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Posts Tagged ‘BOEM’

BOEM kicks off process for Virginia OCS minerals sale

Posted in deep sea mining, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Heavy mineral geodatabase showing marine samples offshore of Virginia. A: 620 samples with heavy mineral data from previous projects, symbol colors determined by the percent of total heavy minerals (THM) obtained through gravity spiral separation methods. B: M21AC00010 samples (indicated with white halo) from Sandbridge Shoal and Atlantic Channel vibracores for THM and mineralogical analyses.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has initiated the process for a potential mineral lease sale in Federal waters off Virginia. BOEM’s action is in response to a request by Odyssey Marine for a critical minerals sale.

Odyssey’s primary targets are phosphate, which is now on the critical minerals list, and rare earth element’s titanium and zirconium. This would be a shelf dredging operation, in partnership with Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, rather than the deepwater module collection being proposed for the Pacific.

The fact that the sand recovered during the dredging process could be used for beach nourishment should appeal to adjacent coastal communities.

Odyssey Marine’s CEO discusses the proposed Virginia offshore program starting at the 4:00 minute mark in the video below.

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OCS lease sale BBGI – questions answered

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on December 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

BOEM image

See the updated comparison table in the previous BOE post.

The questions raised prior to the sale have been answered:

  • Which majors will be the most active bidders? BP (50 high bids), Chevron (22), and Shell (12)
  • Will former Gulf of Mexico stalwarts Exxon and Conoco Phillips participate for the first time in years? They did not.
  • How many companies will submit bids? Would like that to be a number >35. Only 30 companies participated.
  • How many tracts will receive bids? A number >300 would be very encouraging. Only 181 tracts received bids.
  • Will the total high bids exceed $400 million? No, the total was $279.4 million.
  • Will we see an increase in shelf interest? Shelf bidding continued to be limited (map). Renaissance, Byron, Arena, GOM Shelf LLC, Walter, W&T, Cantium, and WYOTEX Offshore submitted bids for shelf leases.
  • Which independents will be the most active? Woodside and Murphy are large independents, and their participation was most impressive. Murphy submitted 14 high bids totaling $27.4 million. Woodside had 8 high bids including the sale’s two highest for a total of $38.1 million, second only to BP in terms of the sum of their high bids.

See the sale summary data. The top bidders list is pasted below.

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BOEM cleared to reconsider South Coast Wind approval

Posted in Offshore Wind, tagged , , , , , on November 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for the SouthCoast Wind project was approved during the last week of the Biden Administration. That approval has been challenged by the Town and County of Nantucket. Ocean Wind, a joint venture of EDP Renewables (Portugal) and ENGIE (France), is the leaseholder.

Yesterday, the court issued an order concurring with the Federal government’s request for a voluntary remand of the COP approval. The court decision is attached. The Order concludes as follows:

It is ORDERED that the case be REMANDED to BOEM for reconsideration of its decision and that proceedings in this court are STAYED until further order of the court. It is further ORDERED that, on or before January 3, 2026, and every 60 days thereafter, the parties shall file a joint status report indicating the status of BOEM’s remand proceedings. It is further ORDERED that on or before 30 days following the issuance of a decision by BOEM, the parties shall file a joint status report informing the court if further proceedings are necessary and, if so, providing a proposed schedule for those proceedings.

gov.uscourts.dcd.278893.30.0Download

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Govt. shutdown – OCS permitting and inspections

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , on October 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Good: OCS oil and gas permitting and inspections appear not to be significantly affected by the govt shutdown to-date. 14 planning documents were approved on Oct. 21, and 37 drilling permits have been approved in Oct. (through 10/21).

152 facility inspections were conducted from 10/1 through 10/19. Natural Resources Worldwide (NRW), which is currently the operator of just one Cox legacy platform, has the dubious distinction of being the Shutdown’s Shut-in Leader. 16 Incidents of Non-Compliance (9 warnings and 7 component shut-ins) were issued to NRW during a single facility inspection in October.

Bad: This level of effort is not sustainable given limits on offsetting funds from fees, rentals, etc.

Ugly: The personnel who are performing these duties are not being paid during the shutdown. The longer the shutdown drags on, the greater the hardship on those individuals and their families. Shameful!

Warren Buffett’s proposal would stop deficit spending and address the root cause of shutdowns:

Buffett: “I could end the deficit in five minutes. You just pass a law that says that any time there’s a deficit of more than three percent of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.“

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Revised decommissioning regulations are in the pipeline. Cause for concern?

Posted in decommissioning, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , , on September 24, 2025| 3 Comments »

Attached is the Dept. of the Interior’s Semiannual Regulatory Agenda (9/22/2025). BSEE and BOEM decommissioning rules are excerpted below.

