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Archive for the ‘drilling’ Category

Bahamas Petroleum committed to 2012 well; Government says not so fast

Posted in drilling, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , on April 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

click on image to enlarge

from the Bahamas Tribune:

“We hope that in the second quarter of next year we will be able to be in a position where we can go forward and drill a well. We’ve just raised $75 million on the London market last month to apply towards our exploration purposes,” Dr Crevello said during a meeting of the Rotary Club of Nassau yesterday.

It is doubtful that this timeline will be met as Government has said it will not lift its moratorium on drilling any time soon.

“Well it’s nigh impossible for this (the passing of legislation relating to oil drilling) to be accommodated within this Parliament,” Environment Minister Earl Deveaux told The Tribune last month.

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CNN: growing support for offshore drilling

Posted in drilling, offshore, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on April 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »

CNN Poll

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday indicates that 69 percent of Americans favor increased offshore drilling, with just over three in ten opposed. That 69 percent is up 20 points from last June, while the oil spill was still in progress, and is back to the level of support seen in the summer of 2008.

Confidence in government has shown a less significant increase.

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Observations from the Ministerial Forum on Offshore Drilling Containment

Posted in conferences, drilling, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on April 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

International Guests

  • The conference was nicely organized by the folks in the Department of the Interior and BOEMRE
  • Angola, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, Russia, and the US were represented. The European Union also participated.
  • Brazil was represented by two Petrobras managers, rather than governmental officials. This raised some eyebrows.
  • Australia formally announced yet another offshore regulators’ conference, the International Offshore Petroleum Regulators and Operators Summit in Perth (10-11 August). Do we need better coordination of the coordination conferences? Isn’t the International Regulators’ Forum (IRF) the best means of managing all of this?
  • The need for expanded offshore oil and gas operations was recognized by all participants.
  • Malcolm Webb of Oil and Gas UK, announced that UK operators would have a capping capability for subsea wells by the end of the summer. However,  no well containment system is planned. This omission, which was attributed to North Sea weather and sea conditions, is surprising. Capping is not an option if well integrity concerns prevent a well from being shut-in, either with the BOP or a cap (if the BOP failed). The absence of a well containment option would seem to be a significant gap in their response capability.
  • A working group was formed to consider a new or strengthened international organization for offshore safety and pollution prevention. In my view, the best option would be to enhance existing cooperation mechanisms, most notably the IRF. International cooperation on safety is not a new concept. The IRF, which was mentioned positively by many of the speakers at the Ministerial Forum, has existed since 1994 and has an ongoing international standards effort. A related group, ICRARD, has been coordinating offshore safety research for more than 15 years. Various industry organizations have international programs. ISO has a good system for developing and managing standards. The International Maritime Organization has official committees that address certain offshore safety and pollution issues. Making better use of existing committees and forums would seem to make more sense than starting new ones.

With BOEMRE dynamos - (Kona) Kevin Kunkel and July (Ms. COOL) McQuilliams

link to videos

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Ministerial Forum on Well Capping and Containment

Posted in conferences, drilling, oil, tagged , , , on March 29, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Secretary of the Interior Salazar will be hosting the “Ministerial Forum on Offshore Drilling Containment” on April 14, 2011, in Washington DC. Click for the draft agenda and additional information.

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Thinking deep; is it time for seafloor drilling?

Posted in drilling, offshore, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on March 22, 2011| 1 Comment »

from SeabedRig.com

Advances in drilling technology tend to be evolutionary, not revolutionary. Floating rigs, dynamic positioning, top-drive systems, measurement-while-drilling, automated rig floors, and other important advances were logical next steps, not radical makeovers.

Many of us have long been fascinated by the possibility of locating drilling equipment on the seafloor, particularly for deepwater wells. Why operate from a massive floating vessel that requires a sophisticated stationkeeping system and a long riser to connect to the wellhead? Why link surface personnel to seafloor risks? Why increase the complexity of balancing well pressures (without fracturing formations) by adding thousands of feet to the mud column? Why heave and roll on the surface when you can operate from the seafloor?

It’s not that easy, of course, and there are many questions and issues. While fully automated drilling systems are no longer a reach, what about reliability and repairs?  How will casing be set and cemented? How will downhole measurements be transmitted to the control center? Cuttings samples? Coring? Well testing? The list of challenges is daunting.

