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Archive for the ‘Offshore Energy – General’ Category

Movin’ on up to 20,000 psi BOP equipment

Posted in drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 20k BOPs, Deepwater Atlas, Deepwater Titan, NOV, Sembcorp, transocean on January 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Deepwater Titan is also the second 8th-generation drillship constructed by Sembcorp Marine based on its Jurong Espadon 3T design. The dual-derrick drillship is the first-ever unit delivered with two 20,000-psi blowout preventers (BOPs), well-control, riser, and piping systems for high-pressure and high-temperature drilling and completion operations. Like its sister rig, the Deepwater Atlas — delivered in June 2022 — Deepwater Titan is also equipped with three-million-pound hook-load hoisting capacity and capabilities to drill up to 40,000 feet and operate in water depths of up to 12,000 feet.
JPT

Lars Herbst notes that the Atlas, which has been drilling for Beacon in the Shenandoah field with 15k BOPs, will switch to the 20k equipment before any well completion operations. The Titan, equipped with the 20k NOV BOPE, will begin drilling in the Gulf of Mexico for Chevron later this year.

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Coming soon: BOE’s 2022 Safety Honor Roll for US offshore operators

Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged compliance leaders, Gulf of Mexico, INCs, offshore safety, Safety Honor Roll on January 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »

BOE is reviewing BSEE compliance data and available incident reports for 2022. The Honor Roll companies will be announced later this month. Our preliminary finding is that 9 of the more than 120 operating companies met the high standard that we have established for this recognition. Our criteria:

Must average <0.3 incidents of noncompliance (INCs) per facility-inspection. Note that each facility-inspection may include multiple types of inspections (e.g. production, pipeline, pollution, Coast Guard, site security, etc). On average, each facility-inspection included 3.25 types of inspections in 2022. (Here is a list of the types of inspections that may be performed.)
Must operate at least 3 production platforms and have drilled at least one well (i.e. you need operational activity to demonstrate compliance and safety achievement).
May not have a disqualifying event (e.g. fatal or life-threatening incident, significant fire, major oil spill). Due to the extreme lag in updates to BSEE’s incident tables, investigation and news reports are used to make this determination.
Pacific and Alaska operations are considered separately.

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Morgan City monument will honor international oilfield divers

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged divers monument, Morgan City, oilfield divers on January 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Nice Sea Technology article by former colleague Rusty Wright. The monument will be unveiled on April 29, 2023, in Morgan City, Louisiana.

In the mid-1940s, oilfield diving developed into a profession. Those divers and the companies they started made incredible discoveries, breakthroughs and steady improvement in their career space, including safety processes and procedures. These efforts have been incorporated into many other industries, from robotics to the medical field and space exploration, just to name a few. The Space Shuttle astronauts working on the Hubble telescope even mentioned divers–where are they when you need them?–as they struggled with installing new mirrors.

The Oilfield Divers Monument will be a bronze, life-size diver dressed in an early DESCO helmet, showcasing the old-style heavy gear, which has since morphed into light gear with advances in technology and design. The diver will carry a burning torch, jet nozzle and a hammer wrench with umbilical hoses on the deck.

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Despite big push from government, the offshore wind program struggles

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, Uncategorized, tagged offshore oil and gas, Offshore Wind, synergy on January 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »

“Mom” (US govt) strongly and openly favors one child (offshore wind) over the other (offshore oil and gas). As a result, beneficial family synergy is not realized, and neither “child” reaches her full potential.

The wind program was intended to complement the oil and gas program, not replace it.

These articles highlight some of the challenges facing offshore wind:

WSJ: Soaring Costs Threaten U.S. Offshore-Wind Buildout
Bloomberg: US Ignored Own Scientists’ Warning in Backing Atlantic Wind Farm
NJ.com: Offshore wind is on N.J.’s horizon but activists worry of impact to whales, economy, the view

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Happy New Year! Join the BOE Band in 2023!

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged BOE, energy policy, environmental protection, offshore safety, Regulation on December 31, 2022| Leave a Comment »

BOE an independent, unsponsored blog that is dedicated to offshore safety, pollution prevention, energy production, effective regulation, and responsible energy policy. If you would like to submit a post, leave a comment to that effect at any time.

