Offshore Oil & Gas

 

Offshore Oil And Gas Production Is Crimped By Gulf Storms. According to Associated Press, “Oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico was slowed Sunday by the approach of two storms that led companies to remove workers from more than 100 offshore platforms. The Interior Department said that based on company reports at midday, 114 platforms had been evacuated. That is 18% of the staffed platforms in the Gulf, but they account for 58% of Gulf oil production and 45% of its natural gas output. Energy companies are also moving drilling rigs used to explore for oil and gas. Hurricane Marco is closer to the Gulf coast, but forecasters are more concerned about Tropical Storm Laura, which is expected to reach hurricane status before slamming the coast around midweek. A spokesman for Norway’s Equinor said Sunday that workers were taken off the company’s Titan platform, and production was stopped. Over the last few days, Exxon, Chevron, BP and Shell also began evacuating some platforms and drilling rigs. A Shell spokesman said workers will be screened for COVID-19 before returning to offshore facilities. Operators in the Gulf often evacuate offshore workers when the forecast calls for hurricanes or tropical storms. The impact on production is usually short-lived. Patrick DeHaan, an analyst for GasBuddy, said gasoline inventories are high, and the storms are unlikely to move pump prices unless refineries on land are damaged.” [Associated Press, 8/23/20 (=)]

 

US Gulf Of Mexico Producers Shut In More Production Ahead Of Two Tropical Storms. According to S&P Global, “US Gulf of Mexico producers have opted to shut more of their production and evacuate crews Aug. 23 as meterologists revised the tracks of two tropical storms, Marco and Laura, that are set to come ashore back-to-back this week, likely along the Louisiana coast. Not registered? Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now Statoil said that it had shut in production and evacuated crews from its US Gulf platforms on Aug. 22. The company has 123,000 boe/d of offshore US oil and gas production from nine Gulf fields, its website said. The company is also developing two other fields, Vito and North Platte. And late Aug. 22, Shell had ‘shut in production at all but one of our assets’ in the US Gulf, the company said in a statement, but did not identify the field that continues to produce. Earlier that day, the company said it had shut in ‘the majority’ of its Gulf assets. Shell operates the Appomattox field in the eastern Gulf, the Stones and Perdido hubs in the remote ultra-deepwaters, and the Mars, Auger, Ursa, Olympus, Echilada and Salsa in shallower deep waters. All are offshore Louisiana except for Perdido, which is ofshore Texas. Also, ‘we are in the process of safely pausing our drilling operations,’ Shell said. … As of Aug. 22, BSEE reported that operators had shut in 13% of US Gulf oil output, or about 240,785 b/d, and 4.4% of natural gas, or 19,000 Mcf/d. An update is expected Aug 23.” [S&P Global, 8/23/20 (=)]

 

Arena Energy Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Latest Offshore Casualty Of Coronavirus. According to Houston Chronicle, “Arena Energy, one of the largest offshore oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico, has filed for bankruptcy protection, the latest casualty of the coronavirus-driven oil crash. The Woodlands-based exploration and production company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Thursday in federal court in Houston. The privately-held company, which controls 340,724 acres in the Gulf of Mexico, attributed the bankruptcy filing to years of low crude prices made worse by the recent coronavirus-driven oil crash…. Arena said in its bankruptcy filing that it has more than $1 billion of debt and $35 million of cash on hand. The company reported operating revenue of about $581 million in 2019.” [Houston Chronicle, 8/24/20 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: A Biden-Harris Presidency Would Largely End Oil And Gas Production. According to The Hill, “Joe Biden’s selection of Kamala Harris as his vice presidential running mate could mean the end to the affordable energy that makes modern American life possible. In comparison to the Trump administration, which has prioritized deregulation and energy dominance, the former vice president and California senator have both committed themselves to heavily restrict fracking as they focus on climate change and renewable energy. If enacted, the Biden-Harris plan would reduce energy choices, increase prices and drive Americans back to international markets for essential energy supplies. On issues of energy supply, Biden has been clear. For example, moderators at the Democratic Party debates asked him about his position on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the means by which American natural gas producers have helped to free us from many of the vagaries of international energy markets. He boldly replied, ‘No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period. Ends!’ Later, in the same debate, he added, ‘No new fracking.’” [The Hill, 8/22/20 (+)]

