Great people who were dedicated to the OCS program’s safety, environmental, and resource management missions! Much wisdom was shared! 😉
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
It’s always great to spend time with former colleagues
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged Minerals Management Service on April 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Exploratory drilling for freshwater offshore Nantucket
Posted in drilling, Uncategorized, tagged Brandon Dugan, freshwater lenses, IODP, Mark Willett, Nantucket, NSF, offshore freshwater, shelf hydrogeology on March 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Excerpt from the expedition summary:
The northeast coast of the United States is perhaps the best understood example of an offshore freshwater system, and multiple studies have been undertaken to determine the origin and volume of offshore freshwater. Coring and sampling the subseafloor offshore Massachusetts, USA, will provide data for understanding the processes driving emplacement of freshwater lenses offshore New England and elsewhere globally, and lead to a better understanding of this worldwide hydrogeological phenomenon. This is essential for protection and sustainable management of offshore freshwater systems and for better understanding biogeochemical and elemental cycling in continental shelf environments.
With regard to the potential freshwater resources (from the Nantucket Current):
“I’m just excited about the science, and that finally, after all these years, someone’s trying to get the truth,” said Nantucket Water Department director Mark Willett. “Computers predicted it. Everybody thinks it’s there. These guys are the first ones in the world who are going to go drill a hole and prove it.”
Willett and (lead scientist Brandon) Dugan are particularly intrigued by the possibility that the offshore freshwater aquifer could be connected to a lower, untapped aquifer beneath Nantucket that Willett calls “ancient glacier lake Nantucket.”
“If it is connected and it’s young water that’s being recharged actively today, that’s really exciting, because it’s a renewable source,” Dugan said.
Deepwater “Space Station” – science or geopolitics?
Posted in energy policy, Uncategorized, tagged China, deepwater habitat, disputed waters, geopolitics, hydrates, Lockheed one atmosphere chamber, natural blowouts, Proteus, seep ecosystems, Sentinel, South China Sea, underwater space station on March 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »
China plans to build an “Offshore Space Station” 2,000 meters below the ocean surface in the South China Sea. The plan is to complete the station, which will accommodate 6 scientists, by 2030.
This is by far the deepest water for which a subsea human habitat has been proposed. By comparison, the planned Proteus (Fabien Cousteau) underwater station will be in just 20 meters of water off the northeast coast of Curaçao. A Sentinel/UK habitat is planned for depths up to 200 meters in the Mediterranean.
The primary focus of the deepwater South China Sea facility will reportedly be the study of deepwater seep ecosystems which are rich in marine life and deposits of methane hydrates. Hydrates are an energy resource that has much potential. However, because of the risk of uncontrolled methane releases and seafloor instability, there is limited support for the production of hydrate methane.
A deepwater science station near hydrates and methane seeps would be a dangerous operating environment given the potential for methane blowouts and cratering caused by destabilized hydrates. Given that nearly all of the research could be conducted safer and cheaper with Autonomous Underwater Vehichles (AUVs) and advanced robotics, the scientific value of a deepwater station seems questionable.
The offshore oil and gas industry considered subsea habitats in the 1970s but has since abandoned the idea. Lockheed designed a one atmosphere seafloor chamber (diagram below) that was installed in the Gulf in 1972 at a water depth of 375 ft.
Dry chamber well and production systems lost favor because of concerns about flooding, high costs, and safety risks associated with transporting workers to the chambers and placing them in close proximity to “live” wells and production equipment.
Perhaps the main drivers for China’s deepwater “space station” are geopolitical. Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei reject Beijing’s claims of sovereignty and each claim parts of the South China Sea (see map below).
By establishing a seafloor community in a strategic location, China could strengthen its highly questionable claim to the entire South China Sea. China would also have reason to increase Navy vessel activity in disputed waters to support and defend their subsea community.
This will be a project to watch if it actually goes forward.
Mars vs. Mars
Posted in drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged deepwater development, deepwater drilling, Gulf of America, planet Mars, Shell Mars, space vs. offshore, SpaceX on March 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »
In light of the recent NASA/SpaceX advances in rocketry, a manned mission to Mars seems inevitable, perhaps within the next 5 years. See the SpaceX Mars landing video below.
While the space program generates more media buzz given the sci-fi appeal, the achievements of the offshore oil and gas industry are similarly impressive. The Gulf of America has its own Mars, a massive deepwater project that has been ongoing and expanding for 30 years, and may ultimately produce more than 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
Like a mission to Mars, the successful development of deepwater oil and gas resources is a technical marvel that requires:
- Identifying prospects deep beneath the seafloor using advanced subsurface imaging capabilities.
- Drilling exploratory wells from floating rigs, using advanced stationkeeping systems that maintain a precise location on the water surface.
