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Archive for the ‘energy policy’ Category

Aquinnah (Gay Head, Martha’s Vineyard) tribe calls for moratorium on offshore wind development

Posted in accidents, energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Aquinnah Wampanoag chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais

In the aftermath of a broken turbine blade off their coast, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) is calling for a moratorium on all offshore wind development in the United States until further research can be done on the impact of wind farm construction. 

In a letter to BSEE Director Kevin Sligh, Aquinnah Wampanoag chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais:

  • expressed “strong concerns and outrage” over the fractured Vineyard Wind turbine blade and the debris that washed ashore on Nantucket.
  • said the foam and fiberglass debris have “potential negative and adverse impact[s]” on the environment, marine life, and human health.
  • said fragments in the water pose a threat to shellfish, which are a crucial part of both the marine food web and also ingested by humans.
  • commented that the potential contamination of shellfish with fiberglass and other materials could have severe consequences for human consumption and public health.
  • criticized the lack of communication from federal officials to the tribe.
  • called for an “immediate stoppage” of offshore wind construction in U.S. waters until they can be evaluated for microfractures and other damages.

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Should wind leasing and development be paused until the Vineyard Wind investigation is completed?

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged , , , , , on July 23, 2024| 1 Comment »

The Vineyard Wind turbine incident, which littered Nantucket beaches, has also tarnished the US offshore wind program. BSEE has prudently halted Vineyard Wind operations and construction pending an investigation into the blade failure.

Offshore wind development is structure rich, so public confidence in the design of turbines and support platforms is critical. BOEM lists 37 active wind leases on the US OCS. Most of these leases have not yet reached the construction phase. A hold on the approval of any Construction and Operations Plans would seem to be appropriate pending completion of the Vineyard Wind investigations.

Per the leasing schedule below, BOEM intends to hold 4 wind sales during the remainder of 2024, all within a 3 month period. Only 1 sale is scheduled for each of the following 2 years. Deferring the 2024 sales until the investigations are complete would assist potential lessees by ensuring that the issues of concern were fully understood.

Unfortunately, BOEM’s failure to conduct a 2024 oil and gas lease sale has boxed in the wind program. The Inflation Reduction Act prohibits BOEM from issuing wind leases unless an oil and gas sale has been held within the previous year. Lease Sale 261 was held on 12/20/23 meaning that no wind leases may be issued after 12/20/24. BOEM has compressed the wind leasing schedule, presumably to beat the legislative deadline. It would have been better for both the oil and gas and the wind programs if at least one oil and gas sale had been held in 2024 as has been customary since the 1950s.

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Caught in the middle – another Santa Ynez Unit “Catch 22”

Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , on July 18, 2024| Leave a Comment »

caught in the middle?

Earlier this month we awarded a Chutzpah Award to groups that helped block every attempt to resume production in the Santa Ynez Unit and are now suing to terminate the leases for non-production. 

We now learn that the State Fire Marshall has rejected the resumption of production because Sable, the current operator, is not installing automatic shutdown valves on the oil pipeline. The catch is that Sable was denied permits needed to install the valves. So, on the one hand the Fire Marshall is requiring shutdown valves (a reasonable requirement), and on the other hand the County is prohibiting the installation of those valves!

According to the Fire Marshall’s office, this is the first time a company has been denied permits to install valves mandated by the State – yet another dubious distinction for the Santa Ynez Unit.

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The opinions of State and local govts and tribes are fully considered ….

Posted in Alaska, energy policy, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , on July 11, 2024| 3 Comments »

….as long as they are aligned with the preordained political decision. 😠

No where has this been more apparent over the years than in Alaska. Most recently, the North Slope Borough filed suit to challenge the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rule making the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) off limits to oil and gas development.

Mayor Josiah Patkotak of the North Slope Borough

“The rule would significantly and irrevocably harm the North Slope’s right to self-determination and ability to provide essential services for residents. This suit is filed alongside the complaints of the Voice of the Arctic Inupiat and the State of Alaska, demonstrating the unity of North Slope communities and Alaskans in opposing the BLM’s unjust and unilateral action to harm the livelihoods of the residents of the North Slope,” the borough explained in a press statement.

“When I was sworn in as Mayor of the North Slope Borough, I made a solemn promise to protect and provide essential services for the people of the North Slope Borough. The BLM claims to act on our behalf but what they are truly doing is undermining my ability to fulfill that fiduciary obligation,” said Mayor Josiah Patkotak. “We on the North Slope don’t have the luxury of keeping quiet and waiting for a new industry to swoop in and replace our largest economic driver. We have to speak up for our future as a people.”

