Us Minerals Management Service News

Maritime Reporter invited Carleen Lyden-Kluss, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the North American Marine Environment Protection Association to provide an overview of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. On April 20, our maritime world changed. No matter how you slice it, everyone in the maritime industry feels the effects of the tragedy; the loss of 11 lives and injury to 17 others, the extensive environmental impact, the economic fallout and ongoing costs, the exposure of weaknesses in the response system, and the regulatory changes that will result from this. The details of the event are well known:  the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, also called the BP Oil Spill/the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, is now considered the largest offshore spill in U.S. history.

According to a May 11 report from The Wall Street Journal, an engineer for the MMS, the agency that serves as a watchdog over the oil industry, testified Tuesday, May 12 that he didn't know the agency's own regulations for a key piece of equipment designed to prevent an explosion on an offshore rig. The testimony, given by an engineer for the U.S. Minerals Management Service, in a hearing held by the MMS itself likely will raise more questions about the agency's willingness and ability to police oil companies. (Source: The Wall Street Journal)

ABS is drawing upon the industry experience of Horton Wison Deepwater, a leader in deepwater technology development, to further strengthen its knowledge for the certification of risers and flowlines as a certified verification agent (CVA) for these installations. As part of its overall offshore platform verification program, the US Minerals Management Service (MMS) requires the use of a CVA specifically for riser systems. Risers connected to floating platforms are subject to stringent MMS requirements for design, fabrication and installation.

In mid July of 2008, oil prices shattered all-time records and hovered around $140 per barrel. Analysts had dire warnings of $200 per barrel oil. Gone are the days of “cheap” oil, cable newscasts screamed. Exactly a decade ago, oil prices slumped below $10 per barrel in December of 1998. Analysts then decried prices would never again rise to $40 per barrel, markets were saturated. Sound familiar? It seems commodity analysts’ predictions change as much as the nightly weatherman’s.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service will offer oil and gas exploration rights next month to 29.7 million acres in the remote Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska, according to Reuters. The decision to hold the February 6 lease sale, the first in the Chukchi since 1991, comes days before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide whether to list the polar bear as threatened and has drawn fire from environmentalists seeking to limit oil development in the area.

Seahorse Shuttling and Technology LLC, a wholly owned entity of Conoco, has completed the functional design of a new tanker for shuttling crude oil from the deepwater Gulf of Mexico to shore. double-hulled "GoMAX 550(TM)" shuttle tanker will be capable of transporting 550,000 barrels of crude oil. With a 40-foot draft, the new shuttle tanker will be able to enter most ports in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. "A major challenge of producing new crude oil discoveries in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico has been developing efficient means of transportation to U.S. refineries," said Antonio Valdes, manager of Conoco Marine. The GoMAX 550(TM) design is the result of a shipbuilding alliance between Conoco, Alabama Shipyard of Mobile, Ala., and Samsung Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries of South Korea.

Oil and gas companies, enjoying increased cashflow as a result of strong energy prices, submitted a higher number of bids in the latest Western Gulf of Mexico lease sale, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said. The sale drew 266 bids from 52 companies on 226 exploration blocks, up from 177 bids from 41 companies on 153 blocks in the previous Western Gulf of Mexico lease sale, held in August last year. A total of 3,789 blocks covering 20.6 million acres offshore Texas and Louisiana were offered in the latest lease sale. The blocks are at distances of nine to 200 miles offshore and water depths range from eight meters to more than 3,000 meters. Acreage in shallow water proved most popular, with bids received on 129 blocks in depths up to 200 meters.

ABS will class the ChevronTexaco “Tahiti” truss spar, destined for deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Targeted for 4,200 feet of water, the “Tahiti” unit demonstrates the industry’s latest innovations—including the first spar with no drilling capability, no surface wellheads—and is among the first spar projects to utilize ABS’ industry-first guide for building and classing these specialized deepwater floating production units, says Dick Vukin, ABS project manager. ABS reissued its “Guide for Building and Classing Floating Production Installations” (FPI) in April 2004 to include specific guidance for spars and tension leg platforms (TLPs). “By applying the evaluation techniques contained within the Guide…

following the passing of Hurricane Dennis. 30 degrees. has not yet begun production of hydrocarbons. The situation was discovered at approximately 8:30 a.m. Monday morning by a vessel in the area. unknown. hurricane's approach. known release of any fuel or hazardous substances. the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the U.S. the extent of the damage. the Coast Guard to create a response plan. potential causes of the issue. Unified Command in Morgan City, Louisiana.

