Offshore Resources News

The economic output of Australia’s marine industry continued to grow despite the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on some sectors, a new report released by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) shows. The AIMS Index of Marine Industry 2023 is the latest assessment of the contribution of Australia’s marine sector to the national economy, using data from the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years. It reveals that Australia’s marine industry had a total output of A$118.5 billion (US$774 million) and supported 462…

The United States on Wednesday hailed plans by NATO ally Germany to sail a warship across the contested South China Sea, calling it welcome support for a “rules-based international order” in the region, something Washington says is threatened by China.German government officials said on Tuesday a German frigate would set sail for Asia in August and, on its return journey, become the first German warship to cross the South China Sea since 2002.“The United States has a national interest in the maintenance of peace and stability…

Turkey and Egypt could negotiate and sign a maritime demarcation deal in the eastern Mediterranean if their ties, which have been strained, allow for such a move, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.Ties between them have been frosty since Egypt’s army ousted Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Mursi, an ally of President Tayyip Erdogan, in 2013. They have also been at odds over maritime jurisdiction and offshore resources, as well as differences in Libya…

The United States on Wednesday blacklisted 24 Chinese companies and targeted individuals it said were part of construction and military actions in the South China Sea, its first such sanctions move against Beijing over the disputed strategic waterway.The U.S. Commerce Department said the two dozen companies played a “role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarize the internationally condemned artificial islands in the South China Sea.”Separately, the State Department said it would impose visa restrictions on Chinese individuals “responsible for…

The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia warned on Tuesday that Washington could respond with sanctions against Chinese officials and enterprises involved in coercion in the South China Sea after the United States announced a tougher stance to Beijing’s claims there.“Nothing is off the table ... there is room for that. This is a language the Chinese understand - demonstrative and tangible action,” David Stilwell, assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told a Washington think-tank when asked if sanctions were a possible U.S.

Chinese coastguard and navy ships intruded into Malaysian waters in the disputed South China Sea 89 times between 2016 to 2019, and often remained in the area even after being turned away by the Malaysian navy, the government said in a report on Tuesday.The report comes amid escalating tension between the United States and China over Beijing’s claims to most of the resource-rich South China Sea, which is also a major trade route.The Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan have their own claims that overlap in part with China’s and…

The United States on Monday rejected China’s disputed claims to offshore resources in most of the South China Sea, a move that Beijing criticized as inciting tensions in the region and which highlighted an increasingly testy relationship.China has offered no coherent legal basis for its ambitions in the South China Sea and for years has been using intimidation against other Southeast Asian coastal states, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.“We are making clear: Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful…

Russia's Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex said it has launched its very first newbuild, a 114,000 dwt dual-fuel tanker for oil company Rosneft.The milestone vessel Vladimir Monomakh is the first Aframax ever to be built in Russia and is one of 12 currently on order at the yard, which is owned by a Rosneft-led consortium.The Vladimir Monomakh was launched using Zvezda's unique Vympel floating transfer dock, which enables the longitudinal launching of ships up to 300 metres in long and…

Media reports about Mozambique’s failure to launch a fishing and security fleet and its subsequent $2 billion debt default seem destined to torpedo, or at least set back similar efforts to build needed coastal security and national fishing fleets across Africa. That must not happen.The systems and equipment Mozambique bought a few years ago from shipbuilder Privinvest could serve as a template for coastal African nations seeking to rightfully benefit from their natural resources…

Turkey will launch a second drilling vessel on Thursday that will begin natural gas operations near Cyprus at the beginning of July, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez was quoted as saying on Tuesday.Turkey and the internationally recognized Cypriot government have overlapping claims of jurisdiction for offshore oil and gas research in that part of the Mediterranean, an area thought to be rich in natural gas.Ankara already has a ship, called Fatih, in the region. Donmez was quoted as saying by state-owned Anadolu agency that the vessel was continuing to drill in a field to the west of Cyprus."Our second ship is about to be ready. We will send off our drill ship Yavuz on Thursday…

National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) said that U.S. territories need the Offshore Wind for Territories Act.The U.S. has five permanently inhabited 'Territories' in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands which are directly overseen by the United States Federal Government.NOIA President Randall Luthi issued this statement: “The House passage of H.R. 6665 is welcome news for many Americans this holiday season. Too often, Americans in the U.S. territories are our forgotten citizens."The Offshore Wind for Territories Act empowers U.S. territories such as Guam and Puerto Rico to tap their offshore resources and strengthen their energy security…

For the past few years, depressed commodity prices, stricter regulatory requirements and competition from onshore development at home and from other countries offering attractive offshore lease and royalty terms have had severe impacts on new exploration in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Thankfully, the tide appears to finally be turning.In August, Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 251 drew increased competition for offerings and $178 million in high bids, $53 million more than previous sale held in March.

