Offshore Oil & Gas

 

Betting On Offshore Oil And Gas Could Be Challenging, As Sector Hit By COVID And China Risks. According to Yahoo! Finance, “A long list of international offshore drilling operators are reporting negative figures, or are even going out of business. The hey-days of the GOM, North Sea or West Africa are already long over, but even new emerging plays in Brazil, Arctic, Middle East or East Africa are showing worrying developments. Investors and oil companies are looking at their portfolio investments and offshore drilling is not a favorite right now. This week several reports were published by leading offshore rig data experts, such as Rystad Energy and Westwood, indicating a major crisis emerging, while the light at the end of the tunnel is not yet seen. Globally, offshore drilling activity continued to slip in week 29 of 2020, with the number of jackup rigs dropping by one to 322 and floaters by one to 105, according to energy analyst Westwood Global Energy Group. Rystad in its update of the oil and gas drilling market stated that the sector will be hitting a 20-year low. Based on its own research, the consultants stated that global drilling will drop 23% from 71,946 wells onshore and offshore in 2019 to 55,350 this year. The latter decline is based on current economic figures, but already ‘the lowest since at least the beginning of the century’. For 2021 a more optimistic figures of 61,000 wells is expected, but this will depend on COVID-related recovery scenarios worldwide. By 2025, activity levels are expected to increase to more than 68,000 but still well below 2019 levels.” [Yahoo! Finance, 7/17/20 (=)]

 

Interior Punts Gulf Of Mexico Summer Lease Sale. According to E&E News, “The Interior Department will delay its semiannual auction of oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico by three months, joining a list of federal mineral auctions punted amid a pandemic and related oil market contraction. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said today that all available ocean blocks in the Gulf, totaling nearly 80 million acres, will be offered at sale in November rather than August. The move to the fall is ‘due to the need to conduct additional analysis to consider recent changes in the oil and gas markets, which were due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic,’ BOEM said in a statement today. Interior has similarly delayed oil and gas auctions this spring and summer on federal land in New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, Mississippi and Utah (Greenwire, June 16). BOEM’s November sale will be unique in that only mail-in bids will be accepted, banning the in-person delivery of sealed bids common under normal circumstances. BOEM’s Louisiana offices are located in Jefferson Parish, a hot spot for COVID-19, where nearly 500 people have died from the virus and more than 50,000 are presumed recovered, according to state records. Most BOEM staff are working remotely. The lease sale proceeds in a difficult year for oil and gas companies. Brent crude, the international benchmark price, held at just over $40 a barrel this week, up from historic lows caused in part by the sudden contraction of demand for oil and crude products like gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.” [E&E News, 7/17/20 (=)]

 

What Made The NDAA Cut? According to Politico, “The House begins debate today on the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 6395 (116), after the Rules Committee approved a rule Friday that would make in order some 400 amendments. Among those getting votes are a measure to expand sanctions related to the construction of the Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream 2 pipeline, an amendment to protect roughly 400,000 acres of public lands in Colorado and block mining near Grand Canyon National Park, and a host of amendments that would tweak the way the Defense Department addresses climate change and procures its own energy. A closely watched amendment to add the House’s sweeping PFAS bill that passed the House in January did not make the cut, much to the chagrin of the bill’s advocates. ‘We can find ways to afford billion dollar weapons systems or tax breaks for the wealthy and yet we cannot set a safe drinking water standard for PFAS or clean up contaminated sites for a forever chemical,’ Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), the amendment’s lead sponsor, said in a statement. But there will be floor consideration for a series of other PFAS amendments, including one to require more stringent public disclosure of their release, one to require a new study of the chemicals’ use in firefighting foam, and one to require action plans when foam containing PFAS is used. The Florida delegation also withdrew its amendment to enact a permanent moratorium on offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.” [Politico, 7/20/20 (=)]

 

Fisheries & Marine Life

 

‘I’ve Never Seen People Being So Aggressive’: Boaters Surround Orcas In Tacoma Narrows. According to Seattle Times, “A pod of orcas was harassed by up to 30 boaters Tuesday evening as the orcas swam through the Tacoma Narrows and past Fox Island, according to numerous observers who witnessed the floating spectacle. One person on a personal watercraft drove circles around the six orcas, according to witnesses. Angry residents took to social media to complain about the flotilla of harassers. ‘I’ve never seen people being so aggressive,’ said Gig Harbor resident Christine Groenendaal. Boat noise and proximity can have detrimental effects on orcas, wildlife experts say. On Tuesday, boaters caught up with the orca pod as it swam through the Tacoma Narrows around 5:30 p.m., said Gig Harbor resident Amy Bliss-Miller. She watched from Tacoma Narrows Park. ‘They were surrounded by boats,’ she said of the orcas. ‘There were seven boats, kind of in a horseshoe shape and the orcas were in the middle, 50 feet away.’ Bliss-Miller figures the boaters were so close, ‘Because they’re getting their dumb Facebook video or whatever they’re trying to do.’ Not all of the boaters were breaking distance regulations, witnesses said. Linda Graham Gruvman and her husband, Gary, live on Hale Passage, across from Fox Island. On Tuesday, she was looking out at the water. ‘Suddenly, I saw 15 boats all just coming from every direction,’ Graham Gruvman said. ‘They were chasing the whales. They wanted to get close. They probably wanted to take pictures, you know, with their phones.’” [Seattle Times, 7/19/20 (=)]

