US Offshore Oil Output Drops as Hurricane Ian Approaches
U.S. offshore oil producers on Tuesday were keeping a wary eye on Hurricane Ian's track as the powerful storm shut-in at least 480,000 barrels of oil production as it heads toward Florida.The hurricane entered the U.S. Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and is forecast to become a dangerous, Category 4 storm over the warm waters of the Gulf, according to National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecaster Eric Blake.Ian weakened after crossing Cuba and was packing winds of 115 miles per hour (185 km per hour), the NHC said.
U.S. Offshore Oil Output Still Mostly Down a Week after Hurricane Ida
Damage to oil production facilities in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico kept output largely halted on Sunday, a week after Hurricane Ida made landfall, according to offshore regulator the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).Energy companies have been coping with damaged platforms and onshore power outages and logistical issues, slowing efforts to restart production. Some 88% of crude oil output and 83% of natural gas production remained suspended.About 1.6 million barrels of crude oil remained offline, with only about 100,000 barrels added since Saturday.
Offshore Oil Rig Infection Exposes Coronavirus Dangers
Equinor reported the oil industry's first coronavirus infection on an offshore installation on Wednesday, highlighting the challenge in preventing contamination for thousands of workers living in the close quarters on rigs and platforms.A worker was in isolation on the Norwegian energy firm's Martin Linge oil and gas platform off Norway where production is due to start at the end of this year, the company said. It said it would cut activity at the field, but personnel would remain at installations, while workers would reduce meetings and sit further apart in canteens to prevent further contamination. It has 776 people working on the project spread across three installations, Martin Linge, the Maersk Intrepid drilling rig and the Floatel Endurance accommodation rig.
What Will & Won’t Change Following Oil Spill
According to a May 26 report from the Associate Press, likely changes for the offshore oil and gas industry following the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico include making permitting, inspections and equipment requirements for rigs more stringent. Lawmakers want to extract more money from the industry to help pay for any future cleanups. And insurers are bound to raise rates for underwriting this risky business. What won't change includes expanding pursuit of oil and natural gas deposits under the ocean floor. Global offshore oil output has tripled over the past decade — and it is forecast to double in the next five years. The reason is simple: the best prospects lie beneath the ocean floor. (Source: Associate Press)
Kazakhstan Forges Ahead with Offshore Projects
Kazakhstan wants to forge ahead with developing new oil and gas fields in its sector of the Caspian Sea and hopes to wrap up a string of deals with foreign partners next year, a senior official said on Wednesday. The deals, primarily based on PSAs, mark a second stage of offshore development to follow major initial projects such as the giant Kashagan field, being developed by Italy's ENI-led consortium. The new projects should help boost Kazakhstan's offshore oil output to 89.2 million tons by 2015, from just 3 million tons last year, an official from KazMunaiGas said. It is said that Kazakhstan's proven offshore reserves of oil at 30 billion barrels and of gas at 3 trillion cubic metres. The largest new block, Darkhan, has an estimated 1.5 billion tons in oil reserves.
Chantal Not Expected to Threaten U.S. Offshore Production
Tropical Storm Chantal is unlikely to threaten U.S. offshore oil and gas production in the next 72 hours but could cause problems for Mexican offshore oil output, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC). AT 10:00 a.m. EDT on Monday Chantal was moving across the Caribbean toward Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. NHC forecasters said they expect the system to make landfall late Monday or early Tuesday in the southern Yucatan or neighboring Belize. Data issued by the NHC showed that Chantal was expected to reemerge into the oil-rich Campeche Sound area of the southern Gulf of Mexico within 48 hours and gain hurricane strength as it heads for land again between Veracruz and Tampico in Mexico. That would keep Chantal about 300 miles south of the main U.S.
