Some of us are long-time observers of North Sea operations. Others like JL Daeschler are pioneers who were involved with North Sea exploration and development from the outset. It’s sad to see what is happening to the UK offshore industry.
And for what purpose? Virtue signaling by politicians? Pandering to the international climate cartel? Shutting down North Sea production will have no measurable effect on our climate.
Now that the entire U.S. Atlantic and Pacific, and nearly all of offshore Alaska, are closed to oil and gas leasing, the goal of some is to shut down the Gulf of Mexico. That intent is clear in the 5 year leasing plan that provides for a maximum of 3 sales, the fewest of any 5 year plan in the history of the US offshore program. This is really a 5 year moratorium, not a 5 year leasing plan.
As noted in the post below, GoM production is 1.8 million bopd. BOEM’s reasonable forecast of >2 million bopd through 2027 will not be achieved because of policy decisions, not resource limitations or technical capabilities.
And shame on those who are attributing Hurricane Helene’s destruction to GHG emissions. This is uninformed opportunism at its worst.
This video shows the real cost of Ed Miliband’s plans to shut down the North Sea.
200,000 workers left stranded, billions in tax revenue lost, and clean energy investment deterred.
Note: I have attached a PDF for those who want to download the charts and table.I have also added a “flaring and venting” category for easy access to these posts.
Minimizing flaring and venting is important from both environmental and resource conservation standpoints.Flaring and venting volumes are also good indicators of how well production systems are designed, managed, and maintained.
The best performance indicators are the percentages of produced gas that are flared and vented both for oil-well gas (OWG, also known as associated gas or casinghead gas) and gas-well gas (GWG or non-associated gas).
I compile monthly flaring and venting volumes for the Gulf of Mexico using data submitted to the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR). Reporting these data is mandatory and strictly enforced. Violators are subject to civil and criminal penalties.
In assessing performance trends, it’s important to segment venting and flaring volumes for both OWG and GWG production. Venting produced gas (mostly methane) is a more significant environmental concern from both air quality and greenhouse gas (GHG) perspectives. Reductions in methane emissions are a priority for regulators and leading operators.
Flaring and venting data for 2019-2023 are summarized in the charts and table below. All volumes are in millions of cubic feet (MMCF). For the last chart (% of total gas production vented), I added ONRR data for 2015-2018 to provide a longer term perspective on overall venting performance.
Observations:
OWG venting has declined significantly both in terms of the total volume and % flared. Most OWG is now produced at modern deepwater platforms equipped with efficient flare stacks. Venting from these facilities is minimal. A performance target of <0.2% for OWG venting should therefore be achievable.
GWG venting volumes have declined sharply. However, given the parallel decline in GWG production, the % of GWG vented has actually increased. Most gas wells are on older shelf platforms where flare booms cannot be safely and economically added. Nonetheless, it’s disappointing that the % of GWG vented increased to > 0.3% in both 2022 and 2023.
OWG flaring has remained relatively constant both in terms of the volume and % flared. Given that most OWG is produced at deepwater facilities, reduction of the flaring % to <1.0 should be achievable.
The % of the total gas flared or vented has remained relatively constant at >1.0%. Again, a target of <1.0% should be achievable.
In the table, the figures in blue are particularly encouraging and the figures in red are the most disappointing.
Overall, the numbers are good, but continuous improvement should be the objective. Reductions in GWG venting and OWG flaring should be prioritized.
As previously discussed, flaring/venting performance could be better assessed if information on large flaring/venting episodes was made publicly available. Explanations are needed for spikes in monthly ONRR flaring/venting volumes. Are these spikes associated with production startups, tropical storm restarts, major compressor issues, administrative/accounting corrections, or something else?
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
OWG flared
7727
7385
5919
6987
6342
OWG vented
2578
1984
1405
1638
1230
OWG produced
670,699
582,254
582,824
581,235
598,005
% OWG flared
1.15
1.27
1.02
1.20
1.06
% OWG vented
0.38
0.34
0.24
0.28
0.21
GWG flared
405
432
311
213
212
GWG vented
958
578
548
722
468
GWG produced
364,082
224,808
209,558
203,342
152,400
%GWG flared
0.11
0.19
0.15
0.10
0.14
%GWG vented
0.26
0.26
0.26
0.36
0.31
total flared and vented
11668
10233
8183
9559
8252
total gas production
1,034,782
807,062
792,382
784,577
750,405
% flared or vented
1.13
1.27
1.03
1.22
1.10
total vented
3536
2416
1953
2360
1698
% vented
0.34
0.30
0.25
0.30
0.22
total flared
8132
7817
6230
7200
6554
% flared
0.79
0.97
0.79
0.92
0.87
OWG=oil well gas; GWG=gas well gas; all volumes are in MMCF
2024 will be the first year since 1958 without a single OCS oil and gas lease sale. There would not have been a sale in 2023 either were it not for a legislative mandate. The only 2022 lease sale was a micro-sale in the Cook Inlet that resulted in only a single bid. So, at the end of 2024 three years will have elapsed with only one meaningful sale, and that sale was mandated by Congress.
