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Archive for October, 2025

Gaza Marine Gas Field should be a development priority. Which companies will be involved?

Posted in Uncategorized, Offshore Energy - General, energy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

In light of the fantastic Middle East news, planning for the redevelopment of Gaza is underway. The Gaza Marine Gas Field should be a high priority given the power generation and revenue potential.

The field, which was discovered in 1999 by British Gas (now part of Shell), is located approximately 30-36 km off the coast of Gaza in the eastern Mediterranean and has estimated natural gas reserves of ~ 1 Tcf.

Who should be licensed to develop the field? In June 2023, there was a proposed agreement between the Palestinian Authority and an Egyptian consortium led by state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS). A resurrection of this arrangement may align with Palestinian interests. EGAS has experience in Mediterranean gas projects including the giant Zohr field (see map below).

Other candidates for developing the Gaza Marine field (pure speculation):

  • Chevron would be a logical choice given their extensive eastern Mediterranean experience as a result of their acquisition of Noble Energy. However, there might be concerns about undue US and Israeli control of this important resource.
  • Regional giants like Saudi Aramco, Qatar Energy, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) would be good candidates.
  • Another interesting possibility might be Equinor, which is 2/3 owned by the Norwegian govt. Equinor seems to sometimes make socially desirable investments that are less profitable.

Some combination of the above companies might also be a possibility. In any event, it’s critical to manage this resource in a manner that best benefits the recovery effort.

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Sable seeks court determination that pipeline provisions in “Newsom’s Drill Bill” don’t apply to their pipeline

Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, pipelines, Regulation, tagged , , , , , on October 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »

California Senate Bill 237 — disapprovingly dubbed by some environmental groups as Newsom’s “Drill Bill” —  is meant to ease environmental regulations hampering onshore oil development in Kern County. However, the bill also includes language that heightens Sable’s regulatory hurdles.

As a result, on Sept. 29 Sable Offshore filed a declaratory judgement action against the State of California in Kern County. Sable is asking the court to confirm that the objectionable permitting provisions of SB 237 do not apply to their Las Flores Pipeline System. 

Also, on Oct. 6 Sable filed a motion increasing the monetary damages in its ongoing case against the California Coastal Commission to $347 million. Sable asserts that their pipeline repair program was authorized by existing permits issued by the County of Santa Barbara under its Local Coastal Program and delegated Coastal Act authority.

These seem like good tactical moves on the part of Sable.

More on Sable and the Santa Ynez Unit.

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The Gulf of America carbon disposal era may end before it begins

Posted in CCS, climate, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , , on October 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Unsurprisingly, the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) hype is fading fast. No other carbon strategy is so strongly opposed by both climate change activists and skeptics.

Support for CCS seems to be limited to those seeking to profit from subsidies, mandates, and disposal fees. In 2022, Exxon projected a $4 trillion CCS market by 2050. Pipe dream?

“Highlights” of the Gulf of America OCS carbon disposal era:

Gulf of America lease map: 199 oil and gas leases were wrongfully acquired for carbon disposal purposes. At Sale 261, Repsol acquired 36 nearshore Texas tracts in the Mustang Island and Matagorda Island areas (red blocks at the western end of the map above). Exxon had acquired 163 nearshore Texas tracts (blue in map above) at Sales 257 (94) and 259 (69).

Even those of us who are supporters of responsible offshore oil and gas production find it a bit unsavory that some companies are looking to cash in on (and virtue signal about) carbon collection and disposal at the public’s expense. Perhaps companies that believe oil and gas consumption is harmful to society should be seeking to reduce production rather than engaging in enterprises intended to sustain it.

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Congratulations Ned Mamula, Director, USGS

Posted in energy policy, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on October 8, 2025| 2 Comments »

Congratulations to Dr. Ned Mamula on his confirmation as Director of the US Geological Survey. I had the pleasure of working with Ned when he was a young geologist in the Conservation Division (CD) of USGS. At the time, CD was the safety and environmental regulator for OCS oil and gas operations. Ned is a great guy and a dedicated geologist!

Ned’s statement at his confirmation hearing is attached. “Map Baby Map!”

Mamula Testimony 5-14-25 SENR Cmte HrgDownload

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Oh, the irony! Drilling will drive the energy transition.

Posted in climate, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on October 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Quaise Energy: “Millimeter wave drilling is the most transformational drilling technology since the drill bit was introduced to the world in the 1930s. It’s the key that finally unlocks superhot geothermal energy worldwide, and we’re already getting started on our first power project in the western United States.

Millimeter wave drilling is what makes geothermal universal, not niche. It’s far more than just a new tool. It’s as consequential as peering into the atom, going into orbit, and mapping the human genome. And, it can open the door to terawatts of geothermal power for the entire world.“

Ultradeep & Superhot!

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John Smith: “Why deep-sea mining makes sense – before and after mining pictures”

Posted in deep sea mining, energy policy, tagged , , , , on October 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

BOE contributor John Smith, who worked in the US marine minerals program, shared the pictures pasted below.

Terrestrial Indonesian nickel mine site before and after mining
Before and after: terrestrial Chilean copper mine site
Deep-sea nodule field before and after collection by Impossible Metals

An Impossible Metals table (below) understandably favors their methods vs. those employed by deep-sea mining rival The Metals Company. However, both approaches are far preferable, environmentally and socially, to onshore metal mining.

Impossible Metals graphic:

More on the benefits of deep sea mining.

