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Posts Tagged ‘Chevron’

March Madness – will California’s full court press halt Sable’s momentum?

Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »

On Monday, Sable got a boost from Judge Wilson, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Judge Wilson denied a request by the California Department of Parks and Recreation (and other State agencies) to enjoin Sable Offshore from restarting or continuing the operation of oil pipeline segments withing Gaviota State Park.

Sable got another boost from Chevron, which agreed to buy 20,000 bopd from Sable for its El Segundo refinery.

Not to be denied, the California Attorney General filed the attached lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The AG argues that US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has no authority under the Defense Production Act (DPA) to excuse Sable from compliance with state and federal laws and court orders. The lawsuit alleges that the DPA Order violates the Administrative Procedure Act and infringes on California’s sovereign power under the Tenth Amendment.

The suit also alleges that the Order violates the constitutional Separation of Powers by purporting to override not only state law and a preliminary injunction issued by the Santa Barbara Superior Court, but also a judicial Consent Decree approved by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California that expressly acknowledged and approved the State’s role in reviewing and approving any planned restart of the onshore pipelines.

The AG asks the Court (p. 33) to issue a judicial declaration that the Wright Order is unconstitutional and/or unlawful because it violates the APA and the U.S. Constitution.

Read the Court filing for full details, and stay tuned. No doubt there will be more swings in momentum going forward.

Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive and Other Relief [1]Download

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Sale BBG2 “sweet spot”

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »

red=blocks receiving bids at BBG2; blue=BBG1 and Sale 261 leases; green=active leases issued prior to Sale 261

Although bidding at Sale BBG2 was rather subdued, Gulf heavyweights BP, Chevron, Shell, and Oxy/Anadarko, along with increasingly important Woodside Energy, competed for the 4 red blocks in the Green Canyon area (map above and table below). These elephant hunters presumably see excellent Paleogene (Wilcox) prospectivity in those blocks.

17 of the sale’s 38 bids (45%) and $32.8 milion of the sale’s $47 million in high bids (70%) were for these 4 blocks. BP’s $21 million bid for GC 404 was by far the sale’s highest bid.

Green Canyon
Block No.		No. of biddersHigh BidderBid
4045BP$21,009,990
4052BP$885,99
4485Chevron$4,967,067
4925Chevron$5,887,188

At this time, the high costs and technical complexities (e.g. deepwaterand high pressure/high temperature reservoirs) limit Wilcox development to major oil companies and well financed, technically savvy independents. Expect some of the international majors that did not participate in BBG2 to acquire lease interest at a later date, which will again raise questions about the merits of joint bidding restrictions.

From AAPG graphic-Wilcox trend map. Eastern area can be subdivided into an outboard and inboard trend, with wells in the latter area showing variable thickness due to salt tectonics contemporaneous with deposition (From Zarra et al. 2019’s AAPG Search and Discovery article).

Imbedded below is a good presentation on the Paleogene Wilcox by Dr. Mike Sweet, Univ. of Texas:

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BBG2 – historically weak Gulf-wide lease sale

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , on March 11, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Although no one was expecting a barnburner only 3 months after the previous sale, BBG2 was historically weak for a Gulf-wide sale. The table below compares BBG2 with the previous 4 Gulf sales, none of which were particularly impressive.

However, the sale was not without highlights. There was some spirited bidding for tracts in the Green Canyon area. BP’s bid was the highest of 5 for GC Block 404. BP bid $21 million for the block, 45% of the high bids sum for the entire sale. The BP bid was also $20 million higher than the next highest bid for that tract (ouch!).

Also interesting was Chevron edging Shell $5,887,188.00 to $5,501,240.00 to acquire GC Block 492.