 

Offshore Drilling

 

AP | Facebook Stirs Anger, Abandons Drilling Gear On Ore. Coast. According to E&E News, “Facebook’s effort to build a landing site in a village on the Oregon coast for a fiber-optic cable linking Asia and North America has run into serious trouble. First, a drill pipe snapped under the seabed. Workers left 1,100 feet of pipe, 6,500 gallons of drilling fluid, a drill tip and other materials under the seabed as they closed down the site, aiming to try again next year. And then the Facebook subsidiary waited seven weeks before telling state officials about the abandoned equipment, according to the Oregon Department of State Lands. Homeowners in Tierra del Mar, which has around 200 houses and no stoplights or cellphone service, had opposed the project from the start, pointing out that it’s zoned residential and that having a cable landing site threatened the character of their community and could invite similar projects. Now they are furious, and political leaders are, too. Facebook representatives had said Tierra del Mar was one of the few places on the U.S. West Coast suitable for the ultra-high-speed cable. It is to link multiple U.S. locations, including Facebook’s huge data center in the central Oregon town of Prineville, with Japan and the Philippines, and help meet an increasing demand for internet services worldwide, the company says. Construction of the cable landing site was supposed to have been done in just a few weeks and completed by the end of April. Instead, the drilling will resume again in January — as long as the state doesn’t revoke the permit.” [E&E News, 8/21/20 (=)]

 

Marine Renewable Energy

 

Coalition Supporting Offshore Wind Development Set To Launch. According to Associated Press, “A regional coalition that supports the development of offshore wind power is set to launch later this month. New England for Offshore Wind, which includes environmental advocacy organizations, educational institutions, justice and health organizations, and business alliances, will hold a press conference Wednesday to announce the launch. The group will argue that offshore wind is necessary to address growing energy demands, as more power plants go off line in the coming years. Speakers from all six New England states will be at the virtual press conference. The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is currently weighing concerns from commercial fishermen, environmentalists, coastal communities and other stakeholders before deciding where leases on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Maine might be allocated and where they wouldn’t be allowed. The first offshore wind farm is still six to 10 years from operation.” [Associated Press, 8/21/20 (=)]

 

New York’s Hudson Valley: Future Offshore Wind Hub? According to Greentech Media, “New York’s Hudson Valley is known for its artist communities, antique shops and rolling farms. Fast-forward a few years and there may be a new feature: giant offshore wind components floating downriver on barges, with new riverside factories helping to replace lost jobs at the soon-to-close Indian Point nuclear energy plant. Within the next few months, New York will make a big decision with consequences that may last decades. By the end of 2020, the state will allocate as much as $200 million toward offshore wind port infrastructure, to be matched by private investment. While not an enormous sum compared to the $70 billion of estimated investment that will flow into U.S. offshore wind projects by 2030, New York’s port funding — along with a recent change to how the solicitation is structured — will virtually guarantee that the chosen sites will play a major role in the rapidly emerging industry on the Atlantic coast. Eleven ports have been prequalified as eligible for the funding, with the winner (or winners) to be announced by the end of 2020. Very soon, then, the industry will have a much clearer picture of what New York’s future offshore wind supply chain will look like, and which communities will benefit most.” [Greentech Media, 8/21/20 (+)]

 

Mitchell: Delays To Wind Projects Have Hurt New Bedford’s ‘First Mover’ Status. According to The Standard-Times, “This week’s announcement that two offshore wind companies would be leasing the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal from 2023 to 2027, with dates past the planned turbine completion dates, showed just how delayed those projects have been. Those delays have had a potentially negative impact on New Bedford’s position in the emerging industry, according to New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell. Mitchell said Friday that in some ways the delays to Vineyard Wind’s project have diminished the city’s ‘first mover’ status in the offshore wind industry, which he called unfortunate. ‘We had been way out ahead of everyone else until recently,’ he said. Now, states up and down the East Coast have been working on developing their capacity to participate in the offshore wind industry, the mayor said. ‘I am concerned that other states have out competed us in the last two or three years,’ Mitchell said, ‘There has been a concerted effort by states up and down the Eastern seaboard to grab a big piece of the offshore pie.’ In the next couple of years, New Bedford’s competitiveness in the industry in the long run will be determined by how willing Massachusetts is to incentivize investment in procurement, Mitchell said, something other East coast states have been doing to a varying degree.” [The Standard-Times, 8/22/20 (=)]