 

Sea-Level Rise

 

Baked By Midsummer Sun, Arctic Sea Ice Could Face Worst Losses On Record. According to Yale Climate Connections, “Relentless high pressure and cloud-free skies have allowed the Arctic Ocean’s sea ice to plummet to its lowest mid-July extent on record. The persistent pattern sets the stage for what could be unprecedented losses by September – a long-feared next step in the Arctic’s erratic, climate-change–fueled lurch toward a potential ‘blue ocean’ mode. Early July brought ‘just the pattern you’d like to see if you’d like to get rid of ice,’ said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center. What happens later this summer will hinge in part on whether an entirely different, tough-to-predict ice-destroying mechanism takes shape. The core of year-round sea ice that extends from the central Arctic to the north coast of Canada has taken a well-publicized beating lately. In the past half century, human-produced greenhouse gases have led to warming that’s unfolding more than twice as quickly across the Arctic as in the entire Northern Hemisphere. As perennial ice retreats, the exposed ocean absorbs more sunlight than the highly reflective ice surface, hastening regional warming.” [Yale Climate Connections, 7/20/20 (+)]

 

Ocean Health & Management

 

EPA: Waters Around Two Hawai‘i Beaches Impaired By Plastic Pollution. According to Maui Now, “The US Environmental Protection Agency has found the waters around two Hawaiʻi beaches to be impaired by plastic pollution and ordered state officials to take corrective actions under the Clean Water Act. The order surrounds Kamilo Beach on the southeast coast of Hawaiʻi Island (nicknamed ‘Plastic Beach’), and Tern Island (located in the French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands). The Center for Biological Diversity notes that ‘plastic pollution has been accumulating in the oceans for decades and is expected to outweigh all the fish in the sea by 2050,’ according to a Wold Economic Forum report published in 2016. The organization joined Sustainable Coastlines Hawaiʻi and Surfrider Foundation in filing a lawsuit against the EPA in February for accepting Hawaiʻi’s annual list of impaired waters, which it says ignored evidence of plastic pollution in 17 bodies of water submitted by the groups. In response, the EPA ordered Hawaiʻi’s Department of Health to examine that evidence and submit a new list. This week, EPA administrators decided to unilaterally add the beaches to the list and include them in water-quality management plans. ‘Kamilo Beach is notorious for being covered in plastic, and this EPA finding will push state and federal agencies to face that reality,’ said Maxx Phillips, the Center’s Hawaii director. ‘Ocean plastic pollution is a crisis here in Hawaiʻi. It chokes wildlife and carries toxins onto our beaches and through our food web.’ He said the state is now ‘being forced to finally address this threat.’” [Maui Now, 7/18/20 (=)]

 

Panel Sets Votes On Climate, Lakes, Oceans Bills. According to E&E News, “A Senate panel will vote on legislation this week to improve data collection for waters of the Great Lakes and the nation’s oceans, bays, estuaries and coasts. ‘We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about our own oceans,’ said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the chief sponsor of the bill. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will take up S. 933 during a markup scheduled for Wednesday morning. The bill is informally called the ‘BLUE GLOBE Act,’ short for the ‘Bolstering Long-Term Understanding and Exploration of the Great Lakes, Oceans, Bays and Estuaries Act.’ It’s one of eight bills the panel will vote on, along with a handful of nominations. S. 4144, sponsored by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the committee’s chairman, would reauthorize the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, which supports about $650 million annually in fishery restoration and conservation programs, including boating access and infrastructure projects. The bill, called the ‘Sport Fish Restoration and Recreational Boating Safety Act of 2020,’ is co-sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the panel. Also on the docket, S. 1730, the ‘Living Shorelines Act,’ would direct NOAA to award grants to states, cities, tribes or other organizations for ‘climate-resilient living shoreline projects.’ It’s sponsored by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.). Whitehouse said his bill would charge existing ocean-focused interagency committees with improving data management and accessibility. The legislation would also create an Interagency Ocean Exploration Committee and launch a new task force to tackle the issue of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.” [E&E News, 7/20/20 (=)]

 

Appropriators Review Plans, Bill Against Plastic Waste. According to E&E News, “Senate lawmakers will assess federal efforts to address the international ocean plastic pollution crisis during a hearing tomorrow. Scheduled to testify before the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Subcommittee is Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), who has championed efforts to improve the national response to increasing amounts of marine debris in the ocean. In January, the Senate approved Sullivan’s S. 1982, the ‘Save Our Seas 2.0 Act,’ which seeks to remove plastic from oceans, create a marine debris foundation, improve wastewater infrastructure and coordinate water pollution efforts with other countries (E&E Daily, Jan. 10). Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) co-sponsored the bill with Sullivan. Whitehouse will also testify before the panel. The original Save Our Seas Act was signed into law in 2018. It extended NOAA’s Marine Debris Program through fiscal 2022. Michelle Bekkering, U.S. Agency for International Development assistant administrator for the Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment, will also testify.” [E&E News, 7/20/20 (=)]

 

 

Please do not respond to this email.

If you have questions or comments please contact mitch@beehivedc.com