Offshore Energy Exploration News

Israeli and Lebanese leaders finalised a U.S-brokered maritime demarcation on Thursday, bringing a measure of accommodation between the enemy states as they eye offshore energy exploration.Leaders from Lebanon, Israel and the United States have all hailed the deal as "historic" but the possibility of a wider diplomatic breakthrough remains slim. As a result, there was no joint signing ceremony: Lebanese President Michel Aoun signed a letter approving the deal at his palace in Baabda in the presence of the U.S.

Israel's Supreme Court on Sunday rejected petitions that would have held up a landmark U.S.-brokered deal setting a maritime border with Lebanon, which Washington predicted could be finalized on Thursday. Four groups, including an Israeli opposition lawmaker, had asked the court to force the government - which is looking to fast-track the deal ahead of a Nov. 1 election - to instead hold a full vote in parliament. The court's decision eliminates one of the last hurdles in Israel that could disrupt the deal.

U.S. energy envoy Amos Hochstein will be in Beirut next week carrying a copy of the maritime agreement with Israel for Lebanese officials to sign, Lebanese negotiator Elias Bou Saab told Reuters on Wednesday. The deal - hailed by all three parties as a historic achievement - marks a diplomatic departure from decades of war and hostility and once in force will open the door to offshore energy exploration. "Hochstein will be in Beirut next week with the agreement that we will sign," Bou Saab said. He did not say when the deal would be signed.

The Lebanese army said on Sunday that Israeli gunboats violated Lebanese territorial waters several times on Saturday in an area opposite Ras Naqura near the border between the two countries, an accusation Israel denied.The statement said there were four violations where gunboats entered several hundred meters inside Lebanese waters and that authorities were discussing the violations with a United Nations Interim Force.An Israeli military statement said there "was no crossing…

Top Israeli ministers on Wednesday endorsed a U.S.-brokered deal to delineate a maritime border with Lebanon, paving the way for a potentially fractious two-week parliamentary review before it goes into force.Prime Minister Yair Lapid's security cabinet said the deal should be "urgently" green-lit, according to a statement following the meeting.If finalized, the agreement - hailed on Tuesday by all three parties involved as a historic achievement - would mark a diplomatic departure from decades of war and hostility as well as opening the door to offshore energy exploration.

Israel gave its preliminary nod on Sunday to a draft U.S.-brokered deal demarcating a maritime border with Lebanon that may lead to profit-sharing in a disputed Mediterranean gas prospect. Hoping to defuse one source of conflict between the hostile countries and prod them toward accommodation, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein last week submitted a new proposal that would pave the way for offshore energy exploration.After years of stop-start shuttle diplomacy, agreement seems closer than ever.

The drilling of Beacon Offshore Energy's Winterfell-2 appraisal well on Block 943 in the Green Canyon area of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico has been completed with the well showing encouraging results, Kosmos Energy, a partner in the project said Tuesday.The Winterfell-2 well, where Kosmos' working interest is ~16.4%, was drilled to evaluate the adjacent fault block to the northwest of the original Winterfell discovery and was designed to test two horizons that were oil bearing in the Winterfell-1 well…

Turkey will not abandon its rights and interests in the eastern Mediterranean because of possible European Union sanctions or criticism, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.At a summit on Friday, EU leaders agreed to prepare limited sanctions on Turkish individuals over a row with Greece and Cyprus about offshore energy exploration but postponed discussions on any harsher steps until March.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after the summit that EU leaders planned to discuss weapons exports to Turkey with allies in the NATO military alliance following a Greek push for an arms embargo on Ankara.Answering questions in parliament as part of annual budget talks, Cavusoglu said: “It is out of the question for us to abandon our rights and interests in the eastern Mediterranean bec

Lebanon and Israel, formally still at war after decades of conflict, launch talks on Wednesday to address a long-running dispute over their maritime border running through potentially gas-rich Mediterranean waters.The U.S.-mediated talks follow three years of intense diplomacy by Washington and were announced less than a month after the United States stepped up pressure on political allies of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.They also come after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to establish full relations with Israel…

After a few years of relative calm, the 2017 hurricane season wreaked havoc in the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, causing widespread damage and human suffering, and exposing the vulnerabilities and strengths of American energy security. As the flood waters from Hurricane Harvey receded and Gulf coast residents embarked on the arduous road to recovery, the offshore energy industry took stock and counted its losses and blessings. Offshore energy facilities faired remarkably well compared to onshore energy facilities, many of which suffered catastrophic damage from flood waters.

In 2009, the U.S. offshore marine sector received a long over-due indication that the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) was preparing to close loopholes and enforce U.S. law in accordance with the Jones Act. This happened when the agency unhesitatingly issued its first revocation of more than 20 letter rulings that were inconsistent with the U.S. law of the land – the Jones Act. Almost immediately there was an outcry from foreign interests who claimed, untruthfully, that this…

OMSA says CBP Action Prevents Foreign Companies from Taking Advantage of U.S. Law. The Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA) today issued the following statement in response to erroneous claims and misguided research released by API and companies backing foreign workers. “This study is a desperate attempt by companies promoting foreign workers to distort facts to enable them to continue to skirt U.S. law,” said Aaron Smith, President and CEO, Offshore Marine Service Association. “The only relevant economic impact is the adverse impact that CBP’s erroneous rulings have had for decades on U.S. ship owners, mariners and shipyards. CBP’s course correction ensures that more ships will be built in U.S. shipyards employing U.S. citizens.