 

CT Leading The Way In Wind Energy Development. According to Connecticut Post, “Connecticut has made great strides in clean energy procurement, particularly in offshore wind energy. The 2,000-megawatt procurement legislation that the General Assembly passed last year sets Connecticut on the right path towards a clean energy future, and solidifies us as a leader in offshore wind development. By collaborating with the other New England states to expand this industry off our shores, Connecticut could reap the benefits of economies of scale, greening our shared electric grid while saving money for consumers. Offshore wind has the potential to be a major job creator if constructed responsibly and equitably. Connecticut’s Park City Wind project in Bridgeport is a prime example of equitable economic development. Bridgeport is a historically underserved and overburdened community, with mounting pollution issues. Offshore wind will bring investments and jobs to the community while providing clean, renewable energy to the region. Like many state-identified environmental justice communities, Bridgeport has suffered disproportionate negative health impacts for generations. Years of pollution have caused higher asthma rates and other cardiac and lung diseases. By bringing clean, offshore wind energy to the New England region, we are able to mitigate the disproportionate impacts of pollution and help to clear the air for future generations.” [Connecticut Post, 8/21/20 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: My Tribe Lived On Diablo Canyon Land For Millennia. Now We Have A Chance To Reclaim It. According to The San Luis Obispo Tribune, “I was a child when the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant went online. I never thought I’d see the day this ancestral land — the land the plant sits on — might be returned to my tribe, the Northern Chumash. Yet mere months ago the tides turned in our favor with the planned decommissioning of the plant and the sale of 12,000 acres of one of the last stretches of undeveloped coastline on California’s Central Coast. This twist of fate never would have happened without Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Tribal Land Transfer Policy, enacted last year. … My tribe was immediately interested in buying back the land and began planning a proposal for multi-use public access to the property with no new development. In addition to conservation of the undeveloped land, my tribe’s proposal lays out how we would clean up, restore and repurpose the former industrial areas to research and produce clean energy options. The area already has the hookups needed for an offshore wind farm that, as the first of its kind off the California coastline, could demonstrate how to achieve clean, offshore energy and minimize resource conflicts. There is ample acreage for both responsibly sited solar and onshore wind farms, too.” [The San Luis Obispo Tribune, 8/21/20 (+)]

 

Fisheries & Marine Life

 

Wheeler Unveils Relief For Lobster Industry. According to E&E News, “EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler today visited Maine to announce a regulatory reprieve for the lobster industry. At a news conference in Kennebunkport, the EPA chief said lobstermen and fishermen would have more time to start using less-polluting diesel engines in their high-speed commercial boats. ‘This relief gives boat builders and operators flexibility to meet EPA standards during the next several years,’ Wheeler said in a statement. ‘The larger market for diesel engines can’t build new models quickly enough for marine users — putting these operators in potential violation of pollution rules through no fault of their own.’ Under a final rule set to be released soon, Wheeler said, builders of high-speed commercial boats would have an additional two to four years to meet diesel engine emission standards for particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. The White House Office of Management and Budget completed its review of the final rule Aug. 13, according to Reginfo.gov, a federal rule-tracking website. Maine’s entire congressional delegation, including Republican Sen. Susan Collins, praised the rule as a ‘commonsense solution.’ The change ‘prevents lobstermen from being burdened by requirements that are impossible to meet with the currently available technology,’ the delegation said in a joint statement today. Wheeler’s announcement could potentially help Collins’ reelection chances, Bloomberg reported yesterday.” [E&E News, 8/21/20 (=)]

 

