Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Gulf of America production, Gulf of Mexico producion on February 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »
November 2024 Gulf of Mexico oil production was the lowest in the 2023/24 timeframe, with the exception of Sept. 2024 when production was reduced by Tropical Storms Francine and Helene.
Look for production in the Gulf of America to soar! (eventually😉)
Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 4 fatalities, Gulf of Mexico, helicopter crash, helideck safety, NTSB, safety management, Walter Oil and Gas, West Delta 106 on February 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The NTSB has finally issued their report (attached) on the 12/29/2022 helicopter crash that resulted in 4 fatalities at Walter’s West Delta 106 A platform. The NTSB report on the Huntington Beach pipeline spill took a comparable amount of time (26 months) to complete. By comparison, the lengthy and complex National Commission, BOEMRE, Chief Counsel, and NAE reports on the Macondo blowout were published 6 to to 17 months after the well was shut-in.
The gist of the NTSB’s findings is pasted below.
The report summarizes operations standards, but does not consider the associated operator/contractor safety management systems that are intended to prevent such incidents. The report notes that:
Was the contractor/operator aware of these deviations from company policy? Should they have been?
The report implies that human (pilot) error was the cause of the dynamic rollover, but fails to assess the organizational controls that are intended to prevent such errors. How was a pilot with 1667.8 flight hours (1343.8 as the PIC), who had made 23 trips to this platform, repeatedly making fundamental positioning and takeoff errors?
The report also notes that:
This is interesting wording given that the perimeter light was identified as the pivot point, one of the 3 requirements for a dynamic rollover. Why wasn’t that violation observed by the operator/contractor and corrected? What helideck inspection procedures were in place? Did NTSB consider the fragmented regulatory regime for helicopter safety, particularly with regard to helidecks?
Posted in energy policy, Norway, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Centre Party, EU energy policy, government collapses, Norway, offshore platform, power generation on February 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Centre Party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum: “What we were clear about all along is that beginning the process of linking ourselves more closely to the EU’s dysfunctional electricity market and energy policy is completely out of the question.”
While looking at electric prices and power sharing, consideration should be given to the desirability of transmitting electricity from shore to distant offshore platforms that have ample natural gas for power generation purposes. This practice increases electric prices for consumers and introduces reliability/safety concerns with no net environmental benefits.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 18 opposed, confirmation vote, Doug Burgum, offshore energy, US Dept. of the Interior on January 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The Secretary of the Interior is, by far, the most important offshore energy official in the Federal government. Yesterday, Doug Burgum was easily confirmed to be the next Secretary. Nonetheless, the following 18 senators chose to vote against his confirmation:
Posted in drilling, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, well control incidents, tagged Bill Hise, JL Daeschler, LSU, Minerals Management Service, USGS, well control training on January 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Pioneering offshore engineer J.L. Daeschler, a Frenchman who lives in Scotland and has worked on drilling rigs worldwide, shared his 1974 training certificate signed by Bill Hise, the first director of the Blowout Prevention and Well Control Training Center at LSU. JL recalls his training:
The LSU well control course was new and very well organized. Training options were limited at that time. LSU took a step forward and incorporated equipment donated by Cameron Iron Works, Armco Steel /National, VETCO, and others.
The course was split between indoor class room style and outdoor training on a live well to remind us of the real things, like hard hats, tally books, and safety shoes.
LSU had a 1200 ft vertical well and a small 2″ diameter gas injection line to create a bottom hole gas kick, using a nitrogen truck as the supply. (note: the live well was a first for any well control school.) You had a choice of several manual chokes.  I selected the Cameron Willis choke to circulate the gas kick out with no increase in mud weight (drillers method).
The mud return level, kick detection, and general management of the operation were realistic as if on a rig. The gas would whistle and escape thru a vent line.
The training was simple and effective in that proper well control procedures were learned. In the process, there were many errors. Mud was seen flying out of the mud shaker/pits. School management would bring things under control and explain the errors that were made !!!
LSU’s well control center video:
Posted in accidents, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, well control incidents, tagged learning from failures, Macondo blowout, Montana, Piper Alpha, Santa Barbara blowout on January 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »
… Union Oil Company’s reckless well plan forever scarred the U.S. offshore program. Learn more about the details.
Examinations of the Santa Barbara, Montara, and Macondo blowouts, the Piper Alpha fire, and other major incidents should be a part of every petroleum engineering curriculum, and should be mandatory for those who conduct and regulate offshore oil and gas operations.
There is no better learning experience than studying the failures that had such enormous human and economic consequences.