Other important points raised in the Must Read Alaska article:

  • NPR-A is entirely within the boundaries of the North Slope Borough (NSB).
  • The NSB represents the ancestral homelands of the Inupiat people.
  • The NSB is the largest employer in the region and provides the majority of essential services depended upon by residents.
  • Taxes on infrastructure account for 95% of the Borough’s revenue.
  • Members of the North Slope Inupiat Tribes, Village Corporations, Regional Corporations, and their elected leaders have been unanimous in their opposition to the rule.
  • The Supreme Court’s decision in Loper, which removed the Chevron Deference, restricts the authority of Federal agencies to take regulatory actions without clear legislative authority.
  • The State of Alaska also filed a lawsuit claiming that the Fed govt had not consulted with affected parties, and that the BLM had exceeded its congressional authorization.

This should be an easy win for Alaska and the NSB.

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Tough on cows, soft on Nord Stream saboteurs

Posted in climate, energy policy, natural gas, pipelines, tagged , , , , on July 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Nord Stream methane release

Danish Tax Minister Jeppe Bruus boasts that other countries will be inspired by the world’s first tax on livestock emissions. Are you inspired?

Not at all inspiring was Denmark’s weak-kneed response to the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm. After 17 months of investigation, Denmark meekly declined to pursue criminal charges or even to release a report on their findings. How does the “world’s climate leader” simply shrug its shoulders after investigating a massive methane release in their waters?

A recent professional paper concludes that 478,000 tons of methane were released to the atmosphere as a result of the Nord Stream sabotage, making this “the world’s largest natural gas leak.” The Nord Stream sabotage thus released 3.6 times the amount of methane (133,000 tons) contributed by Danish livestock in an entire year. The total amount of methane released by the Nord Stream pipelines is also 2.5 times the entire amount attributed by EPA to all Gulf of Mexico producers in 2020.

Denmark and Sweden have concluded that “there was deliberate sabotage of the gas pipelines.” The Nord Stream insurers claim that “a government did it.” So which government was it? Why are sovereign governments of affected nations afraid or otherwise unwilling to comment on such a consequential attack?

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On the 4th of July 🇺🇸 this is what independence looks like

Posted in energy policy, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Production on private lands in leading energy states fuels our independence.

Opportunity + Ingenuity ➡ Energy Independence + Prosperity

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Judge Cain suspends the LNG export ban. Expanding gas markets is important to OCS producers.

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, natural gas, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on July 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

On July 1, U.S. Federal Judge James Cain Jr. (Western District of Louisiana) issued a preliminary injunction suspending DOE’s LNG exports “pause.” The judge’s full ruling is attached.

Judge Cain: “It appears that the DOE’s decision to halt the permit approval process for entities to export LNG to non-FTA countries is completely without reason or logic and is perhaps the epiphany of ideocracy.”

Nothing subtle about that comment 😉

Despite the court order, the Administration seems intent on keeping the “pause” in place. Per White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández, “We remain committed to informing our decisions with the best available economic and environmental analysis, underpinned by sound science.” ????

Nearly 80% of current OCS gas production is from deepwater leases. This production is primarily associated (oil-well) gas that operators are rightfully required to market for resource conservation and environmental reasons. Expanding LNG marketing opportunities could thus improve the economics of deepwater development.

The other 20% of OCS gas production is largely from gas-well (non-associated) gas produced by independent companies that continue to operate in the shallower waters on the shelf. LNG sales could improve the challenging economics for these producers and increase the ultimate recovery of shelf resources.

No.72-PIOrderDownload

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Chutzpah Award winner! 🏆

Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on July 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Followers of the US OCS oil and gas program have observed some impressive chutzpah over the years, but a new law suit challenging the extension of Santa Ynez Unit leases raises the bar.

Groups that helped block every attempt to resume production in the Santa Ynez Unit are now suing to terminate the leases for non-production. Brilliant!🥇

“Without these extensions, each of the leases would have expired and ExxonMobil would have been required to permanently cease its oil and gas operations, plug its wells, and decommission its other infrastructure.” See the full text of the law suit.

More posts on the Santa Ynez Unit saga.

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Is 1.8 million BOPD the current GoM oil production baseline?

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , on July 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »

EIA has released the April oil production data. The Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico produced 1.831 million BOPD in April, which is essentially level with corrected March production (1.817 million).

GoM production fell more than 12% from nearly 2 million BOPD in September 2023 to 1.743 million BOPD in January 2024 before climbing back to 1.8 million BOPD over the past 3 months (see chart below). What’s up?

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Supreme Court decommissions the Chevron doctrine!

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , on June 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »

In a major decision, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine, which for four decades led judges to defer to how federal agencies interpreted a law when its language wasn’t clear. In a later post, we will speculate on how this ruling could affect the offshore regulatory program.

About the Chevron doctrine:

One of the most important principles in administrative law, the “Chevron deference” was coined after a landmark case, Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 468 U.S. 837 (1984). The Chevron deference is referring to the doctrine of judicial deference given to administrative actions. In Chevron, the Supreme Court set forth a legal test as to when the court should defer to the agency’s answer or interpretation, holding that such judicial deference is appropriate where the agency’s answer was not unreasonable, so long as Congress had not spoken directly to the precise issue at question. 

previous post on the Chevron doctrine

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