EU Gives In On Lobsters To Strike Trade Deal With Trump. According to Politico, “EU trade chief Phil Hogan has agreed to lower the EU’s tariff on lobsters, in what his team said was an attempt to calm trade tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump. The European Commission and the White House Friday announced they had struck a mini-deal under which the EU will lower its tariff on lobsters for all World Trade Organization countries, including the U.S. In exchange, the U.S. will lower its global tariffs on selected items of comparable value, which it mainly imports from Europe, such as fine wine glasses, lighters and certain paints. With this deal, Hogan is departing from the stance of his predecessor Cecilia Malmström, who last year rejected a U.S. offer for a similar agreement, arguing the EU would only do so as part of a broader deal, according to a letter from Malmström obtained by POLITICO. Hogan is facing increasing pressure in his native Ireland to apologize after he apparently broke coronavirus rules by attending a golf club dinner. But Hogan’s team rejected any suggestion that he was announcing the deal now to turn media attention away from that episode.” [Politico, 8/21/20 (=)]

 

Green Sea Turtle Will Get Its Critical Habitat. According to E&E News, “Two federal agencies will designate critical habitat for the endangered green sea turtle, though it will take a few years, under a court settlement signed today. Facing legal pressure over an indisputably missed Endangered Species Act deadline, the Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries agreed to propose critical habitat by June 30, 2023. ‘Green sea turtle recovery has come a long way, but the fight’s not over yet,’ said Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director at the Center for Biological Diversity. The agreement ensued from a lawsuit filed in January by the center, Sea Turtle Oversight Protection and the Turtle Island Restoration Network (Greenwire, Jan. 8). The agreement filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia also calls for the federal government to pay the plaintiffs $8,500 for attorneys’ fees and costs. The green sea turtle can weigh between 240 and 420 pounds and live 100 years. It spends most of its time at sea, although females come onshore for nesting and breeding purposes, and males, the lawsuit noted, ‘have been observed sunbathing on beaches in Hawaii.’ Facing threats from habitat loss to plastic pollution, green sea turtles were originally listed under the ESA in 1978. In 2016, FWS and NOAA Fisheries identified 11 distinct population segments, of which three were deemed endangered and eight were considered threatened.” [E&E News, 8/21/20 (=)]

 

U.S. Army Corps Proposes New Nationwide Permits For Seaweed And FinFish Aquaculture In Coastal Waters And Updates The Existing Nationwide Permit For Shellfish Aquaculture.  According to The National Law Review, “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) recently circulated a draft proposal to renew its existing Nationwide Permits (NWPs) as well as create two new NWPs that would authorize seaweed and finfish aquaculture in coastal waters.1 Currently, the only NWP approved for aquaculture is NWP 48, associated with commercial shellfish aquaculture activities. USACE is proposing to revise NWP 48 to address concerns raised by a Washington federal district court in Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers2, which recently invalidated NWP 48 in Washington State. If approved, the proposed NWPs for seaweed and finfish aquaculture activities could significantly reduce the barriers to entry for emerging seaweed and finfish industries and reduce the timeframe and cost associated with obtaining USACE authorization for such activities. This alert describes the proposed changes to NWP 48, outlines the scope of the proposed NWPs for seaweed and finfish aquaculture, and summarizes the potential impacts of these developments on the aquaculture industry.” [The National Law Review, 8/21/20 (=)]

 

Sea-Level Rise

 

Record Ice Loss In Greenland Is A Threat To Coastal Cities Worldwide. According to Bloomberg, “Greenland broke its 2012 record for ice loss last year by 15%, a startling sign that a major contributor to global sea-level rise may be accelerating. On its own, ice loss from the world’s biggest island is responsible for more than 20% of sea-level rise since 2005, according to new data published Thursday. That includes ice breaking off from the land and floating off and ice that melted directly into the water. It’s also about the same contribution as all the world’s other glaciers combined. Another study about sea-level rise published Wednesday corroborates that conclusion. It also finds that another 40% of the oceans’ rise since 1993 can be attributed to rising temperatures, which cause water to expand. Together, the results are important beyond just the community of scientists who study ice. Once that becomes water, it begins a journey that’ll lead it to New York Harbor, Miami Beach, Tokyo, Shanghai, London, and the world’s other vulnerable coastal cities as higher tides and greater flood risk. The changes in Greenland’s ice makeup ‘are truly astonishing,’ Thomas Frederikse, a NASA scientist, said about the new ice-loss data. The Greenland study, which he’s familiar with but wasn’t a part of, shows that ‘during 2019, Greenland alone caused as much sea-level rise as was caused by all processes combined in an average year during the 20th century,’ he said.” [Bloomberg, 8/21/20 (+)]

 

