Hopefully, this is not the tip of the iceberg, but most of the estimated $4.5 billion in decommissioning liabilities associated with the Cox bankruptcy loom, as do legal questions regarding liability for Platforms Hogan and Houchin Santa Barbara Channel, and the 1130 remaining pre-1997 platforms. What portion of those liabilities cannot be assigned to prior owners with sufficient financial resources to cover the decommissioning costs?
Posted in California, decommissioning, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged BSEE, Cox bankruptcy, Cox Operating, decommissioning, Federal funding, Matagorda Island, Platforms Hogan and Houchin | Leave a Comment »
Closing comment: “Sequestration” is a euphemism that is being incorrectly applied to soften the reality of disposing carbon beneath the Gulf of Mexico. Sequestration implies storage for later use and that is clearly not the intent. Because carbon disposal is arguably dumping, a special exemption from the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries (Ocean Dumping) Act of 1972 had to be added to the Infrastructure Bill.
Posted in CCS, climate, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged BOEM, carbon disposal, CCS, Exxon, Gulf of Mexico, infrastructure bill, Ocean Dumping, Repsol | Leave a Comment »
DUBAI, June 13 (Reuters) – OPEC does not see a peak in oil demand in its long-term forecast and expects demand to grow to 116 million barrels a day by 2045, and may be higher, the secretary general said on Thursday.
The International Energy Agency said in a report on Wednesday it sees oil demand peaking by 2029, levelling off at around 106 million barrels per day (bpd) towards the end of the decade.
Hathaim Al Ghais, writing in Energy Aspects, called the IEA report “dangerous commentary, especially for consumers, and will only lead to energy volatility on a potentially unprecedented scale”.
Perhaps the most likely path to oil demand peaking by 2029 is a worldwide recession that the energy policies encouraged by IEA could precipitate. Energy policy in the US and elsewhere suffers from the illusion that a transition to an economy based on intermittent energy sources is imminent. Remarkably, the authors of our 5 year offshore leasing plan were concerned that offshore production would continue for too long. That line of thought led to a 5 year plan no lease sales except for 3 that are a prerequisite to issuing new wind leases.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged 2029, 5 year leasing plan, energy transition, IEA, OPEC, peak oil | Leave a Comment »
24 million bbls have been added since the reserve was drained to the historic low of 347 million bbls last July. At this rate and assuming no further sales, the SPR will be refilled in a scant 15 years!
Posted in energy policy | Tagged slow refill, Strategic Petroleum Reserve | Leave a Comment »
Noble’s acquisition of Diamond Offshore will unite two safety management pioneers and long-time offshore safety leaders. The press release stresses the importance of their “culture commonality around safety, operational excellence and service posture,” and their “shared commitment to these foundational principles is expected to be a driving force toward a successful and seamless integration.” While such statements are common in corporate merger announcements, Noble and Diamond “walked-the-walk” for decades, so their statement is more than corporate lip service.
Noble and Diamond have been driving company and industry safety performance through their management and culture programs like Zero Incident Operations (ZIO), Global Excellence Management Systems (GEMS), SAFE Days, and Live Safe Code, and through participation in IADC safety initiatives.
Because of their outstanding safety, environmental, and compliance records, both companies received multiple Minerals Management Service SAFE Awards.
Posted in drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged Diamond Offshore, GEMS, IADC, merger, MMS, Noble Corp., SAFE Awards, safety, ZIO | Leave a Comment »
Based on BOEM and BSEE lease and well data for the past 10 years, LLOG’s Dome Patrol field appears to have reached first production in the shortest time for any new deepwater field. Less than 6.5 years after acquiring the Mississippi Canyon lease, LLOG began producing from a single Dome Patrol well (Mississippi Canyon Block 505) that is tied back to the Who Dat subsea infrastructure.
| Lease No. | Lease Date | Field Discovery Date | First Production | Operator | Field Name | Water Depth |
| G35827 | 7/1/2016 | 7/14/2020 | 12/15/2022 | LLOG | Dome Patrol | 3225′ |
Karoon Energy recently acquired a 30% interest in Dome Patrol as part of their Who Dat acquisition. Their presentation on that acquisition is informative.
Dome Patrol was the nickname for the outstanding linebacker corps of the New Orleans Saints during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and is thus consistent with the Who Dat theme.
Posted in Australia, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged Deepwater diligence, Dome Patrol, fast production, Karoon Energy, LLOG, Who dat | Leave a Comment »
Following up on last year’s deepwater diligence post, 4 recent deepwater exploratory wells (table below) were spudded within 4.5 years of the effective date of their leases.
Particularly noteworthy is Anadarko’s well on newly acquired Mississippi Canyon Block 40, which was spudded only 18 months after the lease was acquired. Everything has to be in place for such an outcome: corporate priority, data gathering and analysis, well plan, permitting, and rig contract/availability.
