Oil Leases News

The U.S. Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said on Tuesday it will postpone its next sale of oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico.The agency said it will not hold Lease Sale 261 on September 27, 2023, as originally planned as a result of last week's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordering an expansion of acreage being offered after BOEM earlier reduced the area in an effort to protect an endangered whale species."The order allows time for a more orderly lease sale process…

A federal judge in Louisiana has ordered an expansion of next week's sale of oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico, saying the Biden administration must include additional acreage, according to a court ruling issued late on Thursday.The oil and gas industry, which had sued the administration,  welcomed the decision to restore 6 million acres to the auction after the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management earlier reduced the area available for lease in an effort to protect an endangered whale.U.S.

The results of fortunes and failures are often described as a “perfect storm”. The COVID pandemic, domestic inflation, labor issues and current geopolitical events have brought that description to a peak. A promise of a “new normal” emerged post pandemic, with a vision of alternative energy, alternative fuels and alternative supply chain logistics to help toward solving some of the problems, heralding a world of change with reduced emissions, government support and the end of fossil fuels as we know them in energy and marine operations.With those promises came big movements in the U.S.

U.S. oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp were among the top buyers at a federal auction of oil leases in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday that generated more than $190 million - the highest since 2019.The auction was a boon for federal coffers, but a potential setback for the climate policies of U.S. President Joe Biden, whose administration tried to suspend federal lease sales to fight global warming before a court forced them to proceed.The United States was also…

The Biden administration said on Tuesday it would take steps to restart the federal oil and gas leasing program in the next week and plans to hold a Gulf of Mexico auction as soon as October, court papers showed.The move comes two months after the U.S Interior Department first said it would comply with a June 15 federal judge's order blocking its months-long pause in oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters.That order was a blow to a key White House effort to address climate change by reining in fossil fuel extraction.U.S.

A federal appeals court on Tuesday confirmed bans on offshore oil leasing in most federal Arctic waters and in the Atlantic after the Trump Administration tried to open them up to development.The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said President Joe Biden's reinstatement of Obama-era protections makes moot the previous administration's attempts to allow oil development there.The Trump administration pressed for oil-and-gas development throughout the United States as the nation's crude production surged to a record 13 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2019.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said on Friday that he sees little demand from oil and gas companies for new offshore drilling leases, which could pose problems for his plan to ramp up output from federal waters.The comments come just three months after Zinke had proposed opening nearly all U.S. ocean coastlines to drilling, in a bid to raise domestic oil and gas production. The plan sparked immediate protests from coastal states, environmentalists and the tourism industry.Zinke said a record-sized U.S.

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)

Shell Oil Co is poised to restart oil drilling in the Arctic in the near future once it receives the go-ahead from the U.S. government, which could happen soon. The decision to allow the oil company access has been controversial among environmentalists groups as well as local communities that could be affected by the drilling. Seattle city leaders are fighting to keep Arctic oil drilling equipment out of the Puget Sound as the Shell works on a deal to store the equipment with the Port of Seattle near the mouth of the Duwamish River. The Obama administration may reaffirm a 7-year-old government auction of oil leases in the Chukchi Sea - a decision critical to Shell's plans to resume drilling in those Arctic waters this summer. Even before the pending decision, Shell Oil Co.

1806  - Spring pole cable drilling developed in US. 1844  - Fluid circulating rotary well drilling patented in England. 1845  - Circulated fluid used to remove drill cuttings for first time. 1860  - Fluid circulation rotary diamond coring drill developed in France. 1869 – T homas Fitch Rowland  patents  a “submarine drilling apparatus,” a fixed, working platform for drilling offshore to a depth of almost 50 feet. The anchored tower had telescoping legs, similar to modern offshore platforms. 1878  - First bulk oil tanker begins operation in the Caspian Sea. 1891  - First ocean-going tanker launched. 1897  - Wells drilled off piers in Summerland, Calif. 1905 – Oil discovered in the Caddo Pine Island field in Lousiana. 1911  -  Gulf Refining Co.

The federal Minerals Management Service gave the green light to Shell Oil's plan to drill exploratory wells in the waters of the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast next summer. "We are very concerned because drilling for oil runs the risk of devastating spills in a sensitive marine ecosystem already stressed by dramatic climate change," said Marilyn Heiman, director of the Pew Environment Group's U.S. Arctic program. Shell purchased a swath of oil leases in the Chukchi Sea in 2008 when the previous administration opened up 30 million acres for drilling. Beginning in July 2010, Shell plans to drill three exploratory wells - the first time in 19 years that drilling will be allowed in the Chukchi Sea northwest of Barrow.

The Papua New Guinea Government received confirmation of global interest in bidding for 15 exploration blocks in the Gulf of Papua when 60 executives from more than 30 international oil and gas companies attended their inaugural road show in Singapore. The companies included the big British Gas Group, ChevronTexaco, CNPC of China, Hunt Oil Company, Korea Gas Corporation, Mitsubishi, Nippon, Pearl Energy Ltd, Petronas, Premier Oil, Repsol and Singapore Petroleum. Sir Moi told the audience that the area was selected because of their newly recognised prospectivity and proximity to onshore discoveries as well as finds in the offshore Papuan sedimentary basin.

A judge on August 8 did not immediately rule on a request by Gov. Kathleen Blanco to block an upcoming sale of federal natural gas and oil leases in the western Gulf of Mexico. The lawsuit seeks to stop the Minerals Management Service from selling 4,000 blocks of ocean bottoms on August 16. The suit claims that the federal government has not done enough to ensure that offshore drilling does not do unacceptable environmental damage to Louisiana's wetlands. Blanco's lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Kurt Englehardt for a temporary injunction to stop the sale, but Englehardt took the case under advisement and said he would rule on on August 11 or August 14. He gave no indication how he might rule.

The U.S. Interior Department suspended 36 oil leases in California's offshore waters and ordered a review of the impact the drilling would have on the environment. The environmental reviews on each lease will reportedly take 18 to 45 months. A department official said that the decision reflects a commitment to protect California's marine and coastal environment. Many California residents oppose offshore drilling, remembering the 1969 oil spill off Santa Barbara that spoiled miles of beach and killed hundreds of birds. Because the oil companies holding the leases are planning new or revised oil exploration, development and production activities…

California's governor, attorney general and the California Coastal Commission filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Interior Department to allow the state a say in the fate of oil drilling leases off the state's coast. California Coastal Commission Chair Sara Wan said the state was denied its mandatory right to review the leases for environmental issues. "It doesn't mean we would necessarily seek a ban on offshore drilling," Wan said. "The commission is saying (the leases) could have serious impacts on coastal resources and the state needs the right to look at the leases. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., the state attorney general's office said.