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Posts Tagged ‘safety performance’

Decline in District incident investigations is encouraging

Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , , on April 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

BSEE incident investigations are another window into OCS safety performance.

Panel reports are published for the most significant OCS incidents (e.g. fatalities, serious injuries, significant pollution). Unfortunately, these reports have been unacceptably delayed in recent years. Status reports are not provided leaving the public in the dark as to what is being investigated and why.

The more common investigations, conducted by BSEE’s district offices, are timely and informative. The Districts typically investigate lost time (>72 hours) injuries, crane and lifting equipment incidents, small fires, pollution events, property damage > $25k, gas releases, and other incidents requiring workers to muster for possible evacuation.

The number of District investigations in 2024 declined significantly to 31, one-third fewer than the average of 46.25 for the past 4 years.

Violations were not identified for 2/3 of the incidents.

A complete list of the 2024 District investigations follows. Hyperlinks are provided for those who want to review the reports.

DateOperatorTimeViolation(s)Area/BlockAccident Type
12-25-2024bp1330noGC 584lifting, LTA
11-24-2024Anadarko1710noVK 915Muster, gas release
11-15-2024Anadarko837noGB 668Muster
11-10-2024Murphy145noGC 432LTA
10-12-2024LLOG540yesAC 337LTA – Lifting
10-03-2024Shell900noAC 857Fire, > $25K damage
09-27-2024LLOG200noAC 337LTA, Crane
09-21-2024Talos1630noSM 160LTA
08-11-2024Gulf Offshore1910yesVR 170Fire, Explosion, >$25k, Muster, LTA
07-20-2024Talos2200noSS 224DLTA
07-11-2024Manta Ray730noHI A 5LTA
07-08-2024Cantium1908yesST 23CCLifting
06-05-2024Kosmos1538noMC 727Muster, > $25K
05-31-2024MC Offshore100yesGC 52Crane, > $25K
05-02-2024Murphy1620noGC 478Crane; > $25K
04-24-2024Murphy815noGC 389LTA
04-04-2024Renaissance2230yesVR 369 ALTA
03-28-2024BOE2200yesWR 51LTA
03-20-2024Talos700yesGB 506LTA
03-19-2024Chevron1330noMC 607Lifting, <$25k
03-13-2024Walter2010noSS 189Crane
03-07-2024LLOG1500yesKC 785LTA, lifting
03-05-2024Shell415yesMC 391Pollution, >$25k
02-25-2024Talos930yesSM 130 BCrane,> $25K
02-21-2024W&T1319noHI A 379BFire
02-16-2024Chevron1335noWR 29LTA, Crane
02-13-2024Shell2035noMC 899LTA
02-07-2024Williams855noGA A 244JPLTA
01-29-2024Cantium1900noST 23 CCFire,>$25K
01-18-2024Murphy1303noGC 478Lifting, > $25k
01-16-2024Arena252noSM 128 BFire, > $25K

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2024 Gulf of America compliance data and the Cox bankruptcy

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , on April 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »

In June 2023, Cox and affiliates operated 435 platforms in the Gulf. That number is now only 46, all of which are on relinquished or terminated leases.

Cox Operating LLC and affiliates were once again the violations leaders in 2024 accounting for 50% (479/957) of the warnings, 12% (47/398) of the component shut-ins, and 7.3% (8/109) of the facility shut-ins.

All but 3 of the Cox enforcement actions were during the first half of the year. This is presumably because of the termination of Cox operations and the ongoing divestiture of their assets.

According to BOEM’s platform data base, Cox (43) and affiliates Energy XXI (3) and EPL (0) now operate only 46 platforms. This is a big decline from Sept. 2024 and June 2023 when the Cox companies operated 243 and 435 platforms respectively. All of the remaining Cox platforms are non-producing and are on relinquished or terminated leases.

The curtailment of Cox operations is no doubt an important factor in the sharp decline in Gulf of America violations in the second half of 2024. Per the data below, total GoA wide violations declined by 58% (1031 vs. 433) in the second half of 2024 as Cox violations essentially disappeared:

Gulf of America
inspection data		warningscomponent
shut-ins		facility
shut-ins		facility
inspections
first half 2024725243631586
2nd half 2024232155461546
reduction493 (68%)88 (36%)17 (27%)40 (2.5%)

Cox companies inspection datawarningscomponent
shut-ins		facility
shut-ins		facility inspections
first half 2024478467 404
2nd half 2024111174

Some Cox assets have been acquired by W&T and Natural Resources Worldwide. BOEM records indicate that 8 record title assignments and 3 operating rights assignments from Cox to W&T were approved in the first half of 2024. W&T currently operates 116 platforms, but it’s unclear how many are former Cox facilities.

The acquisition of Cox properties does not appear to have significantly affected W&T 2024 inspection results, which were respectable:

W&T insp. datawarningscomponent
shut-ins		facility
shut-ins		facility
inspections
first half 20241231083
2nd half 202417142105

Additional record title and operating rights assignments to Natural Resources Worldwide (NRW) were approved in 2025, but NRW does not appear to be operating any platforms.

Ironically, NRW was cited for 1 warning and 1 facility shut-in without a single inspection. Presumably, these violations were the result of administrative issues.

Online data are insufficient to account for the 435 platforms that were on the Cox ledger in June 2023 or determine the remaining decommissioning liabilities. Per the platform database, no Cox, Energy XXI, or EPL platforms were removed in 2023, 2024, or 2025.

On a more positive note, most GoA operators had good safety and compliance records in 2024. One major producer had a historically significant record. More on that to follow.

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