Posted in energy, natural gas, tagged Chevron, Eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, Energean, gas production, Israel, Jordan on June 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Two of Israel’s three offshore gas fields are shut-in as a precaution. As a result, exports to Egypt and Jordan has been curtailed. The Tamar field continues to supply Israel’s gas needs.
Summary table:
| field (operator) | 2024 production (billion cubic meters) (% of Israel’s total) | status |
| Leviathan (Chevron) | 11.33 45% | shut-in |
| Tamar (Energean) | 10.09 37% | producing |
| Karish (Chevron) | 5.96 18% | shut-in |
Posted in Guyana, Offshore Energy - General, tagged arbitration, Chevron, Exxon, Guyana, Hess, Stabroek on May 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Exxon senior vice president Neil Chapman said he was confident that a three-member arbitration panel would rule in Exxon’s favor and determine it had a right-of-first-refusal to purchase Hess’ stake in a Guyana oil joint venture operated by Exxon.
Hess: “We remain confident that the arbitration will confirm the Stabroek right of first refusal does not apply to the merger.”
A ruling is expected in 2-3 months.
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Regulation, tagged API, Chevron, Endangered Species Act, Gulf of America, Louisiana, NMFS biological opinion, offshore oil and gas operations, Rice's whale on May 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Their filing is attached. I found the following points to be particularly compelling:
p.3: “Despite no evidence that an Oil and Gas Program vessel has ever struck a Rice’s whale, the 2025 BiOp projects that Oil and Gas Program vessels will lethally strike numerous Rice’s whales over the term of the 2025 BiOp. On that basis alone, the Service found that the Oil and Gas Program will jeopardize the continued existence of the Rice’s whale, and developed a multi-step reasonable and prudent alternative which it asserts will reduce projected vessel strikes to zero.“
p. 4: “The Rice’s whale is a rarely found animal that the Service first identified as a new species (separate from the non-endangered Bryde’s whale) in 2021. 86 Fed. Reg. 47,022 (Aug. 23, 2021). There is no evidence that an Oil and Gas Program vessel has ever struck a Rice’s whale (or a Bryde’s whale) despite continued operation in the Gulf over many decades.”
p. 5: “The 2025 BiOp disregards the Bureaus’ logical, fact-based conclusion. Instead, the Service’s 2025 BiOp engages in speculation and guess-work to surmise that Oil and Gas Program vessels could be striking and killing Rice’s whales on a regular basis. The Service ignores the best available data (i.e., showing no recorded observations of an oil and gas vessel striking a Rice’s whale) and instead presumes that forceable and lethal collisions between oil and gas service vessels and 60,000-pound whales are regularly occurring but somehow going unnoticed by the vessels and their crews and that the carcasses silently disappear into the water, never to be seen again.“
Posted in energy policy, Guyana, Offshore Energy - General, tagged arbitration, Chevron, CNOOC, Exxon, Guyana, International Chamber of Commerce, Stabroek on May 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »
On May 26 in London a three-judge International Chamber of Commerce panel will finally begin considering the Exxon claim that the Stabroek joint operating agreement grants them the right-of-first-refusal in Chevron’s acquisition of Hess’s 30% share of the massive field (>11 billion boe) offshore Guyana.
Exxon’s position claim seems weak to most analysts given that Chevron is not buying the Stabroek share; they are buying the company (Hess) that holds that share.
Exxon’s rather unlikely ally in this case is state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. How did CNOOC get a stake in Stabroek and why is their position on the Hess acquisition hypocritical?
CNOOC became a 25% Stabroek partner by acquiring Canadian Nexen in 2013. Their Nexen acquisition, which included Canadian, US, and international assets, was only reluctantly approved by the Canadian and U.S. governments, and probably would not be approved today.
CNOOC’s Stabroek acquisition is thus very similar to Chevron’s. In both cases, the entire company, not just the Stabroek asset, was acquired.
The Stabroek acquisition has proven to be most fortuitous for CNOOC, not only because of the oil and gas resources, but also through the deepwater development expertise that has been gained. Now CNOOC is trying to further leverage their Stabroek position by joining Exxon in challenging the Chevron acquisition.
It would be great if the arbitration proceedings were streamed, but that will not be the case. It also appears unlikely that media will be allowed to attend or that transcripts will be made available.
