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Archive for the ‘Offshore Energy – General’ Category
Congratulations! They will no doubt have great job opportunities.
Posted in Guyana, Offshore Energy - General, tagged first graduates, Petroleum Engineer, University of Guyana on November 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »
New UK legislation provides for annual North Sea licensing rounds
Posted in climate, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, UK, tagged annual licensing rounds, North Sea, North Sea Transition Authority, UK, UK EiTi on November 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Each annual licensing round will only take place if key tests are met that support the transition to net zero. The first test is that the UK must be projected to import more oil and gas from other countries than it produces at home.
The second is that the carbon emissions associated with the production of UK gas are lower than the equivalent emissions from imported liquefied natural gas.
If both these tests are met, the NSTA will be required to invite applications for new licences annually.
The “key tests” would seem to ensure annual licensing rounds for the foreseeable future. The charts below are from UK EiTi. The first chart illustrates the sharp decline in UK production over the past 20 years. The second and third charts illustrate the large projected gaps between supply and demand, particularly for natural gas.
In 2050, total production of oil and gas is estimated at ~10 million tonnes of oil equivalent. The projected 2050 demand is estimated at ~35 tonnes. For domestic production to exceed imports over the next 20-30 years, resource licensing and field development would have to be very successful and efficient.
With regard to the second test, carbon emissions from the production of UK gas should maintain their advantage over imported LNG given the energy required to liquefy and transport that gas.
It would have perhaps been more transparent to simply stipulate annual licensing rounds, but that would probably not have been politically acceptable.
Grenada and the missing data mystery
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Global Petoleum Group, Grenada, missing data, oil and gas exploration on November 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »
From the Amsterdam News:
“Encouraged by the Guyana Suriname finds, several other regional bloc member nations, including Barbados and Jamaica, have been ramping up efforts to attract companies to explore offshore acreages. The most determined of them seems to be Grenada, which is just north of oil and gas producers Trinidad and Venezuela.”
“Officials there say they are preparing to put out bids to attract some of the world’s largest exploration companies, but the 14-month new administration has said the previous government secreted away all the documents and data obtained from a 2018 exploration campaign by a little-known Russian firm, the Global Petroleum Group (GPG).”
“The group had told the previous administration that it had found commercial quantities of oil and gas in a well labeled Nutmeg 2, in about 400 feet of water, and that there were other promising prospects right nearby. But as the current Dickon Mitchell government gets ready to assess the island’s prospects, it has said there is nothing to work with.”
Grenada will no doubt be more careful about whom they issue future exploration licenses to and how they manage the data.
Venezuela looks to take oil theft to a new level
Posted in Guyana, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Guyana, referendum, territory claim, venezuela 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.
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.
Under the circumstances, delaying Lease Sale 261 was the only reasonable alternative
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 5th Circuit, delay, Lease Sale 261, Rice's whale 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.
Gig Kocher retires after 57 years of Federal service
Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged 57 years, DOI, Gig Kocher, retirement, Texas A&M, USAF, Yankees on November 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »
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: 😉
Official announcement on the postponement of oil and gas lease sale 261, Gulf of Mexico
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 5th Circuit, BOEM, Lease Sale 261, postponement 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
August Gulf of Mexico oil production was stable at 1.9 million bopd
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 2023, EIA, Gulf of Mexico, oil production on November 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »
IRF Country Performance Data published for 2021 and 2022
Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, IRF, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 2022 fatalities, 4 fatalities, helicopter crash, IRF performance data, US data 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).
A refreshing burst of sanity – UK issues 27 new offshore oil and gas licences
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, UK, tagged 27 new licenses, energy security, NSTA, UK 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.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 