shutdown of 35 days that occurred in 2018-19. In no case have offshore oil and gas operations been significantly affected. BSEE and its predecessors developed and implemented contingency plans that identified “essential employees” needed to monitor operations and review necessary permits.
Most Federal agencies have posted updated Federal contingency plans on the OMB page established for the purpose. Noticeably absent is the plan for the Department of the Interior (DOI), which includes the bureaus responsible for overseeing energy operations on Federal onshore and offshore lands. Presumably this is just a bureaucratic delay, and DOI has plans for the safe continuation of operations. However, the Petroleum Association of Wyoming was sufficiently concerned that they wrote a letter to Secretary Haaland and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, which is responsible for oil and gas operations on Federal onshore lands. That letter is attached below.
Hopefully, DOI will provide clarity on these matters today, since a Federal government shutdown could begin at midnight tomorrow. Needless to say, any disruption in ongoing oil and gas production operations would have significant safety and economic implications.
Posted in Guyana, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Guyana, Mass Maritime, Noble Corp., scholarships on September 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Per OilNow, Noble Corp. is awarding 4 scholarships to 4 students to attend Massachusetts Maritime Academy to earn degrees in Maritime Transportation or Maritime Engineering. The first 2 students are pictured above at Mass Maritime.
The selection process was highly competitive, as it should be, with more than 100 applicants.
The students will intern for Noble in the summers, and have positions with the company after graduation. This is a great opportunity for the students and a smart move by Noble.
(As an aside, my wife, whom I met during the exploratory drilling on Georges Bank in the 1980s, is a native Cape Codder, and her mother once taught at Mass Maritime. I’m sure the students from Guyana will do well there, and will adapt to the brisk Buzzards Bay winters 😀)
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Coast Guard, erroneous report, Lease Sale 261, NOAA, Rice's whale on September 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Followup to our previous post on this matter:
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Coast Guard, Lease Sale 261, Rice's whale, sperm whale, Venice on September 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Over the weekend, the Coast Guard station in Venice, LA rather recklessly announced the following on Facebook: “CRITICALLY ENDANGERED SPECIES SIGHTING: Station Venice presents to you……. Rice’s Whale.” The Facebook comment captioned a 16-second video of the whales swimming nearby, reportedly in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico. The video was removed on Tuesday. CBS reported on the Facebook post but was unable to obtain confirmation from the Coast Guard.
Given the timing and significance of the Coast Guard announcement relative to Lease Sale 261, this was a massive report. However, we now learn that the whales were incorrectly identified. Both the Coast Guard and NOAA are confirming that the whales were misidentified as Rice’s whales and were actually sperm whales.
CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to reflect that Coast Guard officials identified the whales spotted in the Gulf of Mexico as sperm whales after previously identifying them as critically endangered Rice’s whales. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also told McClatchy News in a statement that they are sperm whales.
Miami Herald
Wow!
Posted in drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged bp, Chevron, deepwater drilling, diligence, Gulf of Mexico, Hess, Shell, Talos, transocean on September 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Seven of the deepwater exploratory wells drilled in the Gulf of Mexico in 2023 (YTD) were spudded within 4.5 years of the effective date of their leases. Three of these wells were spudded within 3 years of their lease effective dates (see table below).
These are impressive achievements when you consider the time required for consultation with partners (if any) and contractors, site surveys, exploration plan development and approval, well planning, and drilling permit preparation and approval.
The subject wells accounted for 28% of the deepwater exploratory well starts in 2023 (25 net YTD wells after subtracting restarts at the same location).
| date lease effective | spud date | elapsed time (months) | water depth (ft) | operator |
| 3/1/2021 | 8/27/2023 | 30 | 6498 | Shell |
| 8/1/2020 | 5/21/2023 | 34 | 2211 | Talos |
| 8/1/2020 | 3/15/2023 | 31 | 3338 | Talos |
| 12/1/2019 | 6/5/2023 | 42 | 4228 | Chevron |
| 11/1/2019 | 6/1/2023 | 43 | 4603 | Hess |
| 7/1/2019 | 7/11/2023 | 48 | 7486 | Kosmos |
| 12/1/2018 | 6/6/2023 | 54 | 4127 | bp |
Below are the exploration plan (EP) and permit (APD) approval timeframes for these 7 wells. With the exception of the Kosmos EP which required a number of modifications, the regulator actions appear to have been timely. For the bp, Shell, and Chevron wells, only 4-6 months elapsed between EP submittal and APD approval.
| operator | block | date EP received | date EP approved | APD received | APD approved |
| Shell | WR 365 | 3/1/2023 | 5/17/2023 | 5/11/2023 | 8/8/2023 |
| Talos | GC 78 | 1/19/2021 | 4/16/2021 | 3/8/2023 | 5/26/2023 |
| Talos | MC 162 | 4/1/2022 | 7/13/2022 | 8/2/2022 | 3/2/2023 |
| Chevron | MC 937 | 12/7/2022 | 5/19/2023 | 4/21/2023 | 5/21/2023 |
| Hess | MC 727 | 8/30/2022 | 11/3/2022 | 12/21/2022 | 4/24/2023 |
| Kosmos | KC 964 | 1/3/2020 | 10/12/2022 | 4/18/2023 | 7/3/2023 |
| bp | GC 436 | 1/18/2023 | 4/14/2023 | 3/29/2023 | 6/5/2023 |
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged 5th Circuit, court order, Gulf of Mexico, Lease Sale 261, sale delayed on September 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Of note (emphasis added):
IT IS ORDERED that appellants’ opposed motion for partial stay pending appeal is GRANTED in part. The preliminary injunction that was entered by the Memorandum Order of September 21, 2023, is hereby AMENDED only in that the sale that was set for September 27, 2023, is ORDERED to take place by November 8, 2023. No extension will be granted. That is to say: Insofar as the preliminary injunction is concerned, the final paragraph of the Memorandum Order remains in effect, pending appeal of the preliminary injunction, with the exception that “September 30, 2023,” is changed to “November 8, 2023.”
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged 5th Circuit, BOEM, emergency motion, Lease Sale 261, Louisiana, stay granted on September 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »
BOEM is allowed to delay the sale until Nov. 8, which is consistent with the Federal government’s request.
All other aspects of the Preliminary Injunction remain in place, but the 5th Cir. still needs to hear and decide the government’s appeal of the PI. Monday’s decision was on the emergency motion and not the merits of the Preliminary Injunction.
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged BOEM, Gulf of Mexico, Lease Sale 261, NTL, Red Willow, Rice's whale on September 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Assuming the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale proceeds tomorrow in accordance with Judge Cain’s order, some interesting questions and issues remain:
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 