As previously noted, I would have liked the Guyanese government to be more assertive in this dispute. Stabroek is Guyana’s offshore gem, their most important economic asset. This lengthy dispute has to affect partner teamwork and communication. From safety, environmental, and production standpoints, do you want feuding partners managing such an important national asset?
Posted in accidents, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged 2024 OCS safety leaders, Anadarko, Arena, bp, Cantium, Chevron, compliance ranking 2024, Hess, INCs, Murphy, Shell, violations, Walter Oil and Gas on April 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The 2024 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:
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.
District investigation reports are more timely and provide additional insights into safety performance. Impressively, Hess had no incidents warranting a District investigation, and was the only ranked operator with this distinction. I will comment more on the District reports in a future post
Chevron’s 2024 compliance record was among the best in the history of the US OCS oil and gas program. Was it the absolute best? Were it not for the FSI INC at a Unocal (Chevron) facility, one could unequivocally assert that it was. Further evaluation of that INC would be helpful. However, details on specific INCs are not publicly available, so the significance of that violation cannot be evaluated.
| operator | W | CSI | FSI | total INCs | facility insp | INCs/ fac insp | insp | INCs/ insp |
| Chevron | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 117 | 0.02 | 311 | 0.006 |
| BP | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 93 | 0.05 | 251 | 0.02 |
| Anadarko | 8 | 9 | 1 | 18 | 143 | 0.13 | 344 | 0.05 |
| Hess | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 26 | 0.19 | 67 | 0.07 |
| Walter | 6 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 50 | 0.22 | 161 | 0.07 |
| Shell | 23 | 17 | 5 | 45 | 199 | 0.23 | 495 | 0.09 |
| Cantium | 24 | 8 | 0 | 32 | 123 | 0.26 | 537 | 0.06 |
| Murphy | 8 | 9 | 1 | 18 | 70 | 0.26 | 191 | 0.09 |
| Arena | 29 | 28 | 3 | 60 | 189 | 0.32 | 803 | 0.07 |
| Gulf-wide | 957 | 398 | 109 | 1464 | 3133 | 0.47 | 10664 | 0.14 |
Not meeting the production facilities requirement to be ranked among the top performers, but nonetheless noteworthy, was the compliance record of BOE Exploration & Production (no relation to the BOE blog 😀). See their impressive inspection results below:
| W | CSI | FSI | total INCs | facility insp | INCs/ fac insp | insp | INCs/ insp | |
| BOE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 0.1 | 48 | 0.04 |
Transparency on inspections and incidents is important for a program that is dependent on public confidence. For independent observers to better evaluate industry-wide and company-specific safety performance, publication of the following information should be considered:
Posted in California, decommissioning, energy policy, tagged California, Chevron, Chexit, divorce on February 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Remember that Chevron was once Standard Oil of California. The attached WSJ article discusses the ugly divorce after all these years.
Chevron tired of California’s attempts to dictate corporate strategy. Per Chevron CEO Mike Wirth:
“Putting bureaucrats in charge of centrally planning key segments of the economy hasn’t worked in other socialist states,” Wirth said in a Nov. 1 call with investors. “I doubt it will be any different in California.”
California wanted Chevron to commit to the State’s energy agenda:
“Chevron has a future in clean energy in California. They can join us in our steady, long-term transition to a state powered by clean energy,” said Daniel Villaseñor, a spokesman for the governor’s office.
California wanted the interests of shareholders to be subordinate to the State’s carbon goals:
Newsom said Wirth had invested far more in shareholder payouts than in developing low-carbon energy.
Other State actions that contributed to the divorce:
Not mentioned in the article are the costly challenges Chevron and others are experiencing in decommissioning offshore platforms.
Posted in Guyana, Offshore Energy - General, tagged arbitration, Chevron, dispute, Exxon, Guyana, Hess, ICC, Nexen, Stabroek on January 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“Most investors see Chevron and Hess emerging as victors in the case, Goldman analyst Neil Mehta said in an interview.”
This is consistent with the opinion previously expressed on this blog. How does a partner in a single Hess asset prevent Chevron from acquiring the entire company?
Chevron is not buying the Stabroek share; they are buying the company that holds that share. Hess is to be part of Chevron and there would be no change of control from the standpoint of the partnership.