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Judge Cain undoes Biden’s massive, last minute offshore leasing ban

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , on October 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

On Friday (10/3/2025), Judge Cain found that President Biden exceeded his authority under Section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) by attempting to permanently withdraw large areas of the OCS from future oil and gas leasing. The Biden withdrawals, executed in his final days in office (by autopen?), resulted in the largest ever permanent ban on offshore oil and gas leasing in the US, and to the best of my knowledge, anywhere in the world (see link for details on the ban).

Although President Trump rescinded Biden’s action via executive order on January 21, 2025, the court proceeded with the case, acknowledging the high likelihood of similar actions in the future.

Judge Cain concluded that Biden departed from historical executive practice and exceeded statutory limits under OCSLA Section 12(a), which allows the president to “withdraw from disposition any of the unleased lands of the outer Continental Shelf,” but does not explicitly authorize permanent or irrevocable bans.

The judge emphasized that prior withdrawals were typically temporary or modifiable, and attempts to make them permanent encroached on congressional powers.

Judge Cain extended the ruling to Obama’s extensive end-of-term withdrawals in 2016, finding them similarly unlawful for intending permanence.

The ruling reinforces that OCSLA withdrawals must be revocable by future presidents, limiting executive power to bind successors on public lands disposition. The ruling should prevent future reliance on leasing bans.

Judge Cain’s decision is important because leasing bans should be carefully considered and should not be executed casually at the end of a term for purely political purposes. 

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FPUs rule! Add Shenandoah and Salamanca to the producing list; bp commits to Tiber.

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Salamanca FPU (Repsol photo)

Every deepwater platform installed since Feb. 2018, when Chevron installed its Big Foot tension leg platform (TLP), has been a Floating Production Unit (aka FPU or production semisubmersible). During that period, no new SPARs, FPSOs, or TLPs were installed.

The list (below) of these simpler, safer, greener FPUs has grown by two with the initiation of production at Shenandoah and Salamanca. Note the water depth range from 3725 to 8600 ft.

platformoperatorwater depth (ft)first production
AppomattoxShell7400May 2019
King’s QuayMurphy3725April 2022
VitoShell4050Feb 2023
Argosbp4440April 2023
AnchorChevron4600Aug 2024
WhaleShell8600Jan 2025
ShenandoahBeacon5840July 2025
SalamancaLLOG6405Sept 2025

The efficiencies achieved with the simpler platform designs combined with the high pressure (>15,000 psi) technology developed over the past 2 decades is facilitatihg production from the highly prospective Paleogene (Wilcox) deepwater fans. (For those interested in learning more about the geology, see the excellent presentation by Dr. Mike Sweet, Univ. of Texas, that is embedded in this post.)

With bp’s commitment to Tiber, 3 new high-pressure projects, ala Chevron’s Anchor, are in the pipeline:

platformoperatorwater depth (ft)discovery datefirst production
Kaskidabp600020062029
SpartaShell470020122028
Tiberbp413020092030
All of the operators note the cost-saving similarities in their FPU designs. For example, Vito and Whale are very much the same despite the 4550′ difference in water depth.

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Phil Mickelson, Sable, natural seeps, and SYU options

Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Thumbs up to Santa Ynez Unit production from Phil Mickelson!

Phil also believes SYU production would reduce natural seepage: “UCSB and State Lands Commission studies (Quigley, Luyendyk, Hornafius, Peltonen, and others) have shown that when oil production is active, reservoir pressure is reduced and natural seepage declines by up to 50%. That means: •Cleaner beaches (less tar and oil) •Cleaner ocean surface (fewer sheens) •Healthier marine life with reduced chronic stress“

Note that those studies are specific to Platform Holly and the Coal Oil Point area. To the best of my knowledge, no studies have associated SYU production with a reduction in natural seepage.

From a related 2010 BOE post entitled “Slick Talk About Seeps” (note that production at Platform Holly has since been terminated):

While Platform Holly may be a negative spillage facility (i.e. Holly’s seep reduction may significantly exceed the platform’s production spillage), this type of seepage reduction has not been demonstrated at other platforms.  Decisions on offshore exploration and development should be driven by the economic, energy security, and environmental benefits.  To the extent that production reduces natural seepage, all the better.  However, seepage reduction is not a primary reason for producing offshore oil and gas.

Thoughts on Sable’s production options:

Option 1 (use of existing onshore infrastructure) is preferable from cost, air emissions, spill risk, State and local revenue, and regional energy supply standpoints. This is the only option that makes sense despite the enormous permitting challenges.

Option 2 (floating processing facility and tankers) would literally be an “in your face” act of defiance given the coastal visibility of the offshore facilities. Supporters of this option should be aware that there was no Coastal Zone Management Act when Exxon produced from Platform Hondo (the only SYU platform at the time) to the Offshore Storage and Treatment (OS&T) vessel in the 1980s. An EIS would not favor this option, and the California Coastal Commission would surely rule that this option was inconsistent with their CZM plan. The Secretary of Commerce could overrule the Commission’s decision, but legal objections to the override would seem to have a good chance of success.

The only reasonable path forward is to do the right thing and continue to pursue the State pipeline/onshore approvals. Although these approvals are substantively warranted, more litigation is probably inevitable. It will be far better to defend a good project (option 1) than a contrived workaround (option 2).

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Gulf production was stable in July. Looks like the zinc effect was minimal.

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, pipelines, tagged , , , , , , , on October 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »

In mid-July, zinc, presumably from a zinc bromide fluid used in completing a Chevron well, contaminated oil production destined for an Exxon refinery via Shell’s Mars Pipeline System. Total Gulf of America production was stable in July, so it appears that the contamination issue was quickly resolved.

Meanwhile, two new floating production units, Beacon’s Shenandoah and LLOG’s Salamanca are now on line. More on this and bp’s Tiber announcement in an upcoming post.

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