Offshore Oil & Gas

 

Gas Leak Prompts Shutdown Of Two Alaska Platforms. According to Offshore Engineer, “Hilcorp Energy Co. has shut down two oil platforms in Alaska’s Cook Inlet in response to a natural gas leak discovered last week. The affected platforms account for roughly an eighth of the total Cook Inlet basin oil production of a little more than 11,000 barrels per day, according to state data. Cook Inlet, a wide channel that runs from the Anchorage area to the Gulf of Alaska, has more than a dozen oil and gas platforms. The gas leak occurred in a pipeline that supplies fuel for the platforms’ operations but was not carrying any hydrocarbons produced by the platforms, said state officials and officials with privately held Hilcorp. The leak was spotted last week by a pilot flying over the inlet, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said. The eight-inch pipeline is the same line that ruptured more than four years ago and leaked for months before it was repaired in April of 2017, the environmental department said. Hilcorp Alaska spokesman Luke Miller said on Tuesday the company immediately notified federal and state agencies while it started to shut the affected units. ‘No sheen has been observed. An assessment of the source of the leak is ongoing. No personnel or wildlife have been impacted,’ Miller said in an emailed statement. Divers will install a temporary clamp on the line later this week, he said.” [Offshore Engineer, 4/6/21 (=)]

 

Deep-Sea Mining

 

Greenpeace Stages Pacific Ocean Protest Against Deep-Sea Mining. According to Reuters, “Greenpeace protested against deep-sea mining in the Pacific on Monday, with the environmental organisation’s Rainbow Warrior boat trailing a ship doing research for DeepGreen, a company which plans to mine the seabed for battery metals. Greenpeace activists were pictured in rubber dinghies holding banners reading ‘Stop Deep Sea Mining!’, with the Maersk Launcher, a ship chartered by DeepGreen, in the background. The protest took place 900 nautical miles (1,036 miles) off Mexico’s western coast, in the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) - a huge swathe of seabed where potato-sized nodules rich in cobalt and other battery metals are abundant, and where DeepGreen has an exploration license. ‘The deep ocean is one of Earth’s least understood and least explored ecosystems, which is home to significant biodiversity, and also acts as a vital carbon sink,’ Greenpeace said in a statement. A spokesman for DeepGreen said the company was grateful Greenpeace came to see research it said was being done by independent scientists. ‘We have a shared goal of transitioning to a world powered by 100% renewable energy, but unlike Greenpeace we have a viable plan to get there with regard to the raw materials required,’ he added by email.” [Reuters, 4/6/21 (=)]

 

Marine Renewable Energy

 

Biden Administration Outlines Path Forward In Ambitious Offshore Wind Push. According to The National Law Review, “On March 29, the Biden Administration announced a new ambitious initiative to boost US offshore wind power. This announcement builds off the president’s executive order issued within a week of him taking office that focused on tackling climate change while at the same time creating jobs in the renewable energy industry. The plan will involve multiple federal agencies and utilize millions of federal dollars and should be seen as the first of many government-wide initiatives to address climate change and to expand the country’s green energy capabilities. The Department of the Interior, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Department of Commerce (DOC) announced a shared goal to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind in the United States by 2030. According to the announcement, if the goal is realized, this is enough power to meet the demand of more than 10 million American homes for a year and avoid 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The initiative will be led by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), under Director Amanda Lefton. Director Lefton was the first assistant secretary for energy and the environment in New York, where she led efforts to tackle climate change and promote offshore wind projects in the state. She will now be in charge of advancing lease sales and environmental reviews of at least 16 Construction and Operations Plans by 2025, representing more than 19 GW of new clean energy.” [The National Law Review, 4/6/21 (=)]

 

Biden Is Pouring Billions Into Offshore Wind Energy. Will It Be Enough? According to TIME, “Susan Stewart, a Penn State engineering professor specializing in wind energy, waited more than 10 years to see an offshore wind turbine up close. A pregnancy caused her to miss a chance in 2005 to tour offshore turbines in Europe. There, offshore wind farms have produced clean energy since the early 1990s, but regulatory roadblocks and a lack of political will left plans for U.S. plants moldering in filing cabinets for years. Finally, in 2016, Stewart and a group of colleagues toured America’s first ocean wind farm, which had just been installed off Block Island, a popular Rhode Island vacation spot. ‘I was so excited,’ Stewart says of seeing the turbines. ‘They’re majestic to me.’ While historic, that Block Island plant produces only about 30 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power about 20,000 average U.S. houses—or about 4% of Rhode Island’s homes. By comparison, a typical coal plant produces about 600 MW. In total, offshore wind farms currently generate just 42 MW in the U.S. But under an ambitious $3 billion Biden Administration plan unveiled last week, the U.S. is set to multiply that output to 30 gigawatts (GW)—30,000 MW—by the end of this decade. Among other things, the package includes federal loan guarantees for offshore wind development, a new ‘priority wind energy area’ between Long Island and New Jersey, and funding for port improvements around the country to make it easier to build new offshore wind facilities. ‘We are taking an all-of-government approach,’ says Amanda Lefton, director of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The program, she says, ‘represents a sea change [from] how the United States had previously approached offshore wind.’” [TIME, 4/6/21 (=)]

 

Fisheries & Marine Life

 

Groups Sue NOAA For Turtle Protections. According to E&E News, “Conservation groups sued NOAA Fisheries today over a Trump administration rule that puts sea turtles at higher risk of getting caught in fishnets. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, targets a Trump-era rule that exempts shrimp vessels that are less than 40 feet long from using turtle excluder devices (TEDs) — protective gear that helps turtles easily escape from shrimp trawler nets. The rule takes effect Aug. 1. ‘Turtle excluder devices are a proven way to prevent sea turtles from needlessly drowning in shrimp trawls,’ Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director of the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. ‘They also keep other wildlife from getting caught accidentally in the nets, making more room for shrimp. Using turtle excluders is not just compassionate, it’s good sense.’ The Defenders of Wildlife and Turtle Island Restoration Network also joined the challenge. They contend that NOAA Fisheries ignored scientific data, did not properly seek public input, performed an inadequate environmental analysis and provided ‘no rational basis’ for the exemptions. They argue that the exemptions violate the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act and Administrative Procedure Act. Supporters of the Trump-era rule say that TEDs cause excessive catch loss and reduce gear performance. TEDs have been required on shrimp trawlers in the Gulf of Mexico and south Atlantic since 1987.” [E&E News, 4/6/21 (=)]

 

 

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