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Archive for the ‘Offshore Energy – General’ Category

RIP Charles E. Smith – Offshore Safety Leader

Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on December 12, 2021| 1 Comment »

Charles Smith

I’m very sad to report the passing of a leading offshore safety researcher and long-time colleague, Dr. Charles Smith. Charles was a pioneering structural engineer who joined the US Geological Survey’s Conservation Division (then the offshore safety regulator) in ~1977 to establish the Technology Assessment and Research (TAR) Program.  With the thinnest of budgets, Charles formed partnerships that addressed the gamut of offshore safety issues. Some of his accomplishments:

  • Working with the Offshore Technology Research Center (Texas A&M) and others, Charles sponsored projects that led to the successful investigation of deepwater production concepts including TLPs, Spars, FPSOs, and semisubmersibles.  These designs are now the mainstays of deepwater development worldwide.
  • Organized well control projects that included the establishment of the deepwater well control research facility at Louisiana State University. 
  • Established the first ever offshore earthquake measurement network in the Pacific Region. The measurement system at Platform Grace in the Santa Barbara Channel successfully recorded 5 earthquakes and the structural responses at multiple locations on the platform.
  • Conducted research that led to new hurricane design standards for offshore structures and topsides equipment.
  • Working with colleagues at Berkeley and Stanford, conducted groundbreaking research on human and organizational factors affecting offshore safety. This was the basis for important safety culture studies that followed.
  • Studied pipeline risks and corrosion management for structures and pipelines.
  • Studied decommissioning options and their comparative environmental effects. 
  • Assessed arctic development options including gravel and ice islands and monopod concepts.
  • Conducted structural reviews leading to the renovation of the Ohmsett spill response test facility.
  • Participated on organizing committees for the International Conference on Ocean, Offshore, and Arctic Engineering (OMAE).
  • Along with representatives from Norway, the UK, Brazil. Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand, founded the International Committee on Regulatory Authority Research and Development (ICRARD).

Charles was the only offshore regulatory engineer to be selected as one of 10 finalists for the prestigious NSPE Federal Engineer of the Year award. (Keep in mind that the US government employs more than 130,000 engineers.) In 2009, the year of his retirement from Minerals Management Service, he was inducted into the Offshore Energy Center’s Hall of Fame (Galveston, TX) as as a Technology Pioneer for Health, Safety, and the Environment.   

After retirement Charles moved to Newfoundland and continued working on offshore safety issues with Memorial University, Canadian regulators, and industry representatives.  He and his wife Elaine built a lovely home overlooking the water in Bay Roberts. He was proud to be a citizen of both the US and Canada, and both countries were beneficiaries of his long and enormously successful career. Here is his obituary.

IMG_1766.JPG
Charles and his wife Elaine with my wife and me and John Gregory and his wife at the Offshore Energy Center Hall of Fame induction gala (Houston, 2009). Bud

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The Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board identified the container ship “Beijing” as the vessel that damaged the Beta Unit pipeline (Huntington Beach spill) 

Posted in accidents, California, Offshore Energy - General, pipelines, tagged , , , , , on December 9, 2021| Leave a Comment »

BEIJING photo
Vessel Finder

According to the Coast Guard, investigators determined the ship “was involved in an anchor dragging incident on Jan. 25, 2021 during a heavy weather event that impacted the Ports of L.A. and Long Beach.” The anchor- dragging occurred “in close proximity” to an underwater pipeline later determined to be the source of the October leak that spilled thousands of gallons of oil into the ocean, forcing the closure of beaches and harbors across Orange County.

CBS-LA

The hearings and the liability battles that follow will be most interesting. Those lined up to sue the pipeline operator (Amplify), such as this Huntington Beach disc jockey, may have difficulties.

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Argos platform arrives on location in the Gulf of Mexico

Posted in Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on December 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Per Offshore-Energy.biz, BP’s semi-submersible Argos production platform has arrived on location in the Gulf of Mexico. The floating platform will operate in 4500′ of water as part of BP’s Mad Dog 2 project. Production, which is expected to reach 140,000 boe/d, should begin in the 2nd quarter of 2022.

Per BOEM’s platform data base, this will be the 58th surface production facility in the deepwater (>1000′) GoM and the first such facility installed since Shell’s Appomattox in June, 2018. These platforms account for more than 90% of US offshore oil production.

BP photo: Argos at Ingleside, TX
BP graphic

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Waiting for the Judge’s ruling on the Sale 257 suit. Will the Carbon Sequestration bidding complicate his decision? Who pays for offshore CCS?

Posted in CCS, climate, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , on December 7, 2021| Leave a Comment »

What, if anything, will the Judge say about the leases that are intended to be carbon sequestration sites? How can BOEM sell OCS leases for purposes that were neither announced nor environmentally assessed? What do EarthJustice and the other plaintiffs think about the sequestration bids given that the environmental community is split on CCS?

Who is going to pay the enormous cost of sequestration on the Outer Continental Shelf – platforms, wells, pipelines, processing equipment, maintenance, monitoring, decommissioning, and more? The Federal government (i.e. taxpayers) features large in this grand scheme, and will no doubt be assuming most of the economic and performance risks. And all of these costs are for disposal purposes, not for offshore energy production of any kind.

