In their quarterly earnings report released on Jan. 30, Shell disclosed a $996 million impairment associated with their withdraw from the controversialAtlantic Shores wind project offshore New Jersey.
Shell is no longer a participant in any US offshore wind projects. This leaves Equinor (2/3 Norwegian govt ownership) as the only major oil company pursuing US offshore wind development.
Those Atlantic states that have linked their economic future to offshore wind better be reassessing their energy strategy.
Closing the books on the Biden administration’s management of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve:
Incoming reserve as of 1/22/2021: 638.086 million bbls (This was also the max. volume during the Biden administration.)
Outgoing reserve as of 1/17/2025: 394.566 million bbls
Net loss: 234.520 million bbls
% loss: 38.2%
Cost to replace (assuming $70/bbl ave. oil price): $16.416 billion
Time required to refill at max. rate of 685,000 bopd: 342.5 days (Taking into consideration acquisition, operational, and maintenance delays, and concerns about oil price impacts, a more realistic estimate would be 5 years, and this would require a concerted effort.)
“In an age when energy policy is so often hostage to fierce partisanship, there is hope that geothermal can be the one clean energy solution that could satisfy climate change campaigners and the ‘drill baby drill’ lobby alike.”
Updates on Quaise Energy’s highly anticipated gyrotron field test and related information:
“Lab-test data suggest that the gyrotron’s beam will lose only around 50% of its power at a depth of six miles. To put that into perspective, the attenuation of a rotating drill string at 10 kilometers can be 98%,” Araque said. “You only get 2% of the mechanical power down to the bit.”
Quaise’s field test will take place on a disused oil drilling pad in the northern exurbs of Houston. Next month, a gyrotron 100 times as powerful as the one in the laboratory will be pointed at the earth and switched on.
By spring, Quaise will have erected another platform in a disused quarry near Marble Falls, a city on the Colorado River northwest of Austin.
Quaise’s ultimate ambition is that its drills can be “dropped-in” to existing oil and gas wells.
By 2026, Quaise should be positioned to launch its first commercial venture. Within that short timescale, an answer to the question of whether superdeep geothermal can be truly transformative should come into clearer focus.
Quaise’s Araque: “Our civilization uses 25 terawatts, and it doubles every 25 years. By 2050 we need 50 terawatts. By 2100 we need 200 terawatts. When you look at those numbers, you realize that diffuse and intermittent renewables don’t have the scale. The externalities are too high.”
The attached bill not only nullifies most OCS leasing bans, but fundamentally changes the OCS Lands Act provision (Sec. 12(a)) that authorizes such Presidential withdrawals.
Revoke all Presidential leasing bans except for the 2020 withdrawals, which could presumably be reversed by President Trump.
Limit withdrawals to under 150,000 acres (the equivalent of 26 lease blocks of typical size) in total or contiguous with any other withdrawal.
Limit cumulative withdrawals to 500,000 acres (87 lease blocks) without congressional approval.
Sunset withdrawals after 20 years.
Require geological, economic, and security assessments for any future withdrawals.
Give Congress the authority to review and potentially overturn future withdrawals.
Ensure that future withdrawals do not contradict an approved Five-Year Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program.
Does this bill have a chance? Realistically, the prospects are probably not good. Although the bill currently has an impressive list of 24 sponsors, all are Republicans and none are from Florida. Absent support from Florida Republicans and some interior state Democrats, it will be difficult to gain traction.
Interactive map showing OCS areas where oil and gas leasing is now prohibited (I.e everywhere but the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico and the Cook Inlet)
Career Minerals Management Service and BOEM stalwart Dr. Walter Cruickshank has been named Acting Secretary of the Interior pending the confirmation of Doug Burgum. Walter is a very bright guy with a balanced perspective on energy development. He has served capably on the senior management teams of both Democrat and Republican administrations. Bonus points for the Mineral Economics doctorate from Penn State and his keen interest in the Cape Cod Baseball League! 😉
Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change Agreement:The US Ambassador to the UN shall immediately submit formal written notification of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Regulatory Freeze: Agencies may not propose or issue a rule until approved by a Presidential appointee. OMB may exempt emergency or urgent rules (déjà vu for regulators 😉).
Alaska: Withdraws a Secretarial Order intended to halt ANWR oil and gas leasing. Rescinds cancellation of ANWR leases.
Encourage energy exploration and production on Federal lands and waters, including on the Outer Continental Shelf.
Eliminate the electric vehicle (EV) mandate.
Requires immediate review of actions that could burden the development of energy resources.
Develop and begin implementing action plans to suspend, revise, or rescind all unduly burdensome agency actions.
Revoke climate change and “clean energy” EOs.
Terminate all activities, programs, and operations associated with the American Climate Corps (RIP 😉).
Expedite and simplify permitting processes.
Facilitate the permitting and construction of interstate energy transportation and other critical energy infrastructure, including pipelines.
Disband the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases.
Terminate the Green New Deal.All agencies must immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169) or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58).
The Secretary of Energy is directed to restart reviews of applications for LNG export projects as expeditiously as possible.
Title: Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects
Main points:
New leases: Immediately withdraws all OCS areas from wind leasing
Existing leases: Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a comprehensive review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases, identifying any legal bases for such removal, and submit a report with recommendations to the President
Review of Leasing and Permitting Practices: The Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads of all other relevant agencies, shall not issue new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects pending the completion of a comprehensive assessment and review of Federal wind leasing and permitting practices.
A senior administration official who is familiar with the executive actions and authorized to brief Fox News Digital said Trump on day one will end “Catch and Release;” pause all offshore wind leases; terminate the electric vehicle mandate; abolish the Green New Deal; withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord; and take several major steps to assert presidential control over the federal bureaucracy.
The senior official told Fox News Digital that the energy executive order deals with “every single energy policy,” andaddresses liquid natural gas, ports, fracking, pipelines, permitting and more, while also terminating President Biden polices he said “have constrained U.S. energy supply.”
estimated peak production:100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d)
water depth – 8600 ft
200 miles south of Houston
estimated recoverable resource: 480 million boe.
first oil only 7.5 years after discovery (includes COVID delay)
Vito clone: replicates 99% of the hull design and 80% of the topsides from Vito.
high efficiency gas turbines and compression systems
~ 30% lower greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity over its life cycle than the already efficient levels being achieved at Vito. (Why the push to run electric cables from shore to North Sea platforms with ample gas production?)
This is all good, but what is next? Will technological advances once again sustain GoM production? The short answer appears to be yes!
The efficiencies achieved with the simpler platform designs combined with the high pressure (>15,000 psi) technology developed over the past 2 decades will facilitate 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.)
Burgum on offshore oil and gas lease sales: “The fact that during the current administration the lease sales have been so unpredictable and disruptive, and the fact that they’re projecting forward to have among the fewest we’ve ever had, almost would guarantee that we would see a decline in energy production in offshore in the years ahead because of the lead times.”
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 