Sale No.257259261BBG1BBG2
date11/17/20213/29/202312/20/202312/10/20253/11/2026
companies
participating		3332263013
total bids22332842316121938
tracts receiving bids21432442275118125
sum of all bids
$millions		198.5309.8441.9371.969.9
sum of high bids
($millions)		101.7263.8382.2279.447.0
highest bid
company
block		$10,001,252
Anadarko
AC 259		$15,911,947
Chevron
KC 96		$25,500,085
Anadarko
MC 389		$18,592,086
Chevron
KC 25		$21,009,990
bp
GC 404
most high bids
company
sum ($millions)		46
bp
29.0		75
Chevron
108.0		65
Shell
69.0		50
bp
61.0		6
Anadarko (Oxy)
4.0
sum of high bids ($millions)
company		47.1
Chevron		108
Chevron		88.3
Hess		61.0
bp		22.6
bp
most high bids by independent14-DG Expl.13-Beacon
13-Red Willow		22-Red Willow14-Murphy5-LLOG
1excludes 36 leases improperly acquired for carbon disposal purposes; 2excludes 69 leases improperly acquired for carbon disposal purposes; 3excludes 94 leases improperly acquired for carbon disposal purposes

For historical comparison purposes, Gulf Sale 206 drew $3.7 billion ($5.6 billion in today’s dollars) in 2008. Twenty-siz sales between 1972 and 2013 garnered more than $1 billion in high bids.

Sale stats

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Chevron continues to build on Noble Energy’s Eastern Mediterranean legacy

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Thirty years ago, when industry majors shied away from exploration offshore Israel, Noble Energy (then Samedan) boldly stepped forward and partnered with the Delek Group to explore the Eastern Mediterranean.

Exploration success was accompanied by national security, legal, and regulatory challenges. Nonetheless, Israel’s gas production has grown rapidly and is expected to exceed 3 bcf/day in 2026, which is > current gas production in the Gulf of America.

Chevron is now the main operator in Israel, having purchased Noble’s assets in 2020. The company has taken another major step by signing an MOU with Syrian Petroleum Co. and Qatar-based Power International Holding. The document is not currently accessible online, but appears to be substantive based on press reports.

The agreement focuses on preliminary cooperation for exploring and developing offshore oil and gas resources offshore Syria. It’s noteworthy that the MOU will only remain in effect for two months, after which “formal contracts and operational work are expected to follow.”

Having done some work for Noble Energy in the 2010s, I’m very impressed by the progress that has been made given the geopolitical challenges.

Production at Chevron’s Leviathan, a giant gas field offshore Israel

The EIA’s Eastern Mediterranean overview is attached.

eastern-mediterraneanDownload

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2025 Safety Compliance – Shell tops the Gulf of America performance list

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 5, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The 2025 Gulf of America Safety Compliance Leaders are ranked below according to the number of incidents of non-compliance (INCs) per facility inspection. To be ranked, a company must:

  • operate at least 2 production platforms
  • have drilled at least 2 wells during the year
  • average <1 INC for every 5 facility inspections (0.20 INCs/facility inspection). This is a higher standard (fewer INCs) than in previous years.
  • average <1 INC for every 10 inspections (0.1 INCs/inspection). Note that each facility inspection may include multiple types of inspections (e.g. production, pipeline, pollution, Coast Guard, site security, etc). In 2025, there were on average 3.2 inspections for every facility inspection.
operatorWCSIFSItotal INCsfacility inspINCs/
fac insp		inspINCs/
insp
Shell381122310.055570.02
Chevron1080182600.077720.02
Oxy26191330.073250.03
BP820101220.083040.03
Murphy6208700.111770.05
Cantium574161210.134880.03
Gulf-wide 202581544584134431790.42102180.13
Gulf-wide 2024957398109146431330.47106640.14
Notes: Numbers are from published BSEE data; INC=incident of non-compliance; W=warning INC; CSI=component shut-in INC; FSI=facility shut-in INC; INCs/fac insp= INCs issued per facility inspection; each facility-inspection may include multiple types of inspections (e.g. production, pipeline, pollution, Coast Guard, site security, etc), in 2025, there were on average 3.2 inspections for every facility inspection

Criteria: This ranking is based solely on BSEE’s published compliance data. The absence of timely public information on safety incidents (e.g. injuries, fires, pollution, gas releases, property damage) precludes inclusion of these data. Although Panel Investigations are conducted for fatalities, serious injuries, and significant pollution events, the last panel report was for an incident on 3/25/2022, and no information is available for any ongoing investigations. BSEE District offices investigate the more significant incidents that don’t qualify for panel investigations. These District Investigation reports are more timely, but some are not issued within 90 days of the incident. The District reports will be reviewed later in the year. Note that there were no occupational fatalities in 2025.

