Central Gulf Of Mexico News

The first storm to hit oil-producing regions of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico this year sent workers fleeing offshore oil platforms and cut some production.A weather disturbance in the central Gulf of Mexico was expected to become a tropical storm on Friday. It was moving north at about 14 miles per hour (22 kmh) and could bring up to 12-inches of rain to the central U.S. Gulf Coast by Saturday, the National Weather Service said.Equinor ASA on Friday said it had removed staff and shut production at its Titan platform, which is about 65 miles (105 km) off the coast of Louisiana.

BP Plc began turning off production at three platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico and evacuating workers because of the threat from Tropical Storm Cristobal, forecast to make landfall in Louisiana over the weekend, the company said.Norwegian state-oil company Equinor ASA began evacuating non-essential workers on Wednesday and plans to shut production on Friday at its Titan oil platform if the storm continues along its projected path, spokesman Hasting Stewart said.Occidental Petroleum Corp also began flying non-essential workers to shore from central Gulf of Mexico operations…

Oil and gas drillers bid modestly on Gulf of Mexico acreage in the largest lease sale in American history on Wednesday, dealing a setback to the Trump administration's efforts to rapidly pump up investment in the region. The Interior Department had offered up a record 77 million acres (31.2 million hectares) for development in the Gulf with discounted royalty rates on the shallower tracts as part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump's administration to ramp up U.S. fossil fuels output.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Ross Hopper announced the bureau will offer more than 48 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama for oil and gas exploration and development, in a lease sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Central Planning Area (CPA). “As one of the most productive basins in the world, the Gulf of Mexico remains an important component of our domestic energy strategy to create jobs, foster economic opportunities, and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil,” Hopper said. BOEM will livestream Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 247 on March 22, 2017. Livestreaming the sale enables BOEM to deliver pertinent bid information immediately to a much broader national and international audience.

TGS and Schlumberger today announce commencement of the Dual Coil Shooting* multi-vessel full-azimuth acquisition Revolution XII and XIII surveys in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The surveys will cover approximately 7,150 km2 (306 blocks) in the Green Canyon, Atwater Valley and Ewing Bank protraction areas of the Central Gulf of Mexico. The Revolution XIl and XIII surveys will be acquired using the Schlumberger WesternGeco Q-Marine* point-receiver marine seismic system combined with the proprietary multivessel, Dual Coil Shooting acquisition technique, which will provide broadband, long-offset, full-azimuth data. This combination of leading-edge technology and technique will improve illumination and imaging of the sub-salt and other complex geologic features in this highly active region.

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Acting Director Walter Cruickshank today announced that the bureau will offer 40 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama for oil and gas exploration and development in a sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. Proposed Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 235, scheduled to take place in New Orleans, Louisiana, in March of 2015, will be the seventh offshore sale under the Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program).

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As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced that it will hold Gulf of Mexico Central Planning Area (CPA) oil and gas lease sale 231 in New Orleans on March 19, 2014. The sale is the second CPA lease sale and the fourth overall sale under the 2012 – 2017 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Natural Gas Leasing Program. The auction will offer 39 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, include all available unleased areas in the CPA.

Satellite imagery indicates that the center of KAREN is no longer well defined and as a result it is no longer a tropical cyclone. In New Orleans cargo operations continued at Port docks Saturday as Tropical Storm Karen weakened in the central Gulf of Mexico. The cruise ships, Carnival Elation, which was scheduled to arrive this morning, and the Carnival Conquest, scheduled to arrive Sunday, kept a safe and comfortable distance west of the storm and await reentry into the River.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced final details for the Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 233. The sale will take place on August 28 and will cover roughly 20.7 million acres million acres offshore Texas for oil and gas exploration and development. The bureau estimates the proposed lease sale could result in the production of 116 to 200 million barrels of oil and 538 to 938 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The sale offers 3,864 blocks, located from nine to 250 miles offshore, in water depths ranging from 16 to more than 10,975 feet (five to 3,346 meters). The sale, which will be held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, includes all available unleased or non-protected areas in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) completed its required evaluation to ensure that the public receives fair market value for tracts leased as part of Central Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 227, which was held on March 20, 2013. After extensive economic analysis, BOEM has awarded 307 leases on tracts covering 1,648,831 acres to the successful high bidders who participated in the sale, which made 7,299 unleased blocks covering about 38.6 million acres available offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The accepted high bids are valued at $1,199,052,037. The terms of Sale 227 continued a range of incentives to encourage diligent development and ensure a fair return to taxpayers — including an increased minimum bid for deepwater tracts…

The Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) global family of companies, plans to enlarge its fleet and expand its terminal facilities in support of its customer base. The Chouest newbuild order book contains over 40 vessels, a vast majority to be constructed at its four U.S.-affiliate shipyards: North American Shipbuilding (Larose, LA), LaShip (Houma, LA), Gulf Ship (Gulfport, MS) and Tampa Ship (Tampa, FL), as well as its Brazilian shipyard, Navship. ECO’s worldwide fleet now approaches 250 highly specialized offshore service and support vessels.

The Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) global family of companies announced plans to enlarge its fleet and expand its terminal facilities in support of its customer base. The Chouest newbuild order book contains more than 40 vessels, a vast majority to be constructed at its four U.S.-affiliate shipyards: North American Shipbuilding (Larose, La.), LaShip (Houma, La.), Gulf Ship (Gulfport, Miss.) and Tampa Ship (Tampa, Fla.), as well as its Brazilian shipyard, Navship. ECO’s worldwide fleet now approaches 250 highly specialized offshore service and support vessels. The largest portion of the newbuild program contains 17 vessels, with options for an additional 20, in a new class of 312’ x 66’ x 26’ new generation, clean design, diesel-electric platform supply vessels (PSV).

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand domestic energy production, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau announced that Interior will offer more than 21 million acres offshore Texas for oil and gas exploration and development in a lease sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. Proposed Lease Sale 233, scheduled to take place in New Orleans in August, will be the third offshore auction under the Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program).

Shell was a high bidder on 38 Gulf of Mexico blocks at the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Lease Sale 227. Shell continues to build upon a strong position in the Central Gulf of Mexico, bidding on a total of 43 blocks and exposed approximately $166 million. Shell was the apparent high bidder on 38 blocks, with those bids totaling approximately $ 140-million. The results strengthen Shell’s existing portfolio, which includes significant progress on the Mars-B development project with the arrival of the Olympus Tension Leg Platform.

NOIA and IADC see broad, far reaching negative Impacts from EPA suspension of BP from US Government offshore contracts. The national trade associations, the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) and International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) consider that banning BP from bidding in future offshore lease sales could have a hugely negative ripple effect on drilling contractors and the rest of the offshore industry as well as the Gulf region, and even the Federal government. The offshore oil and gas industry, which is based almost entirely in the Gulf of Mexico, supported over 200,000 American jobs in 2010 and contributed nearly $80 billion in revenues to the Federal government from 2001-2010.

Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale Yields $133.8 Million in High Bids on Over 652,520 Acres, Only Latest in a Series of Recent Major Offshore Oil and Gas Sales. As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today held Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 229, which offered over 20 millions acres and attracted $133,767,074 in high bids for 116 tracts covering 652,522 acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore Texas. A total of 13 offshore energy companies submitted 131 bids.

Public Hearings Scheduled to provide opportunities for public input. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has completed a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), providing updated environmental and socioeconomic analysis to support two proposed lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico. Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 233 is tentatively scheduled for 2013 in the Western Planning Area (WPA), offshore Texas; and Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 231 is scheduled for 2014 in the Central Planning Area (CPA), offshore the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. BOEM will hold public hearings to provide an opportunity for interested citizens and organizations to comment on the environmental impact statement. Comments will be used to prepare the final SEIS.

Growing In Deepwater Gulf of Mexico. As the feds issue more drilling permits for the Gulf, demand for offshore support vessels in the GOM deepwater sector has accelerated, industry members say. Anger about the government's spill-related, drilling moratorium--which ended a year and a half ago--has given way to optimism recently. The region's shallow-water sector, nevertheless remains slow and gives little cause for cheer. Paul Candies, president and chief executive of Otto Candies…

New Orleans -- Today the Obama Administration provided final details for the Central Gulf of Mexico lease sale announced by President Obama in January 2012, as part of his administration’s ongoing focus on expanding safe and responsible production of our domestic energy sources. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau today announced the Final Notice of Sale for a June 20, 2012 lease sale that will make available all unleased areas in the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area, offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, including 7,276 blocks on about 38.6 million acres. The sale will take place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

Overall, compared to the last two years, we are seeing a positive trend for the offshore industry in the Gulf of Mexico, and we are looking forward to Wednesday’s lease sale with cautious optimism. “Not only is this the first Central Gulf of Mexico sale in two years and the last lease sale in the current five year OCS leasing plan, but the 2012-2017 plan is not yet out, so it is unclear when the next Central Gulf sale will occur. These factors likely point to pent-up demand and interest in leases. If you consider a few big discoveries in the Central Gulf over the past few years, such as Chevron’s Hadrian discovery and BP’s Tibor and Kaskida discoveries in deepwater and McMoran’s Davey Jones discovery in shallow water, there may be heavy interest in both deepwater and shallow water blocks.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau announced that BOEM will offer 38 million acres in the Central Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas exploration and development. Thesale will build on two major Gulf of Mexico lease sales in the last year – a 21 million acre sale held last December and a 39 million acre sale held in June. Proposed Lease Sale 227, scheduled to take place in New Orleans on March 20, 2013, will offer all unleased areas in the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area, offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and could lead to the production of up to nearly a billion barrels of oil and nearly 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau released the final details for an oil and gas lease sale that will offer more than 20 million acres offshore and will make available all unleased areas in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 229, which will be held on November 28, 2012, in New Orleans, will build on two major Gulf of Mexico lease sales in the past year—a 21 million acre sale held last December and a 39 million acre sale held in June—and supports the Administration’s goal of continuing to increase domestic oil and gas production…