Posted in Alaska, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Clay HIggins, endorsement, HIggins Bill, limit Presidential withdrawals, OCS Lands Act, Sec. 12(a), Wesley Hunt on January 23, 2025| 2 Comments »
The attached bill not only nullifies most OCS leasing bans, but fundamentally changes the OCS Lands Act provision (Sec. 12(a)) that authorizes such Presidential withdrawals.
The well constructed bill addresses the issues previously raised on the blog. The bill would:
Does this bill have a chance? Realistically, the prospects are probably not good. Although the bill currently has an impressive list of 24 sponsors, all are Republicans and none are from Florida. Absent support from Florida Republicans and some interior state Democrats, it will be difficult to gain traction.
Posted in climate, Norway, Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, tagged Empire Wind, Equinor, green agenda, Norway, Offshore Wind, Orsted on January 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Equinor’s investment in Orsted and their Empire Wind project in the US Atlantic are featured in this DN article (translated to English). Excerpts follow:
Equinor’s investment of over 26 billion kroner in the Danish wind power company Ørsted has so far been a financial disaster – and now it’s going from bad to worse.
“We are very negative about the whole green initiative, as the return on the investments they make is far too low. When they also buy minority stakes in other green companies that we cannot count on, such as Ørsted, it means that we would rather own other oil companies.” Gaute Eie, Eika Kapitalforvaltning
The market has long been concerned that Equinor will throw money at renewable projects with low or no profitability.
In a recent note, Pareto analysts Tom Erik Kristiansen and Olav Haugerud point out that the Ørsted writedown does not bode well for Equinor’s own US projects either. They foresee a writedown of up to $1.1 billion, given that Equinor faces the same type of challenges as Ørsted.
Eie believes there is no reason why Equinor in particular should have a green initiative:
Aker BP is not doing green, VÃ¥r Energi is not doing green, and all the big oil companies are going back on this. Then we’ll see if Equinor has the guts to buy even more Ørsted shares, because now it’s 35 percent cheaper. If they do, we’ll have even fewer Equinor shares.
Sissener believes Equinor should rather focus on dividends and concentrate on oil and gas projects.
– We generally stay away from companies where the state is a major owner, because there you have to be so politically correct all the time. What we need are shareholder-friendly board representatives who know how to run a business and maintain control. In a broader perspective, this helps to destroy trust in Norwegian business.
Posted in Alaska, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged Alaska, climate change, Climate Corps, energy policy, Executive Orders, Gulf of America, LNG, permitting, Regulation, Unleashing American Energy on January 21, 2025| 1 Comment »
Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change Agreement:The US Ambassador to the UN shall immediately submit formal written notification of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.Â
Regulatory Freeze: Agencies may not propose or issue a rule until approved by a Presidential appointee. OMB may exempt emergency or urgent rules (déjà vu for regulators 😉).
Alaska: Withdraws a Secretarial Order intended to halt ANWR oil and gas leasing. Rescinds cancellation of ANWR leases.
Gulf of America: Renaming the Gulf of Mexico.
Unleashing American Energy (long, main items highlighted below):
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged BP Argos, Chevron Anchor, deepwater production, Gulf of Mexico, Kaskida, Murphy King's Quay, Shell, Shenandoah, simpler safer greener, Sparta, Vito on January 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Shell’s Whale floating production unit began producing this month:
All 5 of the new simpler, safer, greener floating production units are now online:
| platform | operator | first production |
| King’s Quay | Murphy | April 2022 |
| Vito | Shell | Feb 2023 |
| Argos | bp | April 2023 |
| Anchor | Chevron | Aug 2024 |
| Whale | Shell | Jan 2025 |
This is all good, but what is next? Will technological advances once again sustain GoM production? The short answer appears to be yes!
The efficiencies achieved with the simpler platform designs combined with the high pressure (>15,000 psi) technology developed over the past 2 decades will facilitate production from the highly prospective Paleogene (Wilcox) deepwater fans. (For those interested in learning more about the geology, see the excellent presentation by Dr. Mike Sweet, Univ. of Texas, that is embedded in this post.)
Three major high-pressure projects, ala Chevron’s Anchor, are anticipated:
| platform | operator | discovery date | first production |
| Kaskida | bp | 2006 | 2029 |
| Sparta | Shell | 2012 | 2028 |
| Shenandoah | Beacon | 2009 | 2025 Q2 |
The Gulf still has high production potential if properly managed with consistent lease sales.
Will Florida budge by supporting the lifting of the EGOM leasing moratorium? Here is why they should.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 