At least one company, Seabed Rig, is committed to developing and demonstrating seafloor drilling technology. Earlier this month, Seabed Rig reached agreement with NASA to create the first autonomous drilling rig. While a lot of work remains, Seabed Rig and other pioneering companies are applauded for their innovative thinking and willingness to challenge conventional practices and wisdom.

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Gallup Poll shows support for offshore drilling

Posted in drilling, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , on March 14, 2011| Leave a Comment »

2010-2011 Trend: Americans' Support for U.S. Offshore Drilling

Comments:

  1. The most remarkable figure is the 50% support for increased drilling during the Macondo blowout when oil was flowing into the Gulf live on national television
  2. The second most remarkable result is the very low percentage of people who have no opinion.
  3. The percentage in support would likely have been higher if they had not included the words “in US coastal areas” at the end of the question. Most new drilling would not be in what people think of as coastal areas, but far far from shore.

Other interesting Gallup findings:

  1. 49% of Americans support opening ANWR to exploration, a record high.
  2. The wisest Americans (i.e. those over 55 :)) are the strongest supporters (66% in favor).
  3. The youngest age group polled (18-34) also supports increased offshore drilling (52% in favor)
  4. A majority of both sexes support increased offshore drilling.
  5. Even in the East, where we are very comfortable consuming oil but not so keen on producing it, 49% of Americans support increased offshore production.
  6. 49% of Americans also support opening ANWR to exploration, a record high


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Bill “Drill Baby” Clinton

Posted in drilling, energy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on March 13, 2011| 1 Comment »

Former President Bill Clinton said Friday that delays in offshore oil and gas drilling permits are “ridiculous” at a time when the economy is still rebuilding, according to attendees at the IHS CERAWeek conference. Politico.com

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While we were gone

Posted in accidents, cuba, drilling, energy, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The tragedy in Japan has added yet more uncertainty to nervous energy markets:
Japan will likely need more imported oil and natural gas due to closures of nuclear reactors caused by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami, but volumes can’t be calculated accurately as it is unclear how much industrial output has been affected by the disaster and how long power nuclear and thermal power plants will remain closed. Wall Street Journal
It’s much too early to gauge how the nuclear power industry, which some have touted as a model for safety achievement, will be affected.
    Standards news and discussion:
    Offshore Safety Institute?
    The CEOs of major oil and gascompanies will meet March 18 to decide how to proceed with the formation of a US offshore drilling safety institute, William Reilly, the co-chair of the National Oil Spill Commission, said March 8. Platts Oilgram News
    New twist in Cuban drilling drama – Petrobras relinquishes interest
    Marco Aurelio Garcia, foreign policy adviser to President Dilma Rousseff, told reporters in Havana exploratory work off Cuba’s northern coast had not shown good results and that Brazil wanted to concentrate on its own oil fields.
    Since BP’s disastrous Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico last April, the risks of offshore oil drilling have been a hot topic. One place it isn’t questioned much is Brazil, whose oil production industry is one of the fastest-growing in the world because of vast new deepwater oil reservoirs discovered in the past five years.
    Mexican Deepwater Update (Platts Oilgram News)
    Pemex has just begun to explore in Mexico’s Gulf of Mexico waters deeper than 1,000 feet, but 28 billion undiscovered barrels of oilequivalent are thought to exist in that area, some of which borders US territorial waters. Pemex officials said the company is forging a development plan for its first deepwater field, Lakach, located northeast of the state of Veracruz in about 3,200 feet of water. First production is expected in 2015.
    Environmentalists are furious at a proposal by the petroleum company Shell to start exploration drilling off one of Western Australia’s most treasured reefs. Ningaloo Reef off the north-west coast, has been nominated for World Heritage listing.

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New House OCS Drilling Legislation

Posted in drilling, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , on March 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Rep. Tim Murphy’s (R-Pa.) bill states that companies with drilling permits approved before early May 2010 can proceed with exploration or production “without further review” by the Interior Department, and “without further review or delay” under various environmental laws. The Hill.com

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More on the Noble Energy deepwater well that was approved yesterday

Posted in drilling, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on March 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »

From Platts Oilgram News:

The well had previously been drilled to a depth of 13,585 feet at the time of the moratorium, Noble said. Drilling is expected to resume in late March, targeting total drilling depth of about 19,000 feet, Noble said. Results are expected by the end of May. Noble said it will use the Ensco 8501 rig for the project.

Ensco 8501

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