Italy's Eni will not relinquish its interests in Cyprus, its CEO said on Wednesday, as an uneasy standoff between Turkey and the Mediterranean island lingered over offshore hydrocarbons resources.The Italian state-controlled energy giant had to abandon a scheduled drill for oil and gas south of Cyprus in February because of Turkish military exercises. The broader region has yielded some of the largest natural gas finds worldwide in recent years."I just want to remind (sic) that so far we have invested about 700 million euros in Cyprus. That means that there's strong engagement and commitment towards the country," Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi…

Cyprus accused Turkey on Friday of threatening to use force against a drillship chartered by Italy's Eni, in a standoff over hydrocarbons rights in the eastern Mediterranean. There was no immediate reaction from Turkey, which has vowed to prevent Greek Cypriots from exploring for oil or gas around the ethnically-split island and says some areas of Cyprus's offshore maritime zone fall under its jurisdiction. On Feb. 9, the Turkish navy on manoeuvres in the Mediterranean stopped the Saipem 12000 vessel on its way to drill for gas in the waters off Cyprus, triggering a diplomatic standoff which has underscored tensions in the region over competing claims for offshore resources.

Cyprus on Sunday accused the Turkish military of obstructing a ship contracted by Italian oil company Eni from approaching an area to explore for natural gas, highlighting tensions over offshore resources in the east Mediterranean. A spokesman for Eni said on Sunday the Saipem 12000 drill ship had been heading from a location southwest of Cyprus towards an area southeast of the island on Friday when it was stopped by Turkish military ships and told not to continue because of military activities in the destination area. Turkey, which does not have diplomatic relations with Cyprus, claims that certain areas in Cyprus's offshore maritime zone, known as an EEZ, fall into the jurisdiction of Turkey or that of Turkish Cypriots.

Norway must identify potential offshore oil and gas reserves near its northern maritime border with Russia to better protect its economic interest in the remote Arctic region, energy minister Terje Soeviknes said on Wednesday. The two countries agreed in 2010 to split previously disputed areas of the Barents Sea between them, allowing each to exploit resources hidden beneath the seabed. An increase in drilling activity on the Russian side of the border should lead Norway to push its own agenda, the minister said. "We need to start the discussion about what to do in the far north. We see a development on the Russian side of the border, where they are drilling and likely will find oil," Soeviknes told an energy conference in Sandefjord.

Former Louisiana state official Scott A. Angelle will head-up the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). Angelle, who most recently served as Vice Chairman of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, will assume his new position May 23. “Scott Angelle brings a wealth of experience to BSEE, having spent many years working for the safe and efficient energy production of both Louisiana’s and our country’s offshore resources,” Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said.

SUNY Maritime College and EEX Maritime Oy, of Finland, will be working together to encourage entrepreneurs and technological innovations in the maritime industry. The two recently signed a memorandum of agreement that will allow the two to promote collaboration between start-ups, large companies and thought leaders in the maritime industry. The maritime industry is in the midst of a period of change, as technological innovations and advancements change the way the world does business and, increasingly, the way goods transit the globe. “Entrepreneurial start-up companies are, in the current climate, the most dynamic part of the economic landscape, and can also fuel collaboration between larger players,” said Tapio Peltonen, co-founder of EEX Maritime.

Following President Trump’s address to the joint session of Congress, National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) president Randall Luthi weighs in on  shifting U.S. policy and its effects on offshore energy and the American economy. As President Trump begins work on his ambitious agenda, it appears that efficiency and cost cutting are major themes throughout much of the federal government. Those of us in the energy producing industries say welcome to our world. While low commodity prices and overly burdensome regulations devastated job growth in the energy sector during the last two years…

National Ocean Industries Association President Randall Luthi today issued the following statement on the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s denial of seismic survey permits for the Atlantic OCS. “In yet another ‘black Friday’ announcement targeting the offshore oil and natural gas industry, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) blanket denial of seismic survey permits is an unsurprising attempt to put another nail in the coffin of sensible energy exploration in the Atlantic. Not only does this decision conflict with BOEM’s own scientific conclusion that seismic surveys are environmentally safe, it is self-fulfilling rhetoric, basing its reasoning on President Obama’s recent withdrawal of 3.8 million acres in the north and mid-Atlantic Ocean.

Clinton vs. Trump. Perhaps one of the most important presidential elections in U.S. history, the 2016 Election Day results with have impacts felt far and wide – and all throughout maritime industry. A proverb common to both Greek and Turkish cultures states that a wolf may change its fur, but does not change its nature (Ο λύκος την τρίχα αλλάζει, το χούι δεν τ`αλλάζει /Kurt tüyünü değiştirir, huyunu değiştirmez). In English, we might render this “a leopard cannot change its spots.” If we are to believe the proverb…

Offshore energy presents a golden opportunity for Alaska and the United States. As we enter the final quarter of the year, one of the last and most pressing pieces of business facing the Interior Department is to finalize its next offshore leasing program, which will specify exactly which parts of the United States’ Outer Continental Shelf will be open to oil and gas development between 2017 and 2022. Having already cut the Atlantic from its proposed program back in March, the…

Canada's offshore Arctic drilling rules could "stifle" development since they do not provide incentives for companies to proceed with production after discovering oil, the government was told in a newly-released internal briefing note. The advice was prepared for the government's point man on the issue, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister Bernard Valcourt, before Imperial Oil Ltd lobbied him privately in June, seeking concessions on existing legislation. The right-leaning Conservative government said in July it would review the legislation, known as the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. To drill in the Canadian Arctic, companies need an exploratory licence, awarded with a fixed term.