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Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Rigs-to-Radar!
Posted in Offshore Energy - General, rigs-to-reefs, Uncategorized, tagged Blue Marlin, MaritimePhoto, Rigs-to-Radar, rigs-to-reefs on April 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »
A new addition to our Rigs-to-Reefs+++ page courtesy of MaritimePhoto.
Photo: U.S. Navy / Journalist 2nd Class Ryan C. McGinley
Seymour Hersh: “The Cover-Up” (Nord Stream followup)
Posted in energy policy, pipelines, Uncategorized, tagged Cover-up, Nord Stream, Seymour Hersh on March 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The agency did its job and, with the help of German intelligence, concocted and planted stories about an ad hoc “off the books” operation that had led to the destruction of the pipelines. The scam had two elements: a March 7 report in the New York Times citing an anonymous American official claiming that “[n]ew intelligence…suggests” that “a pro-Ukrainian group” may have been involved in the pipeline’s destruction; and a report the same day in Der Zeit, Germany’s most widely read weekly newspaper, stating that German investigative officials had tracked down a chartered luxury sailing yacht that was known to have set off on September 6 from the German port at Rostock past Bornholm island off the coast of Denmark.
“It was a total fabrication by American intelligence that was passed along to the Germans, and aimed at discrediting your story,” I (Hersh) was told by a source within the American intelligence community.
The comments following the “SHEERPOST” re-posting of the Hersh update piece are also interesting.
Rig parked in Manzanillo (MX) en route to California 😉
Posted in Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged California, Hidden Gem, Manzanillo, nodules, seafloor mining, TMC on March 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Relax; just kidding about the California part (or am I? 😉).
BOE’s Mexican correspondent, Andrew Konczvald, took pictures of what looks like a deepwater drillship parked near the beautiful Pacific coast resort town of Manzanillo. Upon further review, our crack investigators determined that the rig is the Hidden Gem, a deepsea mining vessel, owned by The Metals Company (TMC). Last year, TMC conducted a pilot nodule collection program in the Clarion Clipperton Zone between Hawaii and Mexico.
Are the Netherlands Senate elections a positive sign for more rational energy policy?
Posted in climate, energy policy, Uncategorized, tagged BBB, elections, farmers, Netherlands on March 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The BBB or BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer-Citizen Movement) party won 17 seats in the Senate, more than any other party.
The “Golden Driller” is presiding over the NCAA wrestling championships in Tulsa
Posted in drilling, Uncategorized, tagged Golden Driller, NCAA Wrestling, Tulsa on March 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Far from golden, but this was me 53 years ago! Lots of safety lessons, good and bad, were learned. Bud
Cryptomining on the OCS? Highly unlikely
Posted in Uncategorized on March 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »
We learned that Federal mineral lease operators are diverting natural gas from those leases to power electric generators for cryptomining operations without paying gas royalties. (Note: Per the report, these operations were onshore. No evidence of offshore cryptomining was provided.)
Inspector General, US Dept. of the Interior
The Inspector General recommended that the Dept. of the Interior issue guidance to affected bureaus regarding cryptomining operations, including guidance addressing potential land use concerns, safety risks, environmental impacts, and royalty collection requirements.
In responding to the recommendation, DOI commented that “BSEE and BOEM recognize that the remote location of offshore facilities could potentially be used to facilitate clandestine, nefarious activity – including cryptomining.”
While that potential certainly exists, the probability of evading royalty payments by using produced gas to cryptomine at OCS facilities is extremely low:
- To evade royalty payments, the crytomining would have to take place upstream from any sales or allocation meter.
- Space on OCS facilities is extremely limited, and cryptomining units are not compact.
- Costs associated with transporting and installing the units would be significant.
- A surge in lease-use gas or a significant reduction in sales gas would be noticed by ONRR accounting systems.
- Avoiding royalty payments would be a criminal penalty with enormous implications for the responsible companies.
- OCS facilities are visited at least annually by knowledgeable BSEE inspectors, who would identify and question any such equipment additions.
- In the unlikely event that an OCS cryptomining activity went unnoticed, it’s highly likely that an offshore worker would contact the OIG or BSEE.
Reality check for supermajors
Posted in climate, energy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged bp, oil and gas production, Shell on March 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“I am of a firm view that the world will need oil and gas for a long time to come,” (Shell Chief Executive) Sawan, who started the job on Jan. 1, told Times Radio in the U.K. on Friday. “As such, cutting oil and gas production is not healthy.”
Back in 2021, Shell predicted that its own oil production would decline every year and drop by as much as 18% by 2030. BP had a similar outlook, but CEO Bernard Looney rolled back its climate targets this year and said it will increase investment in exploration and production.
BP and Shell have trailed their U.S. peers in price to earnings ratios. Analysts have said investors interested in exposure to oil and gas have shunned them for putting more money into renewables, while investors focusing on environmental concerns haven’t rewarded them. That’s kept European energy firms trading at a discount.
Barron’s
It will never happen, but a separate company composed of BP and/or Shell upstream US assets would be very attractive to investors.
China’s US OCS leases – exit coming?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Appomattox, China, CNOOC, Gulf of Mexico, Hess, JPMorgan, Nexen, Shell, Stampede on March 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Some may not be aware that the Chinese government, through a fully owned subsidiary of the China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), is a leaseholder in the US Gulf of Mexico. Per BOEM records, CNOOC Petroleum USA Inc currently has ownership in 12 OCS leases. Most significantly, CNOOC holds 21% interest in the Appomattox Field, operated by Shell, and a 25% working interest in Stampede, operated by Hess. Peak oil production for these projects is expected to be 175,000 bopd for Appomattox and up to 80,000 bopd for Stampede.
CNOOC acquired the Gulf of Mexico properties through its purchase of Nexen, a Canadian company, in 2013.
The state-owned Chinese oil explorer surrendered operating control of those assets to quell U.S. national security concerns, said two people familiar with the agreement who asked not to be named because the terms aren’t public.
FInancial Post
Reuters has reported that CNOOC is considering an exit from its operations in the US, Canada, and the UK because of sanctions concerns. JPMorgan is reportedly assisting with the sale of the US assets.
I knew Trinidad had a long history of oil production, but wow!
Posted in drilling, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged 1857, first oil production, oil and gas production, petroleum industry history, Trinidad and Tobago on February 13, 2023| 1 Comment »
The record shows that the Merrimac Company, registered in 1857, made attempts to produce oil by distillation of pitch, but furthermore in the same year they drilled a well to a depth of about 280 feet, which was a much greater depth than Drake’s well in Pennsylvania – and two years earlier – and produced oil therefrom
History of Trinidad’s Oil
Here is a list of historical facts for T&T’s petroleum industry.
Central bank of T&T data indicate dry natural gas production of 2.84 BCFD and crude oil production of 57,400 BOPD as of 9/2022.
The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries is currently mulling bids on 4 deepwater blocks contrary to an erroneous press report that those bids had been rejected.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 