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Archive for the ‘Offshore Energy – General’ Category

Venezuela looks to take oil theft to a new level

Posted in Guyana, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on November 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Having severely damaged their own oil industry, the government of Venezuela is intent on taking control of Guyana’s offshore resources. Venezuela seeks to annex 2/3 of Guyana and the adjacent offshore territory. The existing boundary was settled in accordance with international law in 1899.

Venezuela’s next step is to hold a referendum on assuming control of the contested territory. How thoughtful 🙄

“Question 5 proposes the creation of Venezuelan state of Guyana Essequibo and an accelerated plan for giving Venezuelan citizenship and identity cards to the Guyanese population.”

I suspect that very few Guyanese are interested in Venezuelan citizenship.

US statement:

Ambassador Brian A. Nichols, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, emphasized that “efforts to infringe upon Guyana’s sovereignty are unacceptable.”

Venezuela’s referendum is scheduled for December 3.

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Under the circumstances, delaying Lease Sale 261 was the only reasonable alternative

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on November 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

In light of the 5th Circuit’s order, holding the sale on 11/8 would have been messy for all sides in the Rice’s whale dispute. Seemingly, the only option for holding the sale prior to the Court’s decision on the injunction would have been the following:

  • Allow, but not accept, bids on the tracts in the Rice’s whale expanded area.
  • Add the Rice’s whale stipulations while providing notice that they might subsequently be removed.

Because the RIce’s whale stipulations would affect the value of all deepwater leases, bidders would be rolling the dice on the outcome of the case.

Also, absent legislative action, there will be no lease sale in 2024. This adds to the importance of Sale 261, and making sure the terms are understood.

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Gig Kocher retires after 57 years of Federal service

Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on November 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Gig Kocher (second from left) after receiving an honor award from (then) Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke (middle)

Gig Kocher recently retired from BSEE after an amazing 57 years of Federal service. Nine of those years were served in the US Air Force, and the remaining 48 were at the US Dept. of the Interior, mostly in the offshore oil and gas program.

Gig is a native New Yorker and a huge Yankees fan (tough year in that regard). However, it’s only fitting that a guy named Gig would eventually become a Texas A&M Aggie (“Gig ’em!”), where he earned a master’s degree in computer science back in the mainframe and punch card era.

Gig was a strategic planning wiz who excelled at concisely outlining the steps and tactics needed to achieve desired objectives. He managed major updates to the documents and information technology systems critical to the success of our offshore energy programs.

Gig will be greatly missed by the troops at BSEE. His retirement event went something like this: 😉

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Official announcement on the postponement of oil and gas lease sale 261, Gulf of Mexico

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on November 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »

As a result of the order issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on October 26, 2023, in Louisiana v. Haaland (Case No. 23-30666), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is postponing Lease Sale 261, which was originally scheduled for September 27, 2023, and later scheduled for November 8, 2023, in response to judicial orders. Until the court rules, BOEM cannot be certain of which areas or stipulations may be included in the sale notice.

Potential bidders in Lease Sale 261 should not submit bids until BOEM provides additional instruction. BOEM will hold any bids already received and will hold the sale after it receives further direction from the Court of Appeals.

BOEM

previous posts on sale 261

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August Gulf of Mexico oil production was stable at 1.9 million bopd

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on November 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »

No tropical storm production shut-ins in 2023 YTD.

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IRF Country Performance Data published for 2021 and 2022

Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, IRF, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on October 31, 2023| Leave a Comment »

International Regulators’ Forum Country Performance data for 2021 and 2022 have now been posted. Unfortunately, the US fatalities data for 2022 are incorrect. Four workers died as a result of a helicopter crash at the West Delta 106 A platform on 12/29/2022. However, the IRF summary table indicates only one fatality for the year.

Per the IRF guidelines, “Helicopter operations at or near an Offshore Installation” are supposed to be counted. The fatal 12/29/2022 incident clearly happened at the platform’s helideck (photos below).

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A refreshing burst of sanity – UK issues 27 new offshore oil and gas licences

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, UK, tagged , , , on October 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The North Sea Transition Authority (perhaps the transition is a bit more complicated than changing the name of the licensing agency) has announced the awarding of 27 new oil and gas licenses in the UK sector of the North Sea. Summary bullets:

  • Quicker-to-production areas chosen to aid UK energy security
  • First to be awarded from 115 applications – the highest number since 2016/17 29th Licensing Round (see map below)
  • More blocks will be offered subject to additional environmental checks

These licences are in the Central and Northern North Sea, and West of Shetland. There are currently 284 offshore fields in production in the UK North Sea and an estimated 5.25 billion boe in total projected production to 2050. 

CGG map showing applications

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Applying the UK Comparative Assessment Process to Decision Making for the Decommissioning of California OCS Platforms

Posted in California, decommissioning, Offshore Energy - General, UK, tagged , , , , on October 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Platform Harmony jacket

An excellent paper by John Smith and Bob Byrd is attached.

The authors recommend the operators of large OCS platforms offshore California and in the Gulf of Mexico who propose to partially remove platform jackets prepare Comparative Assessments to support their decommissioning applications. The Comparative Assessments can also be prepared to support the case for allowing partial removal of smaller platform jackets and allowing pipelines and drill muds and cuttings to remain in-situ.

applying-the-uk-comparative-assessment-to-ca-platform-decommissioning-finalDownload

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Update on the 5th Circuit decision on Sale 261

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , on October 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I take it that since the 5th Circuit stayed both the 9/21 and 9/25 orders, the mandate to hold the sale by 11/8 is also stayed. Ergo, it is assumed that the sale will be delayed pending a decision on the merits of the injunction. Oral arguments are scheduled for 11/13.

If the 5th Circuit’s decision facilitates timely resolution of the Rice’s whale deletions and stipulations, delaying the sale is probably the best outcome. Otherwise, the level of uncertainty would be unacceptable for many bidders.

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5th Circuit stays Judge Cain’s order to reinstate Sale 261 acreage and remove Rice’s whale stipulation

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , on October 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Not a lawyer, but I take this to mean that the Judge’s injunction has been suspended and DOI may delete acreage and include the Rice’s whale stipulations in Sale 261 leases. The sale will be held on Nov. 8.

ORDER:
IT IS ORDERED that the preliminary injunction entered by the Memorandum Order of September 21, 2023, as amended by the motions panel’s order of September 25, 2023, is STAYED pending the merits panel’s decision on appeal.
LYLE W. CAYCE, CLERK
United States Court of Appeals

gov.uscourts.lawd_.201143.97.0Download

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