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Archive for the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ Category

OCS Facility Infrastructure Dashboard

Posted in decommissioning, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, rigs-to-reefs, tagged , , , on November 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

BSEE’s Facility Infrastructure Dashboard is a useful tool for tracking decommissioning activity in the Gulf of Mexico. A few numbers from the dashboard:

  • Current structure count:1438 (Per BSEE’s platform structures online query, the number of non-removed structures is 1554. The reason for the discrepancy is unclear; perhaps the dashboard number is more current.)
  • Structures with decom application submittal: 291
  • Total structures on terminated leases: 318
  • Structures on terminated leases with decom application submittal: 196

Planned disposition of the 291 pending removals (25% of the structures to be reefed):

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Who dat? Karoon Energy embraces the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana culture

Posted in Australia, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on November 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Karoon Energy, an Australian company, has entered the Gulf of Mexico in a big way by acquiring an interest in the Who Dat field (winner of BOE’s best field name award!) from LLOG. For more information on the acquisition, see Karoon’s slide at the end of this post. The full presentation is here.

To learn more about the cultural importance of ‘Who Dat,’ see the youtube clip below, or read this article. For more in-depth ‘Who dat’ history, this wiki page is quite good.

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Incident Trends – 2023 Q3 – Gulf of Mexico

Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , , on November 20, 2023| 1 Comment »

An excellent compliance and incident update by Jason Mathews is attached. BSEE’s focus on risk assessment, compliance and incident trends, high potential near-misses, medivac capabilities, hot work safety, lifting operations, and gas releases is encouraging. Good work by the folks in BSEE’s Gulf of Mexico Region.

Observations:

  • Zero 2023 occupational fatalities through Q3. Hoping this holds through the end of the year and beyond.
  • INCs/component are down but INCs/inspection are slightly higher. This may imply a relative increase in the inspection of high component deepwater facilities.
  • No. of hours worked is increasing; good sign for the offshore program.
  • Hand and finger injuries are driving up the injury count.
  • Well control incidents are stable at a low level.
  • Improved fire data help facilitate risk assessments
  • No YTD explosions
  • No. of collisions is down
  • 10 YTD spills> 1 barrel (total volume not specified)
  • Some evidence of decline in lifting incidents in Q2 and Q3
  • Gas releases are up (aging facilities, decommissioning related?)
ooc-eexcutive-board-meeting_osm-trends_8nov2023Download

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Pipeline spill in Main Pass area of Gulf of Mexico

Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, pipelines, tagged , , , on November 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

  • Location: Spotted Thursday morning 19 miles east of the mouth of Main Pass; slick moved southwest on Friday, toward the mouth of South Pass
  • Operator: Main Pass Oil Gathering, a subsidiary of the Houston oil company Third Coast.
  • Volume transported: 80,000 bopd
  • Age: Pipeline was completed in Aug. 2022
  • Spill size based on slick estimate: 291 bbls

The cause of the spill is unknown at this time. External damage (perhaps anchor dragging or vessel contact with exposed section) is a good bet.

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Endangered Whale sighting in the Gulf of Mexico 😉

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , on November 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Whale FPU; Source: Boskalis

Lars Herbst noted another endangered whale sighting by the US Coast Guard. Unlike their erroneous Rice’s whale report in September (still waiting for their mea culpa), the Coast Guard has gotten this one right. The 25,000 ton Whale is pictured above.

Whale’s species is indeed endangered with the most serious threats coming from a faraway place on the Potomac River. The “newborn” Whale is one of only 15 of its species in the Gulf of Mexico. The entire platformus deepis genus numbers only 59, but their importance to society is enormous (read more).

Perhaps the wise people who control our offshore lands will do more to encourage and support these floating behemoths. Unfortunately, their 5 year management plan is not encouraging in that regard.

More about Whale

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Sale 261 will be held on Dec. 20th, one day ahead of the deadline!

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , on November 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

As a result of the order issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Nov. 14, 2023, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has scheduled Lease Sale 261 for Dec. 20, 2023.

The Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale was originally scheduled for Sept. 27, 2023, and later scheduled for Nov. 8, 2023, in response to judicial orders.

Pursuant to direction from the Court, BOEM will include lease blocks that were previously excluded due to concerns regarding potential impacts to the Rice’s whale population in the Gulf of Mexico. BOEM will also remove portions of a related stipulation meant to address those potential impacts from the lease terms for any leases that may result from Lease Sale 261.

A Final Notice of Sale will be published in the Federal Register on Nov. 20, 2023, and will be available for public inspection on Nov. 17, 2023. 

BOEM will live stream the opening of bids at 9 am CDT on Dec. 20, 2023. All terms and conditions of the lease sale are listed in the FNOS. For more information, go to: www.boem.gov/sale-261.  

BOEM

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BSEE issues guidance about fundamental helicopter loading procedures

Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , on November 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

BSEE shouldn’t have to issue guidance about helicopter loading precautions that every worker and visitor should be taught before going offshore, but apparently they do. See the safety alert that is attached below.

In this alarming near-miss event, a helicopter was stationed on the facility’s helideck and a crew member approached the aircraft from the rear, entering the rotor arc area before the rotor blades had come to a complete stop. This unsafe action posed a significant threat to the safety of all personnel involved. An offshore helideck assistant repeated the unsafe behavior by approaching the helicopter from the rear, entering the vicinity of the tail rotor, and positioning themselves within the main rotor’s danger zone immediately after the helicopter had landed on the facility’s helideck.

Meanwhile, we are still awaiting the final report on the tragic crash at the West Delta 109 A platform last December. Why is this taking so long?

bsee-safety-alert-474-safely-approaching-a-helicopter-on-offshore-helidecksDownload

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Per the 5th Circuit ruling, Sale 261 must be held by Thursday, December 21, 2023 (37 days from the date of their order)

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on November 15, 2023| 2 Comments »

The sale could be held sooner. However, since BOEM asked for 37 days, I’m assuming that the sale will be on December 21.

In the 70 year history of the oil and gas leasing program, this will be the sale date that is closest to Christmas. Yet another major milestone for the offshore program! 😀

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5th Circuit rules against intervenors. Lease Sale 261 must be held in 37 days. Deleted tracts must be included. Rice’s whale stipulations must be deleted.

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , on November 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Order is pasted below and attached.

IT IS ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the Intervenors’ appeal is DISMISSED. As for BOEM’s limited appeal as to the timing of the sale, we hereby AMEND the district court’s preliminary injunction only to the extent that the deadline for conducting Lease Sale 261 shall now be thirtyseven days from the date of the issuance of the mandate in this appeal.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that each party bear its own costs on appeal.

gov.uscourts.lawd_.201143.98.0Download

Background information and related posts.

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5th Circuit hears arguments on Lease Sale 261 appeal

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , on November 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Today, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the appeal of the District Court’s injunction against the Rice’s whale tract deletions and operating stipulations for Sale 261.

If you want to listen to a recording of these arguments, you can do so at this link. The hearing was brief – only about 45 minutes.

Judging by the comments, it sounds like the Court will reach a decision soon. The Department of the Interior is asking for 37 days after the ruling to organize and hold the sales. The industry attorney seemed comfortable with that, so the sale should be prior to Christmas.

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