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Posts Tagged ‘Georges Bank drilling’

The events that led to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve also drove the rapid expansion of the offshore program

Posted in Alaska, California, energy policy, Georges Bank, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 5, 2026| 2 Comments »

Nothing tilts public opinion more than high gasoline prices, or worse yet shortages! Hence the 1975 legislation establishing the SPR, the massive SPR drawdown in 2022, and this year’s withdrawals.

Looking back to the halcyon days of the US offshore program, it was the gas lines in the 1970s that drove the remarkable and rather unlikely growth in the program during the Carter Administration (1977-1981). A few highlights from those four years:

  • 15 lease sales including 3 offshore Alaska, 3 in the Atlantic, and 1 offshore California
  • Drilling activity in all 4 regions: GoM, Pacific, Alaska, and Atlantic
  • Natural gas discovery in the Mid Atlantic (Hudson Canyon Unit)
  • North, Mid, and South Atlantic District offices for permitting and inspections
  • 5300 well starts including 97 in water depths > 1000′
  • 314 new platforms including Cognac, the world’s first platform in > 1000′ of water

Perhaps unthinkable today, the Governor of Massachusetts from 1979-1983, Ed King, was a strong supporter of offshore drilling. Absent that support, the exploratory drilling on Georges Bank would probably have never occurred. /s/ Nostalgic Old Man 😉

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Our team flew in a Bell 212 helicopter to conduct inspections in the North Atlantic

Posted in accidents, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on May 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

A Bell 212 helicopter is in the news following the crash that killed Iran’s President and Foreign Minister. Given the difficult weather conditions and mountainous terrain, the crash was most likely an accident.

As noted in this vintage newsletter (p. 8), we flew to Georges Bank drilling rigs in the early 1980’s in a Bell 212 contract helicopter, owned and operated by Petroleum Helicopters Inc (PHI).

The Bell 212 was chosen by the USGS aviation expert because of its range, reliability, and IFR capabilities that enabled flying in limited visibility. Because of difficult fog conditions on Georges Bank, drilling rigs were sometimes not visible until we were descending to land.

For the most part, the offshore industry has replaced Bell 212 helicopters with newer models, but the 212 was in use for many years and had an excellent performance record.

PHI Bell 212 prepares to land at a platform in the Gulf of Mexico, 1974, Vertiflite.

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A Valentine’s Day love story: offshore drilling brought us together ❤

Posted in Offshore Energy - General, drilling, Georges Bank, tagged , , , , on February 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

In 1980, Don Kash, the great leader who was Chief of the Conservation Div. of USGS (the current equivalent of the Conservation Div. is BSEE plus the resource evaluation functions in BOEM plus some royalty management functions now in ONRR) asked me to move to Cape Cod to head a new office responsible for overseeing exploratory drilling operations on Georges Bank. We established a small office in an old maintenance building at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis. The space was decidedly unglamorous but functional and ideal for helicopter transit to the offshore rigs.

Karen was a Cape Cod artist and art teacher at Nauset Middle School in Orleans (for baseball lovers, that is where the Orleans Firebirds of the famous Cape Cod League play). Some of her teacher friends were connected to a running club I belonged to, and unknown to me at the time, Karen had designed my beloved Provincetown Dunes Run t-shirt.

We had another connection in that we had bought condominiums built by the same company. Hers was in Orleans and mine was in Hyannis. A couple that owned a condo in each project got to know both of us and thankfully introduced us. A year and many great experiences later we were married at the historic Captain Linnell House in Orleans.

Interestingly, Karen’s mother was an opponent of Georges Bank drilling until she realized that her only daughter would be leaving Cape Cod when the drilling ended. She then changed her position, proving once again that all politics is local 😀

I was very lucky to have spent 4 challenging and exciting years on Cape Cod. The Georges Bank drilling story was uniquely remarkable for me and led to a daughter born at my next duty station (Santa Maria, CA) and 5 grandchildren (good ratio 😀). While I was particularly fortunate, I think the Georges Bank drilling experience was generally positive for all that participated including the State and local officials, Woods Hole scientists, media, industry personnel, commercial fishermen, and even the Greenpeace protesters who were on the scene 155 miles southeast of Nantucket!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Georges Bank Monitor

Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Georges Bank, tagged , , , on August 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

One of the purposes of this blog is to help preserve history that would have otherwise been lost.

Attached is a USGS North Atlantic District newsletter from the Georges Bank drilling days.

gbmonitor001

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