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Posts Tagged ‘Platforms Hogan and Houchin’

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Federally funded decommissioning in the Matagorda Island area of the Gulf of Mexico. Not a success story.

I’m not typically aligned with the sponsors of the attached “Plug Offshore Wells Act,” but the call for transparency is understandable given that taxpayer funds are, for the first time, being used to decommission offshore platforms in the Matagorda Island area of the Gulf of Mexico, massive liabilities associated with the Cox bankruptcy loom, and the Hogan and Houchin saga drags on without resolution.

The bill would require an annual report on well, platform, and pipeline decommissioning including applications, deadlines, and enforcement actions. BSEE does have a good facility infrastructure page for the GoM, but much of the information called for in H.R. 9168 is not publicly available.

Improved oversight of decommissioning requirements for offshore wind projects should also be considered in light of the precedent setting waiver granted to Vineyard Wind and BOEM’s “modernization rule” that relaxes financial assurance requirements for wind development.

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Your tax dollars at work. Highway project? No, Federally funded decommissioning in the Matagorda Island area of the Gulf of Mexico.

This unprecedented use of Federal funds for offshore facility decommissioning does not reflect favorably on lease management practices.

Hopefully, this is not the tip of the iceberg, but most of the estimated $4.5 billion in decommissioning liabilities associated with the Cox bankruptcy loom, as do legal questions regarding liability for Platforms Hogan and Houchin Santa Barbara Channel, and the 1130 remaining pre-1997 platforms. What portion of those liabilities cannot be assigned to prior owners with sufficient financial resources to cover the decommissioning costs?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nU-Fl-gfUg

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