“In the evolving landscape of Guyana’s oil and gas industry, few have managed to carve out a niche quite like Koaito Grant. A name synonymous with corporate photography, Grant’s journey from discovering his passion for capturing moments to becoming a sought-after photographer within the oil and gas sector is as inspiring as it is instructive.“
So true:“It’s the best feeling when a client reaches out and says you were very highly recommended by this or that person.” His professionalism and work ethic have been key differentiators. “I have a client that always asked if I was Guyanese because I’m always early for all projects and activities.”👍 💯
The 45 day payment period, that the President of Guyana believes is unnecessarily long, is actually shorter than the 60+ days required by many large companies. It’s unfortunate that these companies have to be jawboned into paying contractors in a timely manner.
Making money from the “float” at the expense of small contractors makes poor business sense as well as poor social sense. Successful companies understand the importance of small business partners in growing production, innovating, expanding supply options, and garnering local and national support. Do the financial gains associated with delayed payments justify alienating the individuals and small businesses that should be the strongest proponents of your company and your industry?
Pockets of Light at Dawn by JL DaeschlerIsle of May in the Sky by JL DaeschlerProvincetown Pier by Karen DanenbergerEvening Calm, Boat Meadow by Karen Danenberger
Secret Service being scrutinized following assassination attemptHeroic volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore, who died shielding his family at the Trump rally
As is the case with many Federal and corporate entities, the Secret Service website is long on promotion and short on substantive details and performance data. The limited “Measurable Impact” statistics on their webpage advise that the Secret Service protected 6623 foreign and domestic visits “without incident” in Fiscal Year 2022, which ended 22 months ago.
Their 2024 budget request overview includes a bit more information (pasted below). The Secret Service gives themselves a perfect score if protectees arrive and depart safely. When your scores are always 100%, your performance measures are clearly inadequate.
Like drilling blowouts, assassinations are low frequency, high consequence events. Prevention requires gathering data on lesser events, identifying leading indicators, and tracking high-potential precursors. You don’t prevent high consequence events by only tracking high consequence events.
Inspections are also critical. Does the Secret Service inspect events to assess protective measures such as verifying that the surrounding areas are cleared and being observed? If so, what do those numbers look like.
This is very true, but engineers may not have a choice when directed to optimize a flawed decision.
Gaza pier
For example, the installation of the Gaza pier was a political decision imposed on military engineers without assessing the operational risks. The $230 million pier was in operation for only 20 days, long enough for several serious injuries to result from the reckless decision.
Some of the worst offshore drilling incidents were largely the result of culture or management driven attempts to save time and money. Modest cost savings were prioritized over verifying well integrity during both the Montara and Macondo well suspensions. The Santa Barbara blowout was the result of eliminating a casing string during development drilling, which virtually assured an uncontrolled flow in the event of a well kick.
Jean-Louis Daeschler, is an artist and pioneering subsea engineer. A native of France (Brittany), he has worked in the offshore industry worldwide and lives in Scotland. His wife is from Singapore and his children and grandchildren live in England and Canada.
Before beginning his engineering career, JL had the distinct honor of exhibiting his artwork at the French National Assembly (Parliament) in Paris (article below). How many offshore engineers can say that? None would be a good guess.
When he was called upon to work in Total’s onshore office, his boss told him “the best offshore job is in the office!” The photo below suggests that JL made the most of those onshore assignments! 😀
JL Daeschler, part of Total’s subsea team, enjoying his onshore assignment in 1985
Congratulations to JL on his many contributions to the offshore industry, art, and society!
Followers of the US OCS oil and gas program have observed some impressive chutzpah over the years, but a new law suit challenging the extension of Santa Ynez Unit leases raises the bar.
Groups that helped block every attempt to resume production in the Santa Ynez Unit are now suing to terminate the leases for non-production.Brilliant!🥇
“Without these extensions, each of the leases would have expired and ExxonMobil would have been required to permanently cease its oil and gas operations, plug its wells, and decommission its other infrastructure.”See the full text of the law suit.
This action figure of Willie Mays making his signature basket catch has been a prized possession since 1957. Baseball was, by far, the most important American sport back then and Willie was a megastar. I was a Phillies fan, but loved Willie, as did baseball fans everywhere. Below is a 7 minute video that nicely captures the man and his game.
From an offshore energy perspective, the US offshore program also had “rookie” status when Willie joined the Giants in 1951. BSEE’s borehole file lists 93 wells spudded prior to July 1, 1951 in what became the Federal waters of the Gulf. Per BOEM’s structures file, 27 platforms had been installed by that date. The Submerged Lands Act and OCS Lands Act were enacted 2 years later to provide a framework for the leasing and development that followed.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 