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Archive for the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ Category

BP dropped the regrettable Beyond Petroleum campaign and has now cut their renewable energy investments to focus on oil and gas production. They are doing quite well in the Gulf of America where they are the no. 2 oil and gas producer.

The leading Gulf of America oil and gas producer, Shell, has also slowed its renewable investments and is no longer participating in any US offshore wind projects.

Only Equinor (formerly Statoil), which is 2/3 Norwegian government owned, remains committed to renewable projects, much to the chagrin of some private investors. Equinor’s Empire Wind misadventure may be matched in the Pacific where their floating wind project offshore California is a long way from reality.

Farther in the past, there were noteworthy failures (below) like Mobil’s acquisition of Montgomery Ward, Exxon’s investment in Reliance Electric, and Gulf’s real estate ventures.

Finally, don’t expect the carbon sequestration boom that some are forecasting. As wind investors have discovered, industries dependent on mandates and subsidies are risky.

Not much unites climate activists and skeptics, but they are largely aligned in their opposition to carbon sequestration (euphemism for disposal), as are fiscal conservatives. The word chutzpah comes to mind when companies seek public funds to dispose of emissions associated with the combustion of their products.

And how are those 199 wrongfully acquired carbon sequestration leases in the Gulf working out (graphic below)? Barring some legislative sleight of hand, those leases are worthless.

199 oil and gas leases were wrongfully acquired at Sales 257, 259, and 261 with the intent of developing these leases for carbon disposal purposes. Repsol was the sole bidder at Sale 261 for 36 nearshore Texas tracts in the Mustang Island and Matagorda Island areas (red blocks at the western end of the map above). Exxon acquired 163 nearshore Texas tracts (blue in map above) at Sales 257 (94) and 259 (69).

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fig. 1, UT study: analyzed deepwater Paleogene fields, stratigraphic column (MMS map 😉)

BSEE’s decision to revise downhole commingling policy by increasing the allowable pressure differential between reservoirs is sound and supported by an impressive University of Texas (UT) Petroleum Engineering study. Although the announcement hype is a bit much, this is the way regulation is supposed to work.

The main benefit of commingling (vs. sequential production) is the accelerated return on investment, which is fine as long as other risks are not introduced and ultimate oil recovery is not sacrificed. The UT study of Paleogene (Wilcox) reservoirs found that downhole commingling actually maximizes per-well oil production compared to sequential schemes. Over 30 and 50 years, commingling yields 61% and 21% more oil respectively.

The UT study analyzed 3 cases with 19 variables (Table 2 in their report). The reservoir pressure differentials were 500, 1000, and 1500 psi. Interestingly, pressure differential had essentially no impact on cumulative production in either the commingled or sequential scenarios.

Figure 13. Cumulative production over 50 years for commingled (left) and sequential (right) production scheme. The most significant variables are shown in the first four pairs of plots. The last pair of plots shows the least important parameter which is pressure difference between reservoir units.

Also note that (fig. 13):

  • As the upper reservoir thickness increases to 1000 ft (high case), total production increases by 41% for the commingled production scheme and 26% for the sequential production scheme.
  • The second most important field feature is upper reservoir facies proportion for both production schemes. A higher sand proportion in the reservoir results in higher production.

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I am again sharing this touching tribute to the 11 men who lost their lives on the Deepwater Horizon on April 20, 2010. The video is introduced by country singer Trace Atkins, a former Gulf of Mexico rig worker. The video and Trace’s song serve as a memorial to the 11 Deepwater Horizon workers and others who have died exploring for and producing oil and gas around the world. Please take a moment to watch.

Deepwater Horizon Memorial, New Orleans

Macondo revisited series:

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“The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s analysis reveals an additional 1.30 billion barrels of oil equivalent since 2021, bringing the total reserve estimate to 7.04 billion barrels of oil equivalent. This includes 5.77 billion barrels of oil and 7.15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas—a 22.6% increase in remaining recoverable reserves.” 