The current plan is for these de facto sanctions on US offshore production to continue. The Dept. of the Interior’s 5 year leasing plan includes a maximum of 3 sales, by far the fewest sales in any 5 year plan in OCS program history.
Meanwhile, the sanctions on Venezuelan production were further eased with the understanding that the Maduro regime would hold fair elections. To the surprise of no one, the evidence strongly suggests that those elections were not fair. Nonetheless, the sanctions on production have not been reimposed.
Apparently, the climate activists who have imposed their will on the OCS oil and gas program have less influence over our policy toward Venezuela. Or perhaps the production (and consumption) of Venezuelan oil is cleaner and greener (🙃 sarcasm intended!)
JL Daeschler reports that there has been no wind for the past 4 days at his home in Scotland, and his wind gauge is droopy. (See his sketch below and read the fine print 😉)
Rendering of Ocean City MD morning view per US Wind project plansubmitted to BOEMOcean City NJ offshore wind protest
To those of us from Philly, Ocean City is in New Jersey. To those living in the DMV, Ocean City is in Maryland. These popular beach resorts have distinct personalities, but both are heavily dependent on tourism. They are also aligned against offshore wind development.
On Aug. 5, Ocean City MD Mayor Rick Meehan said the town has hired a law firm, and will join several local co-plaintiffs in suing BOEM if it issues a federal permit to US Wind to construct the US Wind project offshore Maryland. Exactly one month later (9/5/2024), BOEM approved the project. (The 2 US Wind leases have been consolidated, and the project is now known as the Maryland Offshore Wind project).
Halting Atlantic wind projects has been a difficult proposition for local governments, tribes, and grass roots environmental groups given that the wind industry, State and Federal govt, and the large environmental NGOs have been firmly aligned against them. Indeed, the Federal govt considers wind developers to be their partners.
Disputes between State and local governments regarding offshore wind policy are becoming increasingly strident. Such disconnects are not common for offshore oil and gas given that State and local govts are typically aligned either for or against.
The growing level of discord is neither in the best interest of wind developers nor their opponents. Unfortunately, election year politics probably stand in the way of a pause in wind leasing that would facilitate open and unpressured collaboration with coastal residents, power customers, tribes, and fishing organizations on the best path forward.
Total has announced plans to install a 3 MW floating wind turbine 2 km west of the Culzean platform, 220 km off the coast of Scotland. This turbine, expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025, will supply around 20% of Culzean’s power requirement. This project is interesting from an R&D standpoint, but makes little sense otherwise. Here’s why:
Culzean is a gas condensate field that is capable of meeting 5% of the UK’s gas demand. There is thus ample produced gas to reliably and economically power the platform.
Gas will be required to meet 80% of the power requirement even after the wind turbine is operating.
In light of installation, maintenance, and decommissioning costs for the floating turbine, the cost of the intermittent wind power will no doubt be much higher than the cost of the power generated by platform gas.
Some tax benefits may be associated with adding the wind turbine, but this won’t affect the real costs, other than to perhaps make them higher.
In addition to affecting profitability, higher operational costs could reduce the ultimate recovery of gas and condensate from the field.
Gas not consumed at the offshore facilities will be marketed and consumed onshore, so there is essentially no net reduction in global CO2 emissions.
As JL Daeschler reminds me, the floating turbine complicates operations and could create safety issues: obstruction for helicopters and supply boats to avoid, trenching and installing power cable in a spare “J” tube, and feeding power to an electrical distribution system in accordance with standards and platform specifications. As JL notes, “I think we have plenty to do offshore already!”
And what if there are mooring failures and the turbine drifts toward the platforms? Turbine blade failures?
Bottom line: adding costs and risks for no apparent benefit.
"German Prosecutor General Jens Rommel has issued the first arrest warrant for the main suspect in the 2022 Nord Stream blowing-up case, a Ukrainian named Volodymyr, who lived in Poland until recently. Polish Prosecutor's Office reports that suspect in blowing up Nord Stream… pic.twitter.com/56ixGiRAix
Skepticism about these charges is running high given the apparent political convenience of the “private Ukrainian citizens” sabotage scenario. The German govt has been under pressure to identify the responsible party following the decisions by Denmark and Sweden to drop their investigations.
API is challenging the Dept. of the Interior’s 5 year oil and gas leasing plan, which includes the fewest lease sales in program history. That challenge was filed on 12 February, 60 days after Secretary Haaland approved the 5 plan and the first day appeals could be filed pursuant to 43 U.S. Code § 1349.
18 weeks after the API suit was filed, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron Doctrine. That doctrine (described above) instructed judges to defer to agency interpretations when the language in a law was unclear.
Extending the Secretary’s general safety and environmental authority for OCS operations to include global climate considerations is a stretch and the type of interpretive administrative decision that the Supreme Court struck down.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 