As an offshore operator, Exxon has been highly responsible from a safety standpoint. However, the company is not reluctant to stretch the envelope when it comes to contract rights. The most recent example was their acquisition of 163 GoM oil and gas leases for carbon disposal purposes, contrary to the terms of the sale notice and lease contracts.
Interestingly, Exxon’s partner in this dispute is state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation. CNOOC acquired their 25% Stabroek share when they purchased Nexen, a Canadian company (sound familiar?). Both the Canadian and US governments had reservations about this acquisition and nearly nixed the deal. Would either government bless that acquisition today?
An International Chamber of Commerce arbitration panel will hear the Stabroek case in May 2025, and the final decision is expected by September 2025.
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Anchor platform, Chevron, CNBC, Jim Kramer, Mad Money, Mike Wirth on November 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Mike Werth’s response to Jim Kramer’s question about US production leadership is spot-on (see the clip below).
Kudos to Kramer for visiting Chevron’s Anchor platform in the Gulf of Mexico. More business/energy reporters and government officials with energy responsibilities need to (1) learn more about offshore oil and gas exploration and development and (2) visit offshore facilities.
Posted in California, decommissioning, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged Chevron, Chumash Marine Sancturary, decommissioning, FMC, Sable Offshore, Santa Ynez Unit on October 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Almost 40 years ago, four large oil and gas platforms were installed in the beautiful offshore area that was part of our Santa Maria District (Pacific Region of the Minerals Management Service). Those platforms are now within the boundaries of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary (see map above).
We watched those platforms being installed, inspected the drilling and production operations, and performed a myriad of other duties including the curtailment of offshore operations prior to launches from Vandenberg AFB. Those Vandenberg launches weren’t always perfect as this link clearly demonstrates. Even knowing that, it was still a bit unnerving when missiles were recovered during post-abandonment site clearance trawls.
All four of those Santa Maria District platforms are now on terminated OCS leases. All were installed by companies that are now part of Chevron Corp. (Chevron, Texaco, and Unocal). They are currently maintained by Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas, with Chevron retaining financial responsibility for decommissioning.
| Platform | Install yr. | installed by | water depth (ft) | Est. removal weight (short tons) | wells drilled |
| Harvest | 1985 | Texaco | 675 | 35,150 | 19 |
| Hermosa | 1985 | Chevron | 603 | 30,868 | 13 |
| Hidalgo | 1986 | Chevron | 430 | 23,384 | 14 |
| Irene | 1985 | Unocal | 242 | 8,762 | 26 |
BSEE reports that the 46 wells on Harvest, Hermosa, and Hidalgo have been plugged and tested, and that the well conductors have been removed. No information has been posted on the status of the wells at Platform Irene, but presumably they are (or will soon be) plugged in accordance with BSEE regulations.
Will the inclusion of these platforms in the Chumash Marine Sanctuary further complicate the already difficult decommissioning process? Decommissioning specialist John Smith thinks it may:
“In addition to the BOEM and BSEE approval process, Chevron and FMC are going to be dealing with the NOAA permitting regime for Sanctuaries. Those permitting and environmental compliance requirements are extensive. NOAA’s NEPA documentation for West Coast marine sanctuaries will also need to be amended to include the Chumash.”
So the “Mission Impossible” that is California OCS decommissioning now has yet another complex regulatory element.
John also thinks the Sanctuary designation presents yet another obstacle for Sable’s plans to restart Santa Ynez Unit production:
“Even though most of the SYU facilities are outside the Sanctuary, the proximity of the operations to the Sanctuary is problematic. The Chumash are now going to be a co-manager of the Sanctuary, adding another player in the process. Sable is going to obtain multiple Federal, State and local permits to restart SYU, and law suits are likely at every stage of the process.”
BOE will be watching!
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, tagged Blind Faith, Chevron, evacuation, Hurricane Milton, shut-in on October 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »
In light of Hurricane Milton’s more southerly and easterly track, Chevron’s Blind Faith floating production unit is the only GoM platform reported to be shut-in at this time. Blind Faith was installed in 2008 in 6480′ of water in the Mississippi Canyon area, and is reportedly producing 65,000 bopd.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 