Of particular concern is the revised BOEM regulation (107) that “would reduce the amount of supplemental financial assurance required from oil gas, and sulfur lessees operating on the OCS.” See our previous post on this regulatory action. Note that a proposed rule is expected to be published by year end.

  1. REVISIONS TO DECOMMISSIONING REQUIREMENTS ON THE OCS [1014–AA53]
    Legal Authority: Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1331 to 1356a
    Abstract: This proposed rule would address issues relating to (1) idle iron by adding a definition of this term to clarify that it applies to idle wells and structures on active leases; (2) abandonment in place of subsea infrastructure by adding regulations addressing when BSEE may approve decommissioning-in-place instead of removal of certain subsea equipment; and (3) other operational considerations.
    Timetable:
    NPRM ……………… 07/00/26
    NPRM Comment Period End: 10/00/26
  1. RISK MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL ASSURANCE FOR OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LEASE AND
    GRANT OBLIGATIONS [1010–AE26]
    Legal Authority: 43 U.S.C. 1331, OCS Lands Act; E.O. 14154, Unleashing American Energy
    Abstract: This proposed rule would rescind BOEM’s final rule ‘‘Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations.’’ The proposed rule would revise the criteria for determining whether oil, gas, and sulfur lessees, right-of-use and easement grant holders, and pipeline right-of-way grant holders are required to provide financial assurance above the current minimum bonding levels to ensure compliance with their Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act obligations. This rule, if finalized, would reduce the amount of supplemental financial assurance required from oil gas, and sulfur lessees operating on the OCS and would support the goals of E.O. 14154; Timetable: NPRM ……………… 01/00/26
2025-18330Download

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Judge Lamberth’s bench ruling on Revolution Wind is likely to stand

Posted in decommissioning, energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged , , , , , , on September 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

A long-time colleague is very familiar with Judge Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, and thinks highly of him. Orsted has a lease contract, and no matter where you stand on offshore wind, you have to have a compelling case to halt a project that is in the advanced stages of development. Judge Lamberth ruled that the govt doesn’t have such a case. Per the judge:

  • The govt presented insufficient evidence to support alleged permit noncompliance and national security concerns.
  • The govt acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner.
  • “If Revolution Wind cannot meet benchmark deadlines, the entire project could collapse.”
  • “There is no doubt in my mind of irreparable harm to the plaintiffs.”

Projects under development will be difficult to pause or stop. The Administration should focus on requiring sufficient decommissioning financial assurance, monitoring and mitigating project impacts, making incident data publicly available, issuing the report on the Vineyard Wind blade failure (finally!), and improving the availability of dispatchable power (i.e. natural gas and nuclear).

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Victory for Orsted or temporary reprieve?

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged , , , , on September 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Judge Royce Lamberth granted an injunction allowing Orsted to resume work on the Revolution Wind project. BOEM halted work on the project one month ago.

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Are New England Wind 1 and 2 COP approvals next on the chopping block? It appears so.

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged , , , , on September 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

See below. BOEM is reconsidering its approval of the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for New England Wind 1 and 2. The operator, Avangrid (Spain), is also a partner in the troubled Vineyard Wind project.

If you are keeping score, the approval of these COPs is being reconsidered:

Other projects: Work has been stopped on the Revolution Wind project. Work was previously halted on the Vineyard Wind and Empire Wind projects, but has been allowed to resume. BSEE has still not published its report on the Vineyard Wind turbine blade failure that occurred on 7/13/2024. Other projects have been suspended by the owners at their own initiative (e.g. Atlantic Shores South, Gulf of Maine, Starboard Wind, Vineyard Wind 2, Beacon Wind). Meanwhile, litigation abounds!

Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind is the project with the most assured long-term future.

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Letter from BOEM to Ørsted

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged , , , , , on August 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The Revolution Wind shutdown order is attached. The letter cites concerns about national security and interference with other offshore activities.

Excerpt from Ørsted’s response:

“Ørsted is evaluating all options to resolve the matter expeditiously. This includes engagement with relevant permitting agencies for any necessary clarification or resolution as well as through potential legal proceedings, with the aim being to proceed with continued project construction towards COD in the second half of 2026.”

Director'sOrder-20250822Download

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BOEM halts activity on Ørsted’s Revolution Wind project!

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged , , , on August 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is halting activity on the Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut. No details on this decision have been provided.

According to Ørsted, all of Revolution Wind’s foundations and almost 70 per cent of the turbines have been installed.

Revolution Wind is a partnership between Ørsted and Global Infrastructure Partners’ Skyborn Renewables.

Related post from last week.

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