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Archive for the ‘drilling’ Category

Prospector 5 update: 4th body found, investigator hired

Posted in accidents, drilling, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on November 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »

With regard to the Prospector 5 tragedy, excerpts from Borr Drilling’s 11/2/2026 update follow:

As part of the ongoing search and rescue operations, the body of a fourth individual has been located. All four located individuals have been recovered and are in the process of being transported to Port Gentil, Gabon. Search efforts continue for the remaining individual who is still unaccounted for.

The Company has engaged a globally recognized classification society with extensive experience in offshore and maritime incident investigations to conduct an independent investigation into the incident. The Company remains committed to an independent and objective process to determine the root cause. The Company will continue to cooperate fully and transparently with the relevant authorities and other parties involved.

It’s good to learn that a classification society has been hired to independently investigate the incident. We trust that their report will be made publicly available.

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Prospector 5 Update: 3 confirmed fatalities, 2 still missing

Posted in accidents, drilling, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on October 30, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Excerpts from Borr Drilling’s latest update (10/29/2026):

Of the 115 personnel on board at the time of the incident, 110 have returned ashore. Those personnel remain in Gabon and are being provided with accommodation, care and ongoing support, with their wellbeing remaining a priority for the Company.

As part of the ongoing search and rescue operations, the Company has been notified that an underwater remotely operated vehicle has located the bodies of three individuals. Recovery efforts are underway and extensive search and rescue efforts continue for the two individuals who remain unaccounted for.

At the time of the incident, there was approximately 280 cubic meters of marine diesel fuel onboard the Prospector 5. In coordination with our customer and the local authorities, resources have been mobilized and measures are being taken to mitigate and minimize any environmental impact related to this incident.

Lessons learned from this tragic incident, both in terms of root causes and potential mitigations, will be beneficial in preventing recurrences elsewhere. Borr Drilling has been forthcoming in providing updates. Hopefully, they will be similarly transparent in sharing the findings and recommendations resulting from their investigation.

Some operators, contractors, and regulators have been less proactive in sharing investigation results. Perhaps this is a good time to repeat our recommendation calling for an international standard that identifies incident information to be publicly disclosed and specifies the timeframes and methods for releasing this information. An API or ISO committee would seem to be the best means of developing such a standard.

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Geothermal drilling is hot, hot, hot!

Posted in energy, drilling, tagged , , , , , on October 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Over the coming decades, superhot geothermal will race past intermittent, low density, non-dispatchable alternatives as the leading source of renewable energy.

Currently, geothermal pioneers like Mazama and Quaise are focusing on a volcanic area in Central Oregon, a superhot “hot spot.” The area is unique in that temperatures of 700°F occur at subsurface depths of ~15,000′. (By comparison, the highest bottomhole temperatures in high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) wells in the Norphlet and Wilcox formations in the Gulf are <420°F.)

Mazama Energy’s second geothermal well, Athena, at Newberry, Oregon, reached a depth of 10,350 feet through volcanic rock in 15 drilling days. Their Project Athena builds on the 2025 record breaking effort at Newberry where Mazama created the world’s hottest engineered geothermal system (EGS) pilot at 629°F (331°C). Mazama continues drilling and is targeting temperatures exceeding 750°F.

Quaise Energy’s intends to establish the world’s first superhot geothermal energy power plant with Project Obsidian. See the video below.

The extent to which Quaise will employ their “Star Wars” millimeter wave gyrotron drilling system on the relatively shallow Oregon wells is uncertain. Gyrotron drilling will be critical if superhot power plants are to be established in areas where much deeper wells are needed to reach superhot temperatures.

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Update from Borr Drilling is not encouraging

Posted in accidents, drilling, tagged , , , , on October 26, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Update from ‘Borr Drilling on the Prospector 5 incident offshore Gabon:

Search and rescue operations are ongoing for the five individuals who remain unaccounted for. The Company is in contact with the families of the missing personnel.

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Prospector 5 jack-up collapses offshore Gabon, apparent punch-through, 5 missing

Posted in accidents, drilling, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , on October 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Prospector 5

Borr Drilling confirmed that, at 20:37 local time on October 24, 2026, the Prospector 5 jack-up drilling rig collapsed and sank while conducting jacking operations offshore Gabon. The rig wass contracted to support BW Energy’s drilling operations.

Preliminary information indicates that the rig experienced a punch-through event during preload activities, resulting in loss of stability and the subsequent sinking of the rig.

At the time of the incident, there were 115 personnel onboard the rig. Five individuals remain unaccounted for, with search and rescue operations ongoing.

Bruno Morand CEO of Borr Drilling: “We are deeply concerned for those who remain unaccounted for and everyone affected by this incident. Our immediate priority is supporting the ongoing search and rescue efforts and the welfare of all personnel involved.”

Example of a jackup punch through:

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Comments on the proposed revisions to the Arctic drilling regulations

Posted in Alaska, drilling, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , on October 5, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Comments on the proposed “Revisions to the Requirements for Exploratory Drilling on the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf” are due today.

My submission (one page) is attached. Main points:

  • Removing the same-season-relief-well (SSRW) requirements is an essential precursor to the renewal of arctic drilling activity. The SSRW provisions make Arctic operations cost prohibitive while at the same time increasing safety and environmental risks.
  • The potential risks and benefits of a subsea isolation device (SSID) should be assessed on a case-by-case basis considering water depth, temperature related BOP failure risks, wellhead integration, ice and vessel traffic exposure, and other factors.
  • As is the case for floating drilling operations anywhere, the focus in the Arctic should be on well design, integrity, and control, including carefully verifying casing and cement integrity, ensuring complete barrier redundancy, and having standby capping and containment capability.
Arctic drilling (1)Download

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Santa Barbara: South County Supervisors deny North County property rights

Posted in California, drilling, energy policy, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , , on September 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »

District Boundaries
Oil Wells

As expected, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to ban new onshore oil and gas drilling. This is another example of the South County (Districts 1-3) majority voting to deny the rights of North County (Districts 4 and 5) property owners and workers. Keep in mind that oil has been produced in the County for more than 130 years.