YearNumber of fieldsOriginal ReservesHistorical Cumulative ProductionReserves
Oil BbblGas TcfBOE BbblOil BbblGas TcfBOE BbblOil BbblGas TcfBOE Bbbl
19752556.6159.917.33.8227.28.662.7932.78.61
19804358.0488.923.94.9948.713.663.0540.210.20
198557510.63116.731.46.5871.119.234.0545.612.16
199078210.64129.933.88.1193.824.802.5336.18.95
199589912.01144.937.89.68117.430.572.3327.57.22
20001,05014.93167.344.711.93142.737.323.0024.67.38
20051,19619.80181.852.214.61163.943.775.1917.98.38
20101,28221.50191.155.517.11179.349.014.3911.86.49
20151,31223.06193.857.619.58186.552.783.487.34.78
20161,31523.73194.658.420.16187.553.583.576.84.79
20171,31924.65195.259.720.78188.954.213.876.35.00
20181,31924.86195.559.721.42189.855.213.445.74.45
20191,32526.77197.061.822.12190.956.094.656.15.74
20231,33630.43201.266.224.66194.059.195.777.27.04
Oil and gas reserves and cumulative production at end of year, 1975-2023, Gulf of America, Outer Continental Shelf and Slope. “Oil” includes crude oil and condensate; “gas” includes associated and non-associated gas. Reserves estimated as of December 31 each year.

This increase in reserves will not please those responsible for the current 5 Year Oil and Gas Leasing Plan. They told us that we don’t need more OCS lease sales and that our biggest concern is producing too much oil and gas for too long!

Page 6 of the Leasing Plan:

The long-term nature of OCS oil and gas development, such that production on a lease may not begin for a decade or more after lease issuance and can continue for decades, makes consideration of net-zero pathways relevant to the Secretary’s determinations on how the National OCS Program best meets the Nation’s energy needs.

Energy experts like Dan Yergin and Vicki Hollub have a much different view. Per Hollub:

Crude reserves are being found and developed at a much slower pace than they’ve been in the past. Specifically, she said the world has only newly identified less than half the amount of crude it’s consumed over the course of the past 10 years. Given the current trends, this means demand will exceed supply before the end of 2025.

A bit off-topic, but Jeff Walker, a former colleague and the MMS Regional Supervisor in Alaska, had the best quip about reserve numbers. In explaining an operator’s revised reserve numbers for a producing unit which had leases with different royalty rates, Jeff noted that “oil always migrates to the lower royalty leases.”😉

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China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) has surrendered its 21% interest in the Appomattox (Mississippi Canyon 391, 392, and 393) project and its 25% stake in Stampede (Green Canyon 468, 511, and 512). Those ownership positions were acquired in CNOOC’s takeover of Calgary-based Nexen in 2013.

CNOOC had been quite positive about the prospects for Appomattox and Stampede, which are producing at higher than expected rates. However, because of sanctions concerns, an exit from operations in the US, Canada, and the UK had been under consideration for at least 2 years.

CNOOC’s shares of Appomattox and Stampede were acquired by INEOS Energy, a UK company.

The transaction is also discussed in CNOOC’s 2024 Annual Report (p.19).

Stampede TLP

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BSEE incident investigations are another window into OCS safety performance.

Panel reports are published for the most significant OCS incidents (e.g. fatalities, serious injuries, significant pollution). Unfortunately, these reports have been unacceptably delayed in recent years. Status reports are not provided leaving the public in the dark as to what is being investigated and why.

The more common investigations, conducted by BSEE’s district offices, are timely and informative. The Districts typically investigate lost time (>72 hours) injuries, crane and lifting equipment incidents, small fires, pollution events, property damage > $25k, gas releases, and other incidents requiring workers to muster for possible evacuation.

The number of District investigations in 2024 declined significantly to 31, one-third fewer than the average of 46.25 for the past 4 years.

Violations were not identified for 2/3 of the incidents.

A complete list of the 2024 District investigations follows. Hyperlinks are provided for those who want to review the reports.

