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Archive for the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ Category

Effective regulation

Posted in accidents, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , , on December 11, 2024| 2 Comments »

Timeframe for government and industry actions following the 2005 hurricane season.

  

Optimally, the regulator establishes clear objectives for the operating companies and a schedule for achieving those objectives. This approach was demonstrated with great success following the 2005 hurricane season (Katrina and Rita) when numerous mooring system and other stationkeeping issues were identified.

Minerals Management Service Director Johnnie Burton sent a letter (attachment 1) to industry leaders calling for a face-to-face meeting with Department of the Interior Secretary Gale Norton. The Secretary outlined her concerns and informed offshore operators that there would be no drilling from moored mobile drilling units or jackup rigs during the next hurricane season until the issues identified during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were addressed.

The collaborative effort that followed was a resounding success (2nd attachment). In addition to addressing station keeping concerns, a comprehensive list of hurricane issues was developed. Industry and government then worked together to assess mitigations and develop new standards and procedures. The essential MODU standards were completed before the 2006 hurricane season, and all of the related concerns were effectively addressed prior to the 2009 hurricane season. Had the government elected to promulgate regulations to address all of these issues, much of this work would have never been completed.

Hurricane letter – MODU issue2.docmDownload
Regulatory Response to Hurricane Issues (1).docxDownload

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Pollution Inspection Intervals for Unmanned Facilities in the Gulf of Mexico

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, oil spill response, tagged , , , , on December 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The attached BSEE document provides guidance for determining pollution inspection frequencies for unmanned facilities. Thoughts:

  • Reasonable risk-based approach
  • A minimum of bi-weekly visual and physical inspections for low risk platforms producing dry gas
  • Any platform with significant oil production and storage, and no real time monitoring system, will have to be visually inspected at least every 3 days (daily if other risk factors apply) and boarded weekly
  • Any platform that had spillage totaling > 1 bbl in the past 2 years will have to be visually inspected every other day and boarded weekly.
  • Provides for the application of technology (cameras, drones, innovative monitoring systems) to reduce inspection frequencies.
BSEE NTL 2024-G06 – Pollution Inspection Intervals for Unmanned FacilitiesDownload

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September GoM production fell as expected

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , on December 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

As expected, the Gulf of Mexico’s remarkable 7 month production consistency streak ended in September as a result of shut-ins associated with Tropical Storms Francine and Helene. Nonetheless, average daily production still amounted to 88% of the ~1.8 million bopd average that had been achieved for the previous 7 months. Rather impressive resiliency!

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EIA associated gas production analysis omits the Gulf of Mexico

Posted in energy policy, gas, Gulf of Mexico, natural gas, tagged , , , , on November 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The EIA reports an 8% increase in 2023 US associated gas production as crude oil production rose to record levels.  The Permian Basin, the dominant US crude oil producer, is unsurprisingly the leading associated gas producer.

EIA’s analysis inexplicably ignores the Gulf of Mexico OCS. The Gulf produced an average of 1.64 bcf/d of casinghead (associated) gas in 2023, ranking the GoM just behind the Eagle Ford and significantly above the Niobrara and Anadarko regions (see chart above). It’s also noteworthy that most production from the regions on the EIA chart is from private land, and is not constrained by 5 year leasing plans and other restrictive Federal policies.

80% of GoM gas production is from deepwater leases. The % of associated gas produced on deepwater leases is even higher. The 2 leading GoM gas producers, Shell and bp, only operate deepwater leases. The % of their 2023 gas production that was associated gas was 93% for Shell and 100% for bp.

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Chevron CEO sums up US production leadership nicely in <1 minute

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , on November 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Mike Werth’s response to Jim Kramer’s question about US production leadership is spot-on (see the clip below).

Kudos to Kramer for visiting Chevron’s Anchor platform in the Gulf of Mexico. More business/energy reporters and government officials with energy responsibilities need to (1) learn more about offshore oil and gas exploration and development and (2) visit offshore facilities.

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GoM production remained remarkably stable through August

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , on October 31, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The streak of unprecedented Gulf of Mexico oil production stability was extended to 7 months in August.

As a result of shut-ins for Tropical Storms Francine and Helene, the streak will end when the production for Sept. is posted.

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Good leadership by BSEE on helideck safety. Regulatory fragmentation needs to be addressed.

Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , on October 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

David Scarborough, Island Operating Co., was one of the 4 workers who died in the 2022 crash at a West Delta 106 platform.
BSEE Safety Alert 490 – Helideck Condition Notifications and VerificationDownload

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Don’t expect to see OCS carbon disposal regulations prior to the election or perhaps for a long time after (regardless of who wins)

Posted in CCS, climate, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , on October 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

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).

Despite false starts by Exxon and Repsol (see above summary), no carbon sequestration (disposal) leases may be issued or developed until implementing regulations have been promulgated. In that regard, no news is good news for those who are less than enamored with CO2 disposal in the Gulf of Mexico.

The implementing regulations will be controversial. Most operating companies prioritize GoM production over GoM disposal. Most environmental organizations are strongly opposed to CO2 disposal schemes that sustain fossil fuel production and benefit fossil fuel producers. Taxpayers are leery of subsidizing these projects and absorbing increased costs for energy and consumer goods.

The Administration is, of course, well aware of this opposition and will not be publishing implementing regulations prior to the election. The next Administration, regardless of the election outcome, will no doubt take a hard look at these issues before proposing regulations.

The few oil and gas producers that are rather cynically hoping to cash in on CO2 disposal in the GoM will therefore have to wait, perhaps for a long time.

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Blind Faith platform shut-in and evacuated

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, tagged , , , , on October 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

In light of Hurricane Milton’s more southerly and easterly track, Chevron’s Blind Faith floating production unit is the only GoM platform reported to be shut-in at this time. Blind Faith was installed in 2008 in 6480′ of water in the Mississippi Canyon area, and is reportedly producing 65,000 bopd.

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It’s sad to see what is going on in the UK sector of the North Sea. Is this a preview of what to expect in the GoM?

Posted in climate, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, UK, tagged , , , on October 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

See the video embedded below or view it here.

Some of us are long-time observers of North Sea operations. Others like JL Daeschler are pioneers who were involved with North Sea exploration and development from the outset. It’s sad to see what is happening to the UK offshore industry.

And for what purpose? Virtue signaling by politicians? Pandering to the international climate cartel? Shutting down North Sea production will have no measurable effect on our climate.

Now that the entire U.S. Atlantic and Pacific, and nearly all of offshore Alaska, are closed to oil and gas leasing, the goal of some is to shut down the Gulf of Mexico. That intent is clear in the 5 year leasing plan that provides for a maximum of 3 sales, the fewest of any 5 year plan in the history of the US offshore program. This is really a 5 year moratorium, not a 5 year leasing plan.

As noted in the post below, GoM production is 1.8 million bopd. BOEM’s reasonable forecast of >2 million bopd through 2027 will not be achieved because of policy decisions, not resource limitations or technical capabilities.

And shame on those who are attributing Hurricane Helene’s destruction to GHG emissions. This is uninformed opportunism at its worst.

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