Happy New Year! Bud

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Today’s Cook Inlet lease sale; some levity on a sad day

Posted in Alaska, Offshore Energy - General, tagged BOEM, Cook Inlet, Hilcorp Energy, Sale 258 on December 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Did they write this news release with a straight face? Almost a shutout (could still be if the only bid is rejected). And they need 3 hours to process the results! 😉

That said, good for Hilcorp! They have a vision, and I hope they are successful.

As directed by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, BOEM held Cook Inlet OCS Oil & Gas Lease Sale 258 on Friday, Dec. 30.

The reading of the bids was conducted via livestream. The lease sale is now concluded. One bid was received on one block. The bid, in the amount of $63,983, was submitted by Hilcorp Alaska LLC.

Final sale results are currently being processed and will be posted to this page by 1 p.m. Alaska Time.

Following today’s sale, there will be a 90-day evaluation process to ensure the public receives fair market value before a lease is awarded, and a Department of Justice review of antitrust considerations. If a lease is awarded it will be posted to BOEM’s website when the review process is completed.
BOEM

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4 missing following Gulf of Mexico helicopter crash; no further details at this time

Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged Gulf of Mexico, helicopter crash, US Coast Guard on December 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

#BreakingNews @USCG searching for 4 people aboard a downed helicopter in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 10 miles offshore Southwest Pass, LA. The helicopter reportedly was in the process of departing an oil platform when it crashed.

More information to follow. pic.twitter.com/UZKxcErSEe
— USCG Heartland (@USCGHeartland) December 29, 2022

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Gulf of Mexico incidents and violations leader wants to develop a carbon sequestration hub

Posted in accidents, CCS, decommissioning, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged BOEM, carbon sequestration, Cox Operating, decommissioning, DOE, Gulf of Mexico, investigations, oil spills, safety violations, Sale 257 on December 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Carbon-Zero US LLC of Dallas (a Cox Oil affiliate) has applied for up to $12 million in U.S. Department of Energy funds to develop a pilot sequestration hub in offshore storage fields about 20 miles from Grand Isle, according to officials from Cox Operating LLC, the Dallas operator that owns some of the storage fields.

Cox Operating LLC will “repurpose facilities and equipment” for the carbon storage project, according to a news release.
The Advocate

Should this company be authorized to repurpose Gulf of Mexico facilities for carbon sequestration?

Per BSEE Incident of Non-Compliance (INC) data for 2022, Cox had more component shut-in INCs (132) than any other company. Cox was second to the Fieldwood companies in the number of warning and facility shut-in INCs, and in the total number of INCs. 48% of the Cox INCs required either a component or facility shut-in.
Cox had an INC/facility-inspection ratio of 0.77, nearly 50% higher than the GoM average of 0.53.
Per the posted BSEE district investigation reports for 2022, Cox was responsible for 9 of the 30 incidents that were significant enough to require investigation. That is more than twice as many as any other company (next highest was 4).
The incidents included 3 serious injuries, 2 fires, a large gas leak, and oil spills of 114, 129, and 660 gallons. Per the posted reports, only one other company had an oil spill of >1 bbl. (Note: Only spills of > 1 bbl are routinely investigated by BSEE. One bbl = 42 gallons.)
While INCs were issued for only 3 of the 9 Cox incidents, a review of the reports suggests that INCs should have been issued for at least 4 of the other incidents.
Cox operates 375 platforms with installation dates as early as 1949. 134 of their platforms are > 50 years old. Only 66 were installed in the last 20 years and only 6 in the last 10 years (most recent December 2014). How will the carbon sequestration plans affect their massive decommissioning obligations?
Many of the Cox platforms were assigned by predecessor lessees. Those predecessors can only be held responsible for the decommissioning of facilities they installed, not for more recent wells or platforms and not for facilities that are repurposed for carbon sequestration.

Other more generic issues should be addressed before DOE awards funds for offshore sequestration projects.

Also, as noted in the discussion of Exxon’s 94 Sale 257 oil and gas leases, a competitively issued alternate use RUE is required (30 CFR § 585.1007) before sequestration operations may be conducted on an oil and gas lease.

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