The plaintiffs assert “insufficient and arbitrary environmental analyses, in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).” The court filing is attached.
For those who missed it, supporters of the lease sale have challenged some of the provisions.
All of this will have to be resolved in the next 3 weeks, as the congressionally mandated sale, scheduled for 27 September, (presumably) cannot be postponed.
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged Gulf of Mexico, Lease Sale 261, litigation | Leave a Comment »
In the wake of the disappointing Gulf of Mexico wind sale and Orsted’s recent financial announcement, Equinor and bp have requested a massive increase in the price of electricity to be generated at Empire Wind 1, Empire Wind 2, and Beacon Wind (see map above).
According to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, this would result in an average 54% price hike across their portfolio. The strike prices would rise from $118.38 to $159.64/MWh for Empire Wind 1, from $107.50 to $177.84/MWh for Empire Wind 2, and from $118.00 to $190.82/MWh for Beacon Wind.
Posted in climate, energy policy, Offshore Wind | Tagged Beacon Wind, bp, Empire Wind, Equinor, rate increase | Leave a Comment »
Gulf of Mexico oil production increased to 1.853 bopd in June which is more in line with production at the beginning of the year and the EIA 2023 forecast. Production remains well below BOEM’s 2.0 million bopd forecast for 2023.
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged BOEM, EIA, Gulf of Mexico production | Leave a Comment »
The court filing is attached. See the previous post on this matter.
This Court should grant Plaintiffs—the State of Louisiana, the American Petroleum Institute (“API”), and Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (“Chevron”)—a preliminary injunction and prevent those unlawful provisions from permanently disrupting the result of the fast-approaching lease sale (which Congress has directed must occur by September 30, and which cannot be delayed without causing Plaintiffs even more serious injury).
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged API, BOEM, Chevron, injunction, Lease Sale 261, Louisiana, Rice's whale | Leave a Comment »
Forbes article: “Oil Is Going To $300 A Barrel”
The title grabs your attention, but the justification isn’t terribly compelling. The author simply adjusts the brief 2008 price spike ($200/barrel) for inflation to justify his forecast.
Per the author:
The thing about commodities like oil is that while they can be acutely volatile because of supply and demand and political events, long term their price is a function of the technology needed to create them and the state of inflation in the denominating economy.
Posted in energy, Uncategorized | Tagged Forbes, oil price forecast | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday was not a good day for US offshore wind. Not only was the Gulf of Mexico wind lease sale disappointing, but Orsted announced US impairments of $2.3 billion causing their share price to fall to the lowest level in more than 4 years.
Unsurprisingly, Orsted management assumes no responsibility for the company’s poor performance, blaming supply chain problems, high interest rates and “a lack of new tax credits.” Outsiders might suggest that there were other factors such as irrational exuberance in the acquisition of wind leases at inflated prices, and unrealistic expectations regarding a complementary power source that is dependent on government mandates and subsidies.
“The situation in U.S. offshore wind is severe,” Chief Executive Mads Nipper told reporters on a conference call.
Reuters
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Wind | Tagged Gulf of Mexico, interest rates, Orsted, supply chain, tax credits, wind leases | Leave a Comment »
Genesis, which is being decommissioned, has been fully evacuated. BSEE will no doubt have information on all evacuations and shut-ins tomorrow.
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes | Tagged Blind Faith, Chevron, Gulf of Mexico, Idalia, Petronius | Leave a Comment »
Only 1 of the 3 tracts was sold, and the amount bid was a modest $5.6 million. Given the extensive lease sale planning and promotion, this would seem to be a rather embarrassing outcome.
RWE Offshore US Gulf LLC won the Lake Charles tract. Neither of the 2 Galveston tracts received bids. RWE’s headquarters are located in Essen, Germany.
By comparison, the 5 California offshore wind leases, each of which is smaller and in far deeper water than the GoM tracts, received bids of $130 to 173 million. These leases were sold in December 2022. Smaller Atlantic wind tracts have also received much higher bids. State mandates and subsidies no doubt contributed to the inflated bidding in the Atlantic and Pacific.
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind | Tagged Galveston, Gulf of Mexico wind auction, Lake Charles, RWE Offshore | Leave a Comment »
As a followup to the post on the sale of the Quissett estate, previously owned by the National Academies and used for conferences and meetings, the purchasers are William F Scannell and his wife Elizabeth A Scannell. Bill Scannell is President of Global Sales & Customer Operations at Dell Technologies.
The property was on the market for 2 years, and the purchase price was only about half of what NASEM was asking. NASEM must have really wanted to unload this great property which served the marine science community well for nearly 50 years
Posted in conferences, Uncategorized | Tagged Bill Scannell, Jonsson Center, NASEM, Quissett estate, Woods Hole | Leave a Comment »
Newfoundlander Howard Pike shared this interesting video.
Posted in Canada, drilling, Offshore Energy - General | Tagged bp, Ephesus well, Newfoundland, Trove | Leave a Comment »
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 