- Drilling deep beneath the seafloor while transmitting real-time geologic, temperature, and pressure data to the rig and distant onshore locations.
- Ensuring well integrity by installing and cementing multiple strings of protective casing.
- Processing production at buoyant surface facilities designed to withstand worst case storm conditions.
- Connecting clusters of subsea wells to a host surface facility that may be many miles away.
- Increasing ultimate recovery with reservoir engineering studies and advanced well completion practices.
Life on the planet Mars will be dependent on technology developed for the offshore Mars and other deepwater projects.
Wow! New direction for the Washington Post
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged free markets, Jeff Bezos, new direction, personal liberties, Washington Post on February 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Jeff Bezos (owner) has informed Washington Post staff, that the focus of opinion pieces will now be on personal liberties and free markets.
German elections: Strong showing by the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland), but significant change seems unlikely
Posted in energy policy, Uncategorized, tagged AfD, CDU, coalition, eastern Germany, energy policy, fracking, German elections, nuclear energy, renewable energy on February 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The nominally conservative CDU has vowed not to form a coalition with the “far-right” (actually conservative libertarian) AfD, and will thus have to join hands with the left-leaning SPD and Greens. This doesn’t bode well for the significant changes many believe are needed.
On the plus side for AfD supporters, the party’s growth in just 8 years has been most impressive:
- 2017: AfD – 0 seats (4%)
- 2021: AfD – 94 seats (12%)
- 2025: AfD – 150+ seats (20%)
AfD was dominant in the East which fears a return of the Marxism they experienced prior to the “Wende.”
AfD’s energy policy (p.77) seems pretty sensible given the supply and cost challenges facing Germany. A few highlights:
- The AfD supports “Protection of the Environment”, but not the “German Climate Protection Policy” and plans for “decarbonization” and the “Transformation of Society”. They want to end the perception of CO² as an exclusively harmful substance and stop Germany’s maverick policy in the reduction of CO² emissions.
- Because the average output is so variable, renewable energy generators are not viable replacements for conventional large power stations.
- Renewable sources necessitate a massive expansion of the electric grid systems and jeopardize grid stability.
- Fracking: Explore Opportunities and Risks, Involve Citizens
- Nuclear Energy: Explore Alternatives, Grant Lifetime Extensions in the Interim
Saluting my wife on Valentine’s Day!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Karen Danenberger, Valentine's Day on February 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Lovely, talented, caring, and tolerant of my petro-masculinity 😀
In case you don’t have enough to worry about …
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged asteroid, Asteroid 2024 YR4, astronomy, deflection, NASA, risk to Earth, Science, space on February 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Tom Maunder brought this to my attention:
“It may sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than one percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years.“
Per CNN, the risk has increased:
“…the asteroid has a 2.2% chance of hitting our planet on December 22, 2032, according to the European Space Agency. The risk assessment has increased from a chance of 1.2% over the last week due to new observations.”
Tom Maunder’s assessment in response to my comment about a SpaceX deflection mission:
“Deflection could be possible. Right now they don’t know as much about the trajectory/orbit as they need to. This rock was just discovered at Christmas and it is presently heading outbound on its orbit. They are scouring past “sky photos” to see if it might have been imaged before but so far, no luck there.
“It will only be visible through April, then its out of sight for a couple of years. Hopefully they will have enough info to forecast the orbit and determine that it will come close to earth but not impact. They went through that exercise with Apothis which will miss earth by about 15000 miles on Friday, April 13, 2029. That is closer than the geosynchronous communication satellites at 23000 miles.”
“I suspect if an impact cannot be ruled out before it disappears that plans will be made to send a recon mission when it next approaches earth in 2028.“
California fires
Posted in California, Uncategorized, tagged Camarillo, Mountain Fire on February 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »
My friends and former colleagues in Southern California do not live in areas that were devastated by the recent fires.
However, Nabil Masri, one of our outstanding petroleum engineers, sent this picture taken from his driveway in Camarillo during the “Mountain Fire” in November. His home was in an evacuation warning area, and the family was packed and ready to go. Fortunately, things improved and they did not have to evacuate.
Way to go Walter!
Posted in energy policy, Uncategorized, tagged Acting Secretary of the Interior, BOEM, MMS, Walter Cruickshank on January 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Career Minerals Management Service and BOEM stalwart Dr. Walter Cruickshank has been named Acting Secretary of the Interior pending the confirmation of Doug Burgum. Walter is a very bright guy with a balanced perspective on energy development. He has served capably on the senior management teams of both Democrat and Republican administrations. Bonus points for the Mineral Economics doctorate from Penn State and his keen interest in the Cape Cod Baseball League! 😉
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 