Observations:

  • The overall inspection and INC results for 2025 were similar to those for 2024.
  • The top companies performed better in 2025 than in 2024. In 2024, only 2 companies had INC/facility inspection ratios of <0.10 and only 3 had ratios <0.15. In 2025, all 6 of the performance leaders had ratios <0.15.
  • All 6 of these top companies were also on the 2024 top performers list.
  • Shell’s total INCs and INCs/facility inspection decreased by 73% and 78% respectively vs. 2024
  • Cantium, which operates 85 shallow water platforms, has demonstrated that a shelf operator can be an outstanding safety performer. Cantium’s total INCs and INCs/facility inspection decreased by 50% vs. 2024
  • Should fewer inspections be conducted at facilities that have such low INC rates? On the one hand, fewer inspections would reduce regulatory costs and transportation risks. On the other hand, there are benefits from BSEE inspection visits besides compliance enforcement. These include direct communication with offshore workers (including contractors) regarding regulatory policies and safety practices, witnessing safety tests, evaluating new technology, and assessing management system implementation and corporate culture at the facility level.
  • Absent specific details on the violations, no attempt was made to weight the INCs. Although shut-in INCs are generally considered to be more significant than warnings, that is not always the case. For example, a component shut-in INC for a safety device that is marginally out of tolerance and is corrected on the spot may be less serious than a warning that is indicative of structural deterioration, poor maintenance, or organizational shortcomings.

Not meeting one of the activity level requirements, but nonetheless noteworthy, were the compliance records of LLOG and BOE Exploration & Production (younger than and unrelated to the BOE blog 😀). See their impressive results below:

operatorWCSIFSItotal INCsfacility inspINCs/
fac insp		inspINCs/
insp
BOE0011330.03780.01
LLOG1113290.10780.04

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Six Gulf of America operators had outstanding safety compliance records in 2025

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Shell topped the list followed by Chevron, Oxy/Anadarko, bp, Murphy, and Cantium.

Details and observations will be posted tomorrow.

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Only 6 days until the long-awaited Gulf lease sale. Will it be big and beautiful?

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Big Beautiful Gulf of America

Will the oil and gas lease sale boldly named Big Beautiful Gulf 1 (BBG1) live up to its grand name? Given the more favorable lease terms and the 2 year gap since the last sale, BBG1 should surpass the previous 3 sales (table below). Questions:

  • Which majors will be the most active bidders? Chevron? Shell? BP? Oxy/Anadarko?
  • Will former Gulf of Mexico stalwarts Exxon and Conoco Phillips participate for the first time in years? Probably not, but US super-majors should participate in the US offshore program.
  • How many companies will submit bids? Would like that to be a number >35.
  • How many tracts will receive bids? A number >300 would be very encouraging.
  • Will the total high bids exceed $400 million?
  • Will we see an increase in shelf interest?
  • Which independents will be the most active?
  • After the not-so-clever carbon disposal acquisitions in the last 3 sales, will the number of carbon disposal bids be zero? For the first time ever, the Federal government felt compelled to stipulate the obvious (see the proposed notice for OCS Sale 262) – that an Oil and Gas Lease Sale is only for oil and gas exploration and development.

See the summary data below for the last 3 Gulf lease sales. We’ll fill in the blanks next week.

Sale No.257259261BBG1
date11/17/20213/29/202312/20/202312/10/2025
companies
participating		333226
total bids223328423161
tracts receiving bids214324422751
sum of all bids
$millions		198.5309.8441.9
sum of high bids
($millions)		101.7263.8382.2
highest bid
company
block		$10,001,252.00
Anadarko
AC 259		$15,911,947
Chevron
KC 96		$25,500,085
Anadarko
MC 389
most high bids
company
sum ($millions)		46
bp
29.0		75
Chevron
108.0		65
Shell
69.0
sum of high bids ($millions)
company
47.1
Chevron		108
Chevron		88.3
Hess
most high bids by independent14-DG Expl.13-Beacon
13-Red Willow		22-Red Willow
1excludes 36 leases improperly acquired for carbon disposal purposes; 2excludes 69 leases improperly acquired for carbon disposal purposes; 3excludes 94 leases improperly acquired for carbon disposal purposes

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Gaza Marine Gas Field should be a development priority. Which companies will be involved?

Posted in energy, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

In light of the fantastic Middle East news, planning for the redevelopment of Gaza is underway. The Gaza Marine Gas Field should be a high priority given the power generation and revenue potential.