AP | Greenland Lost Record 586B Tons Of Ice Last Year. According to E&E News, “Greenland lost a record amount of ice during an extra warm 2019, with the melt massive enough to cover California in more than 4 feet of water, a new study said. After two years when summer ice melt had been minimal, last summer shattered all records with 586 billion tons of ice melting, according to satellite measurements. That’s more than 140 trillion gallons of water. That’s far more than the yearly average loss of 259 billion tons since 2003 and easily surpasses the old record of 511 billion tons in 2012, said a study in Communications Earth & Environment. The study showed that in the 20th century, there were many years when Greenland gained ice. ‘Not only is the Greenland ice sheet melting, but it’s melting at a faster and faster pace,’ said study lead author Ingo Sasgen, a geoscientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany. Last year’s Greenland melt added 0.06 inch to global sea-level rise. That sounds like a tiny amount, but ‘in our world it’s huge, that’s astounding,’ said study co-author Alex Gardner, a NASA ice scientist. Add in more water from melting in other ice sheets and glaciers, along with an ocean that expands as it warms — and that translates into slowly rising sea levels, coastal flooding and other problems, he said. While general ice melt records in Greenland go back to 1948, scientists since 2003 have had precise records on how much ice melts because NASA satellites measure the gravity of the ice sheets. That’s the equivalent of putting the ice on a scale and weighing it as water flows off, Gardner said.” [E&E News, 8/24/20 (=)]

 

Ocean Health & Management

 

With Cleanup Stalled For Weeks, Group Of Volunteers Tackles New Orleans Nurdle Spill On Their Own. According to Nola.com, “When millions of plastic pellets spilled into the Mississippi River and began washing up along the banks in New Orleans, it wasn’t a government agency or a nonprofit group or even the company that dumped the plastic that finally began the cleanup. It was a pair of recent California transplants armed with a kitchen colander and a bucket. Hailey Fynaardt and her husband, Dan, started cleaning up pellets, also known as ‘nurdles,’ on the Algiers Point riverbank on Wednesday. They went out again on Thursday evening, this time with a couple friends. A guy who had been selling ice cream nearby joined in. A family out for a stroll asked if they could help, and then another. By sunset, there were more than a dozen people digging nurdles out of the Mississippi mud. Fynaardt knows the plastic they’ve collected is only a tiny fraction of the mess. But each nurdle she drops in her bucket is potentially one less nurdle causing trouble in the belly of a fish, turtle or bird.” [Nola.com, 8/21/20 (=)]

 

Trump Taps New Assistant Secretary For Oceans, Science. According to E&E News, “President Trump today nominated a new assistant secretary to oversee work on oceans and scientific affairs. Trump nominated Andrew Lawler of California for the job of assistant secretary of State for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs. Lawler currently is the deputy assistant secretary of Commerce for international fisheries at NOAA. He also serves as alternate federal commissioner to the Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. Before joining the federal government, Lawler worked as the editor and publisher of publications focused on general business topics, international trade, fishing and ranching. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California.” [E&E News, 8/21/20 (=)]

 

Australia Looks To Do More To Protect Great Barrier Reef. According to E&E News, “In response to these dangers, Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is floating a 30-year plan to protect the natural wonder. The proposal calls for controlling surface runoff and shore-based water pollution that can harm the reef, along with improved coastal infrastructure planning. The draft also outlines rehabilitation efforts to be taken out to 2050. The Australian and Queensland governments are planning to spend up to $2 billion over the course of a decade as part of an initial phase of reef protection and recovery efforts. The new draft plan was opened for public comments last week. It’s a revision of a plan issued in 2015. The department said the updated strategy ‘includes a greater focus on climate change and its impact on the Reef’ and takes into account recent coral bleaching events that occurred after 2015. The Great Barrier Reef is a major tourist draw that creates more than 64,000 jobs for the state of Queensland and about $4.6 billion in annual economic benefit, according to the Australian government. It is the world’s largest structure built by living organisms, and it’s among the most biodiverse regions of the world’s oceans. The Great Barrier Reef is registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The draft ‘Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan’ points to climate change as the single greatest threat to the future of the Great Barrier Reef. Getting greenhouse gas emissions under control will be critical to its future, the department argues.” [E&E News, 8/24/20 (=)]

 

 

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