DateOperatorTimeViolation(s)Area/BlockAccident Type
12-25-2024bp1330noGC 584lifting, LTA
11-24-2024Anadarko1710noVK 915Muster, gas release
11-15-2024Anadarko837noGB 668Muster
11-10-2024Murphy145noGC 432LTA
10-12-2024LLOG540yesAC 337LTA – Lifting
10-03-2024Shell900noAC 857Fire, > $25K damage
09-27-2024LLOG200noAC 337LTA, Crane
09-21-2024Talos1630noSM 160LTA
08-11-2024Gulf Offshore1910yesVR 170Fire, Explosion, >$25k, Muster, LTA
07-20-2024Talos2200noSS 224DLTA
07-11-2024Manta Ray730noHI A 5LTA
07-08-2024Cantium1908yesST 23CCLifting
06-05-2024Kosmos1538noMC 727Muster, > $25K
05-31-2024MC Offshore100yesGC 52Crane, > $25K
05-02-2024Murphy1620noGC 478Crane; > $25K
04-24-2024Murphy815noGC 389LTA
04-04-2024Renaissance2230yesVR 369 ALTA
03-28-2024BOE2200yesWR 51LTA
03-20-2024Talos700yesGB 506LTA
03-19-2024Chevron1330noMC 607Lifting, <$25k
03-13-2024Walter2010noSS 189Crane
03-07-2024LLOG1500yesKC 785LTA, lifting
03-05-2024Shell415yesMC 391Pollution, >$25k
02-25-2024Talos930yesSM 130 BCrane,> $25K
02-21-2024W&T1319noHI A 379BFire
02-16-2024Chevron1335noWR 29LTA, Crane
02-13-2024Shell2035noMC 899LTA
02-07-2024Williams855noGA A 244JPLTA
01-29-2024Cantium1900noST 23 CCFire,>$25K
01-18-2024Murphy1303noGC 478Lifting, > $25k
01-16-2024Arena252noSM 128 BFire, > $25K

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The 2024 Gulf of America Safety Compliance Leaders are ranked below according to the number of incidents of non-compliance (INCs) per facility inspection. To be ranked, a company must:

  • operate at least 2 production platforms
  • have drilled at least 2 wells during the year
  • average <1 INC for every 3 facility inspections (0.33 INCs/facility inspection)
  • average <1 INC for every 10 inspections (0.1 INCs/inspection). Note that each facility inspection may include multiple types of inspections (e.g. production, pipeline, pollution, Coast Guard, site security, etc). In 2024, there were on average 3.4 inspections for every facility inspection.

This ranking is based solely on BSEE’s published compliance data. The absence of timely public information on safety incidents (e.g. injuries, fires, pollution, gas releases, property damage) precludes inclusion of these data.

District investigation reports are more timely and provide additional insights into safety performance. Impressively, Hess had no incidents warranting a District investigation, and was the only ranked operator with this distinction. I will comment more on the District reports in a future post

Chevron’s 2024 compliance record was among the best in the history of the US OCS oil and gas program. Was it the absolute best? Were it not for the FSI INC at a Unocal (Chevron) facility, one could unequivocally assert that it was. Further evaluation of that INC would be helpful. However, details on specific INCs are not publicly available, so the significance of that violation cannot be evaluated.

operatorWCSIFSItotal INCsfacility inspINCs/
fac insp
inspINCs/
insp
Chevron10121170.023110.006
BP2305930.052510.02
Anadarko891181430.133440.05
Hess2305260.19670.07
Walter64111500.221610.07
Shell23175451990.234950.09
Cantium2480321230.265370.06
Murphy89118700.261910.09
Arena29283601890.328030.07
Gulf-wide957398109146431330.47106640.14
Notes: Numbers are from published BSEE data; INC=incident of non-compliance; W=warning INC; CSI=component shut-in INC; FSI=facility shut-in INC; INCs/fac insp= INCs issued per facility inspection; each facility-inspection may include multiple types of inspections (e.g. production, pipeline, pollution, Coast Guard, site security, etc), in 2024, there were on average 3.4 inspections for every facility inspection