The field, which was discovered in 1999 by British Gas (now part of Shell), is located approximately 30-36 km off the coast of Gaza in the eastern Mediterranean and has estimated natural gas reserves of ~ 1 Tcf.

Who should be licensed to develop the field? In June 2023, there was a proposed agreement between the Palestinian Authority and an Egyptian consortium led by state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS). A resurrection of this arrangement may align with Palestinian interests. EGAS has experience in Mediterranean gas projects including the giant Zohr field (see map below).

Other candidates for developing the Gaza Marine field (pure speculation):

  • Chevron would be a logical choice given their extensive eastern Mediterranean experience as a result of their acquisition of Noble Energy. However, there might be concerns about undue US and Israeli control of this important resource.
  • Regional giants like Saudi Aramco, Qatar Energy, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) would be good candidates.
  • Another interesting possibility might be Equinor, which is 2/3 owned by the Norwegian govt. Equinor seems to sometimes make socially desirable investments that are less profitable.

Some combination of the above companies might also be a possibility. In any event, it’s critical to manage this resource in a manner that best benefits the recovery effort.

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FPUs rule! Add Shenandoah and Salamanca to the producing list; bp commits to Tiber.

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Salamanca FPU (Repsol photo)

Every deepwater platform installed since Feb. 2018, when Chevron installed its Big Foot tension leg platform (TLP), has been a Floating Production Unit (aka FPU or production semisubmersible). During that period, no new SPARs, FPSOs, or TLPs were installed.

The list (below) of these simpler, safer, greener FPUs has grown by two with the initiation of production at Shenandoah and Salamanca. Note the water depth range from 3725 to 8600 ft.

platformoperatorwater depth (ft)first production
AppomattoxShell7400May 2019
King’s QuayMurphy3725April 2022
VitoShell4050Feb 2023
Argosbp4440April 2023
AnchorChevron4600Aug 2024
WhaleShell8600Jan 2025
ShenandoahBeacon5840July 2025
SalamancaLLOG6405Sept 2025

The efficiencies achieved with the simpler platform designs combined with the high pressure (>15,000 psi) technology developed over the past 2 decades is facilitatihg production from the highly prospective Paleogene (Wilcox) deepwater fans. (For those interested in learning more about the geology, see the excellent presentation by Dr. Mike Sweet, Univ. of Texas, that is embedded in this post.)

With bp’s commitment to Tiber, 3 new high-pressure projects, ala Chevron’s Anchor, are in the pipeline:

platformoperatorwater depth (ft)discovery datefirst production
Kaskidabp600020062029
SpartaShell470020122028
Tiberbp413020092030
All of the operators note the cost-saving similarities in their FPU designs. For example, Vito and Whale are very much the same despite the 4550′ difference in water depth.

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Only 10 active rigs in the Gulf of America

Posted in drilling, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on September 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Deepwater Titan, Gulf of America

The latest Baker Hughes Rig Count Report shows only 10 rigs actively drilling in the Gulf. All are at deepwater locations – 7 in the Mississippi Canyon area, 2 in Green Canyon, and 1 in Alaminos Canyon. Per the BSEE borehole file, Shell accounts for most of the current MS Canyon wells and the Alaminous Canyon well. Beacon is also drilling in the MS Canyon, and the Green Canyon well appears to be a Chevron operation.

This current rig count, which has hovered between 9 and 12 all year, is troubling if you are concerned about long-term production. By comparison the Gulf rig count reached 22 last year and was 100+ during the 10 year period from 1994 to 2003.

Only Anadarko/Oxy, Beacon/BOE, BP, Chevron/Hess, Shell, and Talos have spudded deepwater exploratory wells in 2025 YTD. Arena and Cantium are the only shelf drillers – all development wells.

Technological advances and extensions of past discoveries have sustained Gulf production, but declines are certain over the longer term if drilling activity doesn’t increase. Oil price uncertainty is an issue, but that’s always the case. Semiannual lease sales are now legislatively required and the terms will be attractive, so those issues are off the table. Let’s see what the bidding looks like at the upcoming sale.

The decline in deepwater discoveries (BOEM data below) is particularly discouraging. Per BOEM, the last deepwater field discovery was in March 2023.

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