Together with the bipartisan infrastructure bill enacted in November, which included more than $12 billion in funding for carbon capture and carbon removal technologies, the Build Back Better legislation would hand fossil fuel companies nearly every item on their carbon capture wishlist.

Inside Climate News

The reality of offshore CCS is not anywhere near as simple as portrayed in the slick graphic below:

houston ccs hub
ExxonMobil

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Opportunity Lost

Posted in energy policy, gas, natural gas, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , on December 6, 2021| Leave a Comment »

C:\Users\Owner\Pictures\Hudson Canyon Test.jpg

More than 43 years ago, natural gas was discovered in the Atlantic about 100 miles SE of Atlantic City. The prospect was unitized (Hudson Canyon Unit) and 7 additional wells were drilled over the next 3 years. 725 miles of 3-D seismic data were collected. The geology was complex and more time was needed to evaluate the data. MMS refused to extend the leases without further drilling activity. One unit partner committed to funding a confirmation well if the other companies would relinquish their interest. They would not and the leases expired in 1984. This Hudson Canyon “end game” reflected poorly on the unit partners and the regulator, and the opportunity to produce regionally significant quantities of natural gas was forever lost. Seemed petty then; seems petty now.

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GoM production for September reflects Ida shut-ins

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on November 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Data from EIA

More than half of GoM oil production was shut-in for 13 days in September and several hundred thousand BOPD were shut-in for the rest of the month. The result was a 42% reduction in production from pre-Ida (July) levels.

All production has now been restored so the December EIA figures should give us a good read on stablized post-Ida production.

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BOEM approves 2nd North Atlantic Wind Project

Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, Wind Energy, tagged , , , , , on November 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »

  • South Fork Wind: 19 miles southeast of Block Island, Rhode Island
  • 12 or fewer Siemens-Gamesa’s 11-megawatt turbines
  • BOEM approved the larger (62 turbine) Vineyard Wind 1 project on July 15, 2021. Those turbines will be located approximately 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. On Oct. 19, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) filed a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue the Federal Government over violations of lease management and environmental statutes.
Vineyard Wind

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DOI Report on the Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Program (11/26/2021)

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , on November 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Observations and comments on the offshore findings and recommendations in the Dept. of the Interior’s report:

  • From an offshore perspective, this report is more moderate than expected. No major complaints.
  • The report was issued the Friday after Thanksgiving. Was there a desire to minimize attention?
  • The report does not include a recommendation on raising royalty rates. DOI will continue to study such actions (prudent decision).
  • BSEE estimates current liability for “orphaned infrastructure” at only $65 million. They must be using a very narrow definition of orphaned infrastructure.
  • “Financial assurance coverage should be strengthened.” (Few would argue with that statement.)
  • “BSEE and BOEM will carefully consider comments on the 2020 proposed financial assurance rule.” (Deja vu? Expect a long, slow process.)
  • BOEM will establish a “fitness to operate standard.” Comments: (1) This is an old concept that has proven to be difficult to execute. Hold companies accountable, make them demonstrate financial assurance, and don’t pander to bad actors (see the case of Hogan and Houchin) (2) Why is BOEM establishing this standard and not BSEE, the safety bureau? (The division of responsibilities between BOEM and BSEE has created serious overlap, inefficiency, and confusion and needs to be addressed.)
  • “BOEM should consider advancing alternatives to the practice of area-wide leasing.” Tract selection makes sense in frontier areas with little operational history. It would have been perfect for the Mid- or South Atlantic or the EGoM, all of which were cynically removed from future leasing consideration by the previous President just before the 2020 election. The Central and Western Gulf of Mexico is too mature for a return to tract selection; employing that approach after 40 years of area-wide leasing is likely to generate less revenue and production.

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Interesting exploration opportunity offshore Jamaica

Posted in drilling, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on November 26, 2021| Leave a Comment »

United Oil & Gas is looking for partners to drill the promising Colibri prospect offshore Jamaica. United’s exploration license has been extended after the completion of Jamaica’s first 3-D seismic survey. The results were encouraging as indicated in the video below. High risk, high reward opportunity!

Walton Morant - UOG
United Oil and Gas Video

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Sale 257 and Federal funding of carbon sequestration

Posted in CCS, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on November 24, 2021| Leave a Comment »

The text below, excerpted from the Infrastructure Bill (signed 2 days before Sale 257), requires the Federal government to provide funding for commercial CCS projects. $2.5 billion is appropriated. Given these incentives, how does BOEM possibly issue leases for CCS purposes when there was no public notice (as required by 30 CFR § 556.308) that CCS bids would be accepted at the oil and gas lease sale?

SEC. 40305. 
e) Large-scale Carbon Storage Commercialization Program.--
        ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a commercialization program under which the Secretary shall provide funding for the development of new or expanded commercial large-scale carbon sequestration projects and associated carbon dioxide transport infrastructure, including funding for the feasibility,site characterization, permitting, and construction stages of project development.
(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $2,500,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.

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