Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, tagged confirmation hearing, Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior on January 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Burgum on offshore oil and gas lease sales: “The fact that during the current administration the lease sales have been so unpredictable and disruptive, and the fact that they’re projecting forward to have among the fewest we’ve ever had, almost would guarantee that we would see a decline in energy production in offshore in the years ahead because of the lead times.”
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Atlantic leasing, Cruz Arrington bill, EGOM, Florida, offshore drilling, offshore oil and gas on January 17, 2025| 3 Comments »
The Cruz-Arrington bill (pasted below), which would reverse the Biden oil and gas leasing bans, raises some interesting political questions:
I suspect that the answer to each question is no, which means the bill will be difficult to pass.
If the bill should pass, President Trump would presumably nullify his own Atlantic and Eastern Gulf withdrawals, which would otherwise remain in effect through 2032.
50 wells were drilled in the Atlantic between 1975 and 1985. The drilling followed the oil embargoes, gas lines, and price surges in the 1970s. Waiting for similar turmoil to overturn the leasing bans would not be prudent given the time that is needed to issue, explore, and develop leases. The optimal approach would be limited, staged leasing to better assess the resource potential in these areas.
Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 4 fatalities, helicopter crash, helideck safety, NTSB, West Delta 106 on January 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The NTSB has still not issued a final report, which is troubling. However, the detailed Operations Group Factual Report (including attachments) can be accessed in the case docket This and other items in the docket should be of interest to those involved with offshore operations and helicopter safety.
From the factual report, below are graphics showing the helideck damage and assumed final position of the helicopter.
Excerpts from the testimony of a worker at the platform who was part of an attempted search and rescue operation in the platform’s Whitaker escape capsule:
Posted in drilling, Guyana, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Guyana, OilNow, Stena Carron, Stena Drillmax on January 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Below is a nice shot of the Stena Carron seen from the Stena DrillMAX offshore Guyana. The DrillMAX returned to Guyana after drilling the high potential Persephone well in the Orphan Basin offshore Newfoundland. Unfortunately, the Orphan Basin well failed to discover commercial hydrocarbons.
StenaDrilling shows the current locations of the 2 drillships. The DrillMAX is northwest of the Carron.
Posted in Guyana, Offshore Energy - General, tagged arbitration, Chevron, dispute, Exxon, Guyana, Hess, ICC, Nexen, Stabroek on January 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“Most investors see Chevron and Hess emerging as victors in the case, Goldman analyst Neil Mehta said in an interview.”
This is consistent with the opinion previously expressed on this blog. How does a partner in a single Hess asset prevent Chevron from acquiring the entire company?
Chevron is not buying the Stabroek share; they are buying the company that holds that share. Hess is to be part of Chevron and there would be no change of control from the standpoint of the partnership.
As an offshore operator, Exxon has been highly responsible from a safety standpoint. However, the company is not reluctant to stretch the envelope when it comes to contract rights. The most recent example was their acquisition of 163 GoM oil and gas leases for carbon disposal purposes, contrary to the terms of the sale notice and lease contracts.
Interestingly, Exxon’s partner in this dispute is state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation. CNOOC acquired their 25% Stabroek share when they purchased Nexen, a Canadian company (sound familiar?). Both the Canadian and US governments had reservations about this acquisition and nearly nixed the deal. Would either government bless that acquisition today?
An International Chamber of Commerce arbitration panel will hear the Stabroek case in May 2025, and the final decision is expected by September 2025.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Deputy Secretary, Energy Dept., James Danly, Katharine MacGregor, offshore energy, US Dept. of the Interior on January 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Katherine (Kate) MacGregor has been appointed Deputy Secretary of the Interior, the position she held under the previous Trump administration. She was highly regarded by DOI staff and advocates for responsible offshore energy development.
DOI is the most important Federal department from the standpoint of energy production on Federal offshore and onshore lands.
Also important from a policy perspective is the appointment of James Danly as Deputy Secretary of Energy. Danly is a former Army officer and Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Posted in accidents, decommissioning, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 2024, crane safety, decommissioning, Helix, OCS fatality, Talos, Triton Diving Services, wrongful death on January 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
After a zero fatality year in 2023, the first in at least 60 years, Jason Mathews of BSEE advises that one worker was killed during US OCS oil and gas operations in 2024.
The fatality occurred during decommissioning operations on the Helix D/B EPIC HEDRON at Talos Energy’s Ship Shoal Block 225 “D” platform in the Gulf. The platform was to be reefed in Eugene Island Block 276.
The victim, who worked for Triton Diving Services, was moving hoses on the port side of the barge and got caught between the bulwark and counterweight of the crawler crane (see picture below).
The victim’s family have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Helix Energy Services and Triton Diving Services. The plaintiffs assert that prior to the crane movement the crane operator and crew had not undertaken measures to assure that the crane’s swing area was clear of other crew members. Per their filing, Triton and Helix were negligent as follows:
They further assert that:
The incident remains under investigation by BSEE.
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged Greenland, Gulf of America, Gulf of Mexico, President Trump on January 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »
New name, short form:
full name:
This may be a bit of an adjustment for us older folks. 😉
Also, keep in mind that Greenland is geographically part of North America. Just sayin’ 😉
Posted in Alaska, California, decommissioning, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Atlantic, EGOM, NYU Law, OCSLA, offshore leasing bans, Padific, President Biden, President Trump, Sec. 12(a) on January 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »
As expected, the White House announced the largest ever permanent ban on offshore oil and gas leasing in the US, and to the best of my knowledge, anywhere in the world.
The sheer magnitude of the ban makes other such withdrawals appear modest by comparison. It’s amazing how bold Presidents (and their handlers) become when they are about to leave office.
The permanent ban includes:
President-elect Trump has vowed to reverse President Biden’s leasing ban, but that may not be so easy. This is not a matter of simply reversing an executive order. Sec. 12(a) of OCSLA grants the authority to withdraw lands to the President and does not provide for reversal by future Presidents. The attached NYU Law brief concludes that “a subsequent president lacks authority to restore previously withdrawn lands to the federal oil and gas leasing inventory.”
The new Administration will no doubt have a different view than that expressed in the NYU Law brief, but any reversal decision will likely be challenged in court.
Those who wrote and approved Sec. 12(a) should have had more foresight. However, 72 years ago the authors presumably thought Presidents would only use the authority to remove small, especially sensitive areas from leasing consideration, and never thought that a President would remove both of our oceans and much of the Gulf of Mexico!
Congress could of course reverse the Biden bans, but given the complexity of offshore energy issues, such legislation may be difficult to pass.
Posted in climate, energy policy, Norway, Offshore Energy - General, UK, tagged Culzean field, electrification policy, Equinor, Johan Sverdrup, Norway, NPD, power from shore, power prices, Terja Aasland, Total on January 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“It’s an absolutely sh*t situation,” said Norway’s energy minister Terje Aasland reacting to electricity prices in the country that are six times that of the EU average.
The two ruling parties in Norway want to cut the two power inter-connectors that link the country with Denmark when they come up for renewal in 2026. The smaller coalition party, the Center Party, wants to revisit similar energy links with the UK and Europe.
A related matter is Norway’s push to power offshore platforms with electricity from shore. This policy makes neither economic nor environmental sense, and introduces new safety and operational risks.
This BOE post cites the obvious (per NPD): “The power from shore projects will lead to an increase in electricity prices in Norway.” The post also presents seven other reasons why powering those facilities from shore is not a good idea.
Meanwhile, Total’s plan to partially power the Culzean field (UK) with a floating turbine is similarly irrational. The scheme adds costs and risks with no apparent benefit.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 