A total of $2.9b in high bids were opened recently at a sale of federal offshore oil and gas leases in the central Gulf of Mexico. Officials say it was the second largest such sale for central Gulf tracts. Seventy-three companies are competing for the tracts. In all there were 1,428 bids on 723 tracts. The bids were opened by the US Minerals Management Service, which manages the leases. Many of the tracts receiving bids were in ultra-deep water, or in depths of 800 meters or greater. Development of such leases can take hundreds of millions of dollars in investments and take years to bring into production. Also drawing continued interest were tracts of 200 meters or less on the shallow Gulf shelf.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service, which manages federal offshore leases, said a record number of drilling rig are working in ultra-deepwater in the Gulf of Mexico. Fifteen rigs are currently drilling for oil and natural gas in the ultra-deepwater of the Gulf at depths of 5,000 feet or greater. MMS officials say the record is the result of a decade-long trend of exploration companies looking to deeper regions of the Gulf. Currently, 70 percent of the Gulf’s oil production and 40 percent of its natural gas production comes from depths of 1,000 feet or greater. In July, Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s Independence Hub, a semi-submersible platform located in 8…

Oil and natural gas producers were evacuating offshore workers and shutting small amounts of production over the weekend as they watched powerful Hurricane Dean storm across the Caribbean Sea toward an entry into the Gulf next week. Forecasts and computer models point Dean away from the paths taken by 2005's devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita through offshore oil production areas and onshore refining centers. Taking a lesson from Katrina, which defied forecasts showing it would confine its damage to Florida, companies with operations from the central to western Gulf continued pulling support workers who were not essential to keeping offshore production running. The U.S.

According to the U.S. Minerals Management Service, the recovery of U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas production after the storms of 2005 again showed little progress over the past two weeks. As of Feb. 22, shut-in oil production remained at 362,796 barrels per day, or 24.19 percent of normal production of 1.5 million bpd. That was down from 364,195, or 24.27 percent reported still shut in on Feb. 8.Natural gas output shut was 1.504 billion cubic feet per day, or 15.04 percent of normal daily output. That was only slightly improved from the Feb. 8 report showing 1.554 bcfd shut in, about 15.54 percent. Since Aug. 26 cumulative shut-in oil output is 129.59 million barrels…

The U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would, if adopted, revise MMS requirements for reporting incidents associated with outer continental shelf (OCS) oil and gas operations. This proposal was developed in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard. The two agencies are working to develop a single point electronic reporting system so as to eliminate duplicative reporting. Source: HK Law

Oklahoma-based Kerr-McGee Corp emerged as the biggest spender in a Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and gas lease sale that raised half a billion dollars, according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service. Central Gulf lease sale 178 for exploration blocks off the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama raised a total of $505.5 million, up from $300.6 million at the previous lease sale for the Central Gulf in March 2000. Kerr-McGee accounted for more than 10 percent of the total amount raised at the sale in New Orleans, submitting 32 of the high bids with a combined value of $55.9 million. Oil and gas companies, enjoying increased cash flows as a result of strong energy prices, submitted 780 bids on 547 blocks, up from 469 bids on 344 blocks in last year’s sale.

The premier Oceanology International Americas 2003 Exhibition/The Oceanography Society Ocean (OI) Conference will be held inn New Orleans, La., at the Ernest M. Morial Convention Center on June 4-6. Organized by Spearhead Exhibitions Ltd., OI is part of the second "Americas" version of Oceanology International. This year, the event features an exciting integration of Spearhead’s exhibition expertise and the technical reputation of The Oceanography Society, combining the best of both, featuring marine science, technology, operational oceanography, policy, and education as well as special events. Co-chairing the event is Dr. Richard W. Spinrad (technical director, Office of the Oceanographer of the U.S. Navy) and Dr. Timothy K.