The well was apparently a high priority not just for Anadarko, but also for Chevron and Murphy. MC 40 was acquired by Chevron (bidding alone) at Sale 257 for $4,409,990, the third highest bid at the sale. Murphy had submitted a losing bid of $3 million, but was assigned a 33% share of the lease by Chevron on 12/15/2023. One month earlier, Anadarko had been assigned a 33% interest and became lease operator.
Interestingly, BOEM’s Mean Range of Value (MROV) estimate for the block was only $576,000, so the three companies are seeing something that BOEM doesn’t. We’ll see how this plays out.
According to rig tracker data the Ocean Blackhawk is still on location at MC 40. Per BSEE permitting data, the well was approved to be bypassed in mid-May.
| Lease No. | Block | Operator | Water Depth (feet) | lease date spud date | elapsed time (months) | EP received EP approved |
| G37199 | MC 40 | Anadarko | 4704 | 10/1/2022 4/9/2024 | 18 | 10/20/20233/7/2024 |
| G36924 | AT 453 | Chevron | 5698 | 7/1/2020 1/23/2024 | 42 | 9/25/2023 11/21/2023 |
| G36676 | AT 138 | Murphy | 3444 | 7/1/2019 11/14/2023 | 52 | 10/3/2023 11/7/2023 |
| G36558 | MC 801 | Shell | 3303 | 1/27/2024 7/1/2019 | 54 | 8/6/2021 1/19/2023 |
Posted in drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged Anadarko, BOEM, Chevron, diligence, Murphy Oil, Ocean Blsckhawk | Leave a Comment »
April 2018: New Zealand is halting all new offshore oil and gas exploration to become a global leader in the fight against climate change, the centre-left government said Thursday, but opponents accused it of “economic vandalism”.
June 2024: The country’s coalition government is preparing to invite energy companies to resume exploration in the three major offshore fields that supply most of its gas. It comes after National Grid operator Transpower was last month forced to warn families to limit their electricity usage to avoid a shutdown during a cold snap.
Will the policy changes, the details of which remain to be announced, be sufficient to attract E&P investors?
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged drilling ban reversed, new exploration, New Zealand, offshore gas | Leave a Comment »
…Rick Carrier became the first allied soldier to discover the Buchenwald concentration camp. The next day, April 11, 1945, he marched into the camp with Patton’s Third Army and liberated the prisoners.
More than a half century later, and after leading a successful effort to protect the American bald eagle, he was the first person to submit an offshore wind application to the Minerals Management Service.
Rick wanted nothing from the government except the opportunity to demonstrate his green hydrogen concept with a single turbine in the Atlantic. He did not ask for any subsidies or research grants. This war hero from the greatest generation just wanted to continue doing great things for the country and the world.
Unfortunately, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 had yet to be enacted, and the framework for permitting such projects had not been established. While we tried to find a way to make the project possible, the legal obstacles were too great.
It was an honor to have worked with Rick on his green hydrogen initiative. RIP.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Uncategorized | Tagged Bald Eagle Energy, Buchenwald, D-Day, Lynn Ramsey, Rick Carrier, Utah Beach | Leave a Comment »
Lars Herbst brought this interesting article to my attention – Rigs-to-Ruins? Rigs-to-Relics?
“In the 1950s, Soviet engineers built a massive city in the Caspian Sea off the coast of Azerbaijan. It was a network of oil platforms linked by hundreds of kilometers of roads and housing 5,000 workers, with a cinema, a park and apartment blocks. Gradually disintegrating but still closely guarded, this astonishing place inspired a fiery scene in a James Bond movie.“
Neft Dashlari (Black Rock), as the town is known, is no doubt the most unique oil town in history – the oil patch’s Venice! 😉
“In Neft Dashlari’s heyday, some 2,000 drilling platforms were spread in a 30-kilometer circle, joined by a network of bridge viaducts spanning 300 kilometers. Trucks thundered across the bridges and eight-story apartment blocks were built for the 5,000 workers who sometimes spent weeks on Neft Dashlari. The voyage back to the mainland could take anything between six and twelve hours, depending on the type of ship. The island had its own beverage factory, soccer pitch, library, bakery, laundry, 300-seat cinema, bathhouse, vegetable garden and even a tree-lined park for which the soil was brought from the mainland.“
Decommissioning lesson: “Dismantling Neft Dashlari properly would probably be more expensive than simply keeping it going with a scaled-down oil production.” Sound familiar?
Posted in decommissioning, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized | Tagged Azerbaijan, Caspian Sea, Neft Dashlari, offshore city, Oil Patch's Venice, Rigs-to-Relics, Rigs-to-Ruins, Stalin | Leave a Comment »
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 