Not meeting the production facilities requirement to be ranked among the top performers, but nonetheless noteworthy, was the compliance record of BOE Exploration & Production (no relation to the BOE blog 😀). See their impressive inspection results below:

WCSIFSItotal INCsfacility inspINCs/
fac insp
inspINCs/
insp
BOE1102210.1480.04

Transparency on inspections and incidents is important for a program that is dependent on public confidence. For independent observers to better evaluate industry-wide and company-specific safety performance, publication of the following information should be considered:

  • quarterly updates of the incident tables, as was once common practice
  • posting of violation summaries for inspections resulting in the issuance of one or more INCs
  • more timely publication of panel reports for more serious incidents
  • real time list of ongoing investigations including the reason for each investigation
  • status summary for civil penalties that have been proposed, including the violations and responsible parties

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The announcement was during an interview this morning (4/4/2025) with Lawrence Jones on Fox News, and is consistent with expectations and the current 5 year leasing plan.

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In June 2023, Cox and affiliates operated 435 platforms in the Gulf. That number is now only 46, all of which are on relinquished or terminated leases.

Cox Operating LLC and affiliates were once again the violations leaders in 2024 accounting for 50% (479/957) of the warnings, 12% (47/398) of the component shut-ins, and 7.3% (8/109) of the facility shut-ins.

All but 3 of the Cox enforcement actions were during the first half of the year. This is presumably because of the termination of Cox operations and the ongoing divestiture of their assets.

According to BOEM’s platform data base, Cox (43) and affiliates Energy XXI (3) and EPL (0) now operate only 46 platforms. This is a big decline from Sept. 2024 and June 2023 when the Cox companies operated 243 and 435 platforms respectively. All of the remaining Cox platforms are non-producing and are on relinquished or terminated leases.

The curtailment of Cox operations is no doubt an important factor in the sharp decline in Gulf of America violations in the second half of 2024. Per the data below, total GoA wide violations declined by 58% (1031 vs. 433) in the second half of 2024 as Cox violations essentially disappeared:

Gulf of America
inspection data
warningscomponent
shut-ins
facility
shut-ins
facility
inspections
first half 2024725243631586
2nd half 2024232155461546
reduction493 (68%)88 (36%)17 (27%)40 (2.5%)

Cox companies inspection datawarningscomponent
shut-ins
facility
shut-ins
facility inspections
first half 2024478467 404
2nd half 2024111174

Some Cox assets have been acquired by W&T and Natural Resources Worldwide. BOEM records indicate that 8 record title assignments and 3 operating rights assignments from Cox to W&T were approved in the first half of 2024. W&T currently operates 116 platforms, but it’s unclear how many are former Cox facilities.

The acquisition of Cox properties does not appear to have significantly affected W&T 2024 inspection results, which were respectable:

W&T insp. datawarningscomponent
shut-ins
facility
shut-ins
facility
inspections
first half 20241231083
2nd half 202417142105

Additional record title and operating rights assignments to Natural Resources Worldwide (NRW) were approved in 2025, but NRW does not appear to be operating any platforms.

Ironically, NRW was cited for 1 warning and 1 facility shut-in without a single inspection. Presumably, these violations were the result of administrative issues.

Online data are insufficient to account for the 435 platforms that were on the Cox ledger in June 2023 or determine the remaining decommissioning liabilities. Per the platform database, no Cox, Energy XXI, or EPL platforms were removed in 2023, 2024, or 2025.

On a more positive note, most GoA operators had good safety and compliance records in 2024. One major producer had a historically significant record. More on that to follow.

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Sustaining or preferably increasing production rates will be dependent on a reliable schedule of lease offerings and a consistent regulatory regime based on best safety management principles and continuous improvement in technology, practices, and culture. Poorly considered operating restrictions imposed by activist judges are a major risk to both safety and production.

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