Texas sues Biden Administration over lizards' endangered status, citing oil industry threat
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration Monday, claiming that the decision to declare the dunes sagebrush Lizard as an endangered species could harm property owners or energy production. Paxton, who is a Republican, claimed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service based its final rule, adopted on May 20, on inaccurate data and arbitrary assumptions regarding the future of the lizard.
Offshore Energy Production & the World Economy
As the price of gas continues to seemingly hold steady at around three dollars a gallon, the pocketbooks of Americans continue to suffer. Regretfully, due to global conflict and the outbreak of wars across Europe and the Middle East, oil prices are continuing to climb upwards, troubled by geopolitical conflict and fears of a potential shutdown of international oil and gas fields.Thankfully…
Protecting Offshore Energy Sources via USV
When most people discuss energy sources such as fossil fuel and green energy, it is from an “either-or” perspective. Some favor the former while others advocate for the latter. However, what is often lost in the arguments on both sides is that regardless of the type of energy being extracted or generated, those platforms that are offshore, especially oil rigs, oil and gas pipelines…
Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale Set for March
U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will offer over 78 million acres for a region-wide lease sale scheduled for March 18, 2020, as part of President Trump’s America First Offshore Energy Strategy.The sale would include all available unleased areas in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Department…
U.S. Needs to Revive Shallow-Water GoM E&P
The US should define the Gulf of Mexico Shallow Water Province as a distinct entity to avoid stranding more than $20 billion of its oil and gas resource, said a new research.According to a research from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) the GOM Shallow Water Province, comprised of water less than 200 meters deep…
OP/ED: Offshore Wind
Set to Soar, Taking Offshore Support Industry With it.Offshore energy development is opening a new front in the United States -- the Atlantic seaboard, with strong winds, a shallow continental shelf and a proximity to dense population centers is driving strong interest in offshore wind development. The offshore oil and gas supply chain stands to benefit in a big way from billions in coming investment. In fact, it is already playing a role.
BOEM Announces New GoM Lease Sale
The US Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) plans to offer about 78 million acres in a region-wide Gulf of Mexico lease sale scheduled for March 2020.Lease Sale 254, which would include all unleased areas in federal waters in the gulf that are not subject to congressional moratorium, will be the sixth held under the 2017-22 federal OCS leasing program…
Milito Named NOIA President
Veteran energy industry association executive Erik Milito has been named as the new president of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) and will to take the helm of the offshore energy association effective November 1, 2019.“Erik is a strong leader and an effective communicator, qualities that make him a great fit for NOIA President and will serve our membership well.
US Offshore Wind Pipeline Reach 25.8GW
The U.S. offshore wind project development pipeline grew to a potential generating capacity of 25,824 MW across 13 states, including the Block Island Wind Farm commissioned in 2016.Projects totaling 21,225 MW have exclusive site control, meaning the developer has a lease or other contract to develop the site. Most of these projects are on the Eastern seaboard, with one in the Great Lakes…
Offshore Wind – A Brief History
Happy 80th birthday Maritime Reporter & Engineering News! Eighty years is a significant publishing and business accomplishment!Birthdays always cause a look back. An 80-year review starts in 1939, the close of one very challenging decade, the start of events still reverberating today. History’s most important history is contained in the last 80 years.Energy dominated every one of those decades.
Luthi Steps Down as NOIA Head
The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) announced that Randall Luthi will leave the organization next month, after serving as the group’s president for nearly 10 years. Luthi will return to his home state of Wyoming to serve as Chief Energy Advisor to Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon.The offshore energy group NOIA represents more than 250 companies involved in the exploration and development of offshore energy, including oil and gas as well as renewables.
NOIA Applauds Confirmation of Interior Secretary
National Ocean Industries Association President Randall Luthi has issued the following statement on the Senate confirmation of David Bernhardt as Secretary of the Interior:“I congratulate David Bernhardt on his confirmation as Secretary of the Department of the Interior. Highlighted through his bipartisan confirmation, his unparalleled depth of experience at the Department…
NOIA Applauds Wheeler’s Confirmation
NOIA President Randall Luthi released the following statement after the Senate voted to confirm Andrew Wheeler as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator:“NOIA congratulates Andrew Wheeler and applauds the Senate following his confirmation as EPA Administrator. Mr. Wheeler has shown his ability to successfully navigate through tough issues, tough interest groups and a tough confirmation process with his knowledge…
Seismic Surveys Delayed in US Arctic
There will be no seismic exploration this winter on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Interior Department said on Friday, after the company seeking permission to conduct the tests ran out of time to get the required permit."We can confirm that seismic surveys will not take place until December 2019," said Alex Hinson, U.S. Department of the Interior spokesman…
Equinor Launches High-Tech Buoy
Equinor Wind US has announced deployment of a cutting-edge, specialized buoy designed to gather information, an important step in the development of its offshore wind lease site in the “New York Bight,” which will provide wind energy to New York and the region to help achieve the renewable energy goals recently set forth by Governor Andrew Cuomo.The Floating LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) device will measure wind speed…
US Working on Arctic Oil Leases Despite Shutdown
Even as a partial shutdown halts the functions of many U.S. government departments, forcing the Department of the Interior to close national parks, the Trump administration is continuing to push for the expansion of oil drilling on sensitive, federally owned lands in Arctic Alaska.The Alaska Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of the Interior Department, was scheduled to hold a meeting on Wednesday night in Wainwright…
U.S. DOI Okays Hilcorp AK Offshore Oil & Gas Project
The U.S.
Several US States Likely Withheld from Offshore Drilling Plan
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has hinted to at least six coastal states that he will keep their waters out of a looming plan to expand U.S. offshore drilling, telling some they lack enough oil to be included anyway, according to state officials and transcripts from public hearings.Zinke's comments are the clearest indication to date that the Trump administration’s initial proposal to open nearly all U.S.
Trump Administration Mulls Opening Alaska Refuge to Drilling
The Trump administration this week will begin the environmental review process for oil and gas drilling on a section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a region in northern Alaska rich in crude but prized by conservationists.In a notice from the U.S. Department of the Interior seen by Reuters, which the agency will post on Friday, it says it will hold meetings in five Alaskan towns where the public can speak about drilling in the refuge.
House Set to Debate Offshore Wind Energy Bills in US Waters
A U.S. House committee will kick off debate next week on three new bills aimed at boosting offshore wind energy leases in federal waters.The House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will hold a hearing on Tuesday on three bipartisan offshore wind proposals.One proposal would require the Interior Department to develop a leasing plan or schedule for federal offshore leases…
