Posted in CCS, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged Atlantic OCS, CCS, New Jersey, PureGen One on November 22, 2021| Leave a Comment »
The plan was for SCS Energy’s PurGen One plant in Linden, NJ to burn coal to generate electricity and produce fertilizer. SCS proposed to inject 90% of the CO2 into subsurface reservoirs 70 miles offshore. The project faced strong opposition and was ultimately nixed by the State. The plan had been presented to the Federal offshore regulator (MMS), but the company was advised that there was no legal framework for disposing CO2 beneath the OCS.
Posted in CCS, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged CCS, Lease Sale 257 on November 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Posted in CCS, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged BOEM, CCS, Exxon, Lease Sale 257 on November 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Posted in CCS, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged CCS, Exxon, infrastructure bill, Lease Sale 257 on November 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Excerpt from SEC. 40307. GEOLOGIC CARBON SEQUESTRATION ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF:
(b) Leases, Easements, or Rights-of-way for Energy and Related Purposes.--Section 8(p)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(1)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``or'' after the semicolon;
(2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(E) provide for, support, or are directly related to the injection of a carbon dioxide stream to sub-seabed geologic formations for the purpose of long-term carbon sequestration.''.
(c) Clarification.--A carbon dioxide stream injected for the purpose of carbon sequestration under subparagraph (E) of section 8(p)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(1)) shall not be considered to be material (as defined in section 3 of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1402)) for purposes of that Act (33 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.).
(d) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate regulations to carry out the amendments made by this section.
This will be an interesting challenge for the DOI folks (BSEE/BOEM?) charged with writing the regulation given the jurisdictional issues related to capturing onshore CO2 and transporting it to the OCS. Also, when was this provision added to the infrastructure bill and did its apparent obscurity and delayed enactment give certain parties some type of competitive advantage at the sale?
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Lease Sale 257, White House on November 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Q Can I just ask one more on oil and gas? So, we just saw President Biden take action now in terms of the — protecting oil and gas development on Native lands and Tribal lands. But later this week, the U.S. government will open up for auction many, many acres — an area larger than several states, actually — to oil and gas leasing because of this legal situation.
So there are critics who say that you should have done more to avert this action. And I wonder if you can just say, you know, what action could potentially be done. Is there — are there any last-minute steps that could be taken to prevent those auctions from going forward?
MS. PSAKI: Well, you know, the President did — as you know, Andrea, but just to get others up to speed — issue an executive order pausing oil and gas leasing on public lands and in offshore waters to facilitate the identification and implementation of long-needed permitting and leasing reforms.
Shortly thereafter, the Interior Department cancelled the pending offshore oil and gas lease in the Gulf of Mexico known as Lease Sale 257.
So, what you’re referring to, I believe, is the fact that, in June, a federal district court in Louisiana stopped the President’s leasing pause and ruled that the Interior Department is legally required to go through with the sale of the Lease Sale 257, which is what you’re refer- — what Andrea is referring to in terms of putting up a bunch of lease sales — oil and gas lease sales.
We believe the decision is wrong, and the Justice Department is appealing it. So it’s in the courts; it’s in a legal process. We’re required to comply with the injunction. It’s a legal case and legal process, but it’s important for advocates and other people out there who are following this to understand that it’s not aligned with our view, the President’s policies, or the executive order that he signed.
Go ahead.
Q So there’s no more la- — so, you can’t take any last-minute action to prevent that from going forward?
MS. PSAKI: I would point you to the Justice Department. They, of course, are appealing this, and I would point you to them for any legal action or what their options are.
White House
Posted in energy policy, Regulation, Uncategorized, tagged reorganization on November 15, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Posted in drilling, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Lease Sale 257, rig counts on November 10, 2021| Leave a Comment »
More certainty regarding lease sales would help. Prospective participants need assurances that they will have opportunities to apply findings and test exploration and development strategies. Will Lease Sale 257 be held on schedule next week?
Posted in energy policy, tagged Not My Job Award, Secretary Granholm on November 9, 2021| Leave a Comment »
She is, of course, correct in asserting that markets determine energy prices, as they should. She is wrong in implying that OPEC alone controls oil prices. (Is she aware that the country she serves is a major oil producer?). She earns the Not My Job Award for implying she is powerless to influence energy prices and laughing about it (an added bit of chutzpah that greatly impressed the NMJA selection panel).
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, natural gas, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged Argonne, BSEE, EPA, flaring, methane, venting on November 4, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Among other provisions, EPA’s proposed rule, issued on 11/2/2021, specifies that associated gas be handled as follows:
Route associated gas to a sales line. If access to a sales line is not available, the gas can be used as an onsite fuel source, used for another useful purpose that a purchased fuel or raw material would serve, or routed to a flare or other control device that achieves at least 95 percent reduction in methane and VOC emissions.
Because the Dept. of the Interior has jurisdiction over air emissions on most of the Gulf of Mexico OCS, I assume this proposed rule does not apply to those facilities. However, the EPA proposal is not entirely clear in that regard. If the EPA proposal does not apply, will BOEM/BSEE be proposing similar restrictions in their regulations?
MMS/DOI considered prohibiting venting, but determined that adding flaring capability was not feasible for many shelf platforms, and for some platforms there would have been a net increase in emissions. That said, venting is not insignificant. A 2017 Argonne study indicated (table 2) that, for shelf platforms from 2011 through 2015, more than 3 times as much gas was vented as was flared. More recent data should be reviewed to get a better sense of the costs, benefits, and safety considerations associated with achieving further reductions in venting.
Current flaring/venting regulations for OCS facilities are here.
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged offshore oil, OPEC, US oil production on November 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »
But here’s the thing. Whether you think it was the right thing to do, the reality is that passing legislation that is hostile to the U.S. oil and gas industry makes it even more difficult for domestic production to bounce back. So, instead of asking Russia and OPEC to pump more oil, we could look internally to what we could do in the U.S. to pump more oil.
Forbes
From a US offshore perspective, there should be serious dialogue about how we can increase exploration and production. The risks associated with over reliance on imports have been repeatedly demonstrated over the past 5 decades. The horizontal drilling/well stimulation revolution has been a blessing, but given the sharp decline rates for fracked wells, we cannot solely rely on onshore production from tight reservoirs.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 