Attached is a concise, powerful comment letter submitted to the Board by Californians for Property Rights. Excerpt (emphasis added):

“Property rights are key to our nation’s prosperity, and these rights have been shown to be foundational to building prosperity around the world. However, for Americans, these rights are not only integral to our economy but also, and even more importantly, to our Constitution.
Oil and gas mineral and royalty interests are private property. Minerals cannot be moved when government changes the rules. Their value depends upon the ability to access and responsibly produce them, and a government prohibition can effectively eliminate that value.
These impacts reach real families. Mineral and royalty income supports farmers, ranchers, retirees, small businesses, and other property owners. For some agricultural families, it helps keep working farms and ranches economically viable and in family ownership.”

Related constitutionality issues:

  • In July, the National Assoc. of Royalty Owners sent the Board a legal opinion challenging the constitutionality of such ordinances. NARO also sent a comment letter to the Board prior to their vote.
  • A suit filed by John and Melinda Morgan, who inherited the mineral rights to two parcels in the Cat Canyon Field (District 4). argues that a similar provision in CA Senate Bill 1137 amounts to an unconstitutional taking of their property.
  • California AB 1448 would limit the property rights of Federal lessees and deprive royalty owners – most notably the citizens of the United States – of revenue.
Public Comment – Californians for Property RightsDownload

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“All-in” on the Shelf!

Posted in drilling, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , on September 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

White Fleet Drilling’s WFD 450 jack-up drilling rig

Arena Energy CEO Mike Minarovic: “We are ‘all in’ on the future of the shallow water Gulf of America. The Shelf still holds vast potential, and the WFD 450 gives Arena the reach to unlock proved reserves that no other rig in the Gulf could access.” 

The WFD 450 drilling rig, the deepest water depth rated jack-up operating in the Gulf, is conducting a multi-well drilling program for Arena following a $65 million refurbishment program. 

Built in 1999 and formerly operated by Valaris, the rig was cold-stacked in the Gulf for seven years prior to White Fleet’s acquisition. The upgraded rig was christened on January 9, 2026, and began drilling operations in late March. 

The WFD 450 can drill in water depths up to 400 feet and to total depths of 30,000 feet — capabilities that give Arena access to resources previously beyond the reach of the Gulf’s rig fleet. That reach is expected to unlock significant new production from proved reserves that had remained undeveloped due to equipment constraints. 

The Borehole File indicates that Arena has drilled 4 development wells in Eugene Island Area Blocks 315 (231′ water depth) and 325 (252′ water depth) since the rig’s March restart. Two of those wells were completed for production.

Arena has also completed 3 wells in shallower water (138′) in the Main Pass area in 2026.

Cantium, the other active shelf operator, has completed 5 wells this year in very shallow water (50-58′). No other company has conducted drilling operations on the shelf this year.

Arena produced 8,266,036 bbls of oil and 21,079,794 Mcf of gas in 2025, making the company the number one shelf producer of both commodities.

Cantium produced 5,444,651 bbls of oil and 6,716,670 Mcf of gas in 2025.

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Proposed revisions to Arctic Drilling regulations

Posted in Alaska, drilling, energy policy, Regulation, tagged , , , , , on August 5, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The proposed revisions to the Arctic drilling regulations have just been posted and are attached for your convenience.

From a risk management standpoint, the current Arctic drilling rule, particularly the same season relief well (SSRW) provisions, is arguably the worst in the history of the OCS program. Regardless of the prospects for Arctic exploration, offshore drilling is not feasible under the current regulations. Hopefully, this proposal represents a significant improvement. More to follow after the text has been reviewed.

2026-Arctic drillingDownload

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As Lease Sale BBG3 approaches (Aug. 12, 2026), Gulf production is high, drilling is low

Posted in drilling, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 9, 2026| 2 Comments »

Lease sale Big Beautiful Gulf 3 (BBG3) will be held on 8/12/2026. The Final Notice of Sale is attached.

Given the rather tepid BBG1 and BBG2 results and the high sale frequency, robust bidding is not expected. Nonetheless, the BBG bidding patterns and tract evaluations have been interesting, most notably BOEM’s rejection of LLOG’s bid for Keathley Canyon 828, an expired lease block in the their Buckskin field.

Keathley Canyon 828 is not among the blocks listed for sale at BBG3. Per the Notice of Sale (p. 4), “any lease blocks whose high bids were rejected and not appealed in the immediately preceding Big Beautiful Gulf lease sale, are expected to be included as eligible for lease.” Can we therefore assume that either the KC 828 bid rejection or the prior lease expiration is being appealed?

The legislatively mandated BBG lease terms are attractive – 10 years and 12.5% royalty for deepwater blocks. A more recent legislative directive requires (wrongly in my opinion) the approval of downhole commingling requests. This accelerates the return on investments in deepwater, high pressure reservoirs. Such commingling has presumably contributed to record Gulf oil production in 2025. The longer term concern is the impact on ultimate oil and gas recovery.

Meanwhile, the Gulf rig count and well start numbers continue to disappoint. Baker Hughes (7/2/2026) lists only 4 active rigs in the deepwater Gulf – one each in the Alaminos and Mississippi Canyon areas and two in the Green Canyon Area. BSEE’s borehole file lists only 15 new deepwater exploratory well starts YTD.

GOA Lease Sale BBG3 FNOS – Final Notice of SaleDownload

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