Shell Oil Co. marine vessels Noble Discoverer and the semisubmersible drilling unit Transocean Polar Pioneer were inspected by two Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) personnel in Dutch Harbor, Alaska July 7-12, BSEE announced. BSEE said its inspectors were on board the vessels to review drilling equipment, assess overall readiness and test key safety devices, also verifying BOEM lease stipulations, environmental mitigation measures and air quality equipment, as well as Environmental Protection Agency National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit requirements.

A divided federal appeals court rejected an effort by environmental groups to void a U.S. agency's approval of two oil spill response plans by Royal Dutch Shell Plc related to the company's oil leases in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas on Alaska's Arctic coast.   By a 2-1 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected a claim that the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which is part of the Department of the Interior, acted unlawfully in approving the plans, which relate to leases from 2005, 2007 and 2008.   Many environmental advocates oppose offshore energy exploration in the Arctic, on concern that any spill might prove difficult to clean up once production begins.     (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it has filed a complaint in federal court in Alaska seeking an order to remove Greenpeace activists who climbed aboard an oil rig in the Pacific Ocean bound for the Arctic on Monday in a protest against Arctic drilling. The environmental group said in a statement its team would occupy the underside of the main deck of the Polar Pioneer, which is under contract to Shell, and plans to unfurl a banner with the names of millions of people opposed to Arctic drilling. The group said the activists would not interfere with the vessel's navigation. "We're here to highlight that in less than 100 days Shell is going to the Arctic to drill for oil," 32-year-old Johno Smith, one of the six to board the Blue Marlin, the ship carrying the rig, said in the statement.

Crowley Maritime Corporation’s solutions group announced today that it has received the first two of potentially four, new heavy-lift, ballastable deck barges (HDBs) for use by clients in the Asia-Pacific region. These new barges, which will be contracted and managed from the company’s recently opened Singapore office, allow Crowley to better support regional customers in the oil and gas mining; Engineering, Construction and Procurement Management (ECPM); and Engineering, Procurement, Installation and Commissioning (EPIC) industries who are increasingly embarking on large-scale onshore and offshore projects. These new 400-foot-long, 120-foot-wide (122 meter x 36.5 meter) HDBs, named HDB 01 and HDB 02 are moored in Batam, Indonesia.

Announcing its “All-of-the-Above” energy strategy today, the Obama Administration rightfully celebrates the United States’ new position as the largest global producer of energy but fails to acknowledge Federal actions that could bring even more resources to market., National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) said today in a press announcement. “NOIA shares the President’s conviction that domestic energy production, whether from wind, oil or natural gas, produce tremendous benefits for the nation.

Crowley's project management organization, 'solutions', will soon expand its presence in Asia Pacific market with new office and construction of up to four dedicated heavy-lift deck barges. Because of changing market conditions and a commitment to proactively support customer needs, Crowley Maritime Corp. ’s solutions group is expanding its presence in the Asia Pacific market by opening a new project management office in Singapore and building two new heavy-lift deck cargo barges for dedicated use in the region. The company also has an option for the construction of two additional barges.

A new year brings resolutions and renewed optimism for better times, and sometimes a wish for things to at least not get any worse. For the offshore energy industry, 2013 brings a combination of all. The economy is showing signs of life and exploration and production are making a comeback in the Gulf of Mexico. After much upheaval and turmoil, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) are filling their ranks and an era of more predictability and consistency appears to be on the horizon. Energy companies have a better idea of what is expected of them in the various permit application processes and the Federal agencies are reducing the time it takes to review and either approve or disapprove of the various permits.

Director Watson Visits Arctic Drilling Rigs for First-Hand Look at Safety Equipment, Meets with Alaska Native Community Leaders, Shell Officials; Today holding media conference call to discuss visit and BSEE inspection and oversight activities. As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to safe and responsible offshore energy exploration and development, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Jim Watson today visited the two drilling rigs that Shell has proposed using for exploration activities in the arctic this summer.

Crowley Maritime Corporation announced today the establishment of a new Project Solutions group that bundles company-wide capabilities and assets with world-class project management skills to provide complete turnkey marine solutions. This specialized team, which now has a Project Management Office (PMO) in Houston, Texas, allows Crowley to provide greater value to customers with multifaceted marine and offshore construction-related projects. Crowley's Project Solutions group…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today released a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for proposed oil and gas Lease Sale 216/222 in the Central Planning Area in the Gulf of Mexico. The draft SEIS updates the findings in several previously published environmental reviews covering the Gulf of Mexico and incorporates the latest available information following the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. “The analyses contained in this draft SEIS will allow us to make objective, science-based decisions regarding offshore energy exploration, development and production,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich.

WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today announced it is seeking to fill a senior position in the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), one of the two agencies that will replace the former Minerals Management Service on Oct. 1, 2011. The position is being filled now to ensure a smooth transition. This position will serve as the Chief of the Accident Investigation Board, and will be located in the bureau’s office in Herndon, Va.