Helene reaches hurricane strength in Gulf of Mexico and threatens Florida
The National Hurricane Center reported that the powerful storm Helene became a hurricane Wednesday morning. It was packing winds of up to 130 kph (80 mph) as it churned off the coast of Yucatan Peninsula in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters said that Helene would continue to intensify throughout Thursday and bring a life-threatening storm to Florida's coast.
Hurricanes force oil companies to evacuate staff from the Gulf of Mexico
U.S. Oil Producers scrambled to evacuate their staff from Gulf of Mexico platforms on Monday as forecasters warned that the second major hurricane within two weeks would likely tear into offshore oil fields. The U.S. National Hurricane Center stated that a potential Tropical Cyclone System Nine, near the western tip of Cuba…
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).
Williams Acquires Deepwater Gas Pipeline
Williams, the provider of large-scale infrastructure connecting U.S. natural gas and natural gas products to growing demand for cleaner fuel and feedstocks, acquired a deepwater natural gas pipeline system that connects offshore output to its Mobile Bay processing plant.The 16-inch-diameter Norphlet gas gathering system in the Gulf of Mexico had been placed into service.
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…
Alberto Moves Inland, Flash Floods Threaten Alabama
Subtropical storm Alberto fizzled into a subtropical depression as it rolled into Alabama on Tuesday but forecasters warned of potentially dangerous flash floods even as winds dropped to 30 miles per hour (48 km per hour). At its height, Alberto, the first storm of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, blasted sustained…
US Military Seeks Rules for Drilling in Gulf of Mexico
An expansion of oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico would interfere with U.S. military testing unless the Pentagon and another agency develop rules to govern the work, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a report this week.The Defense Department concluded in a report it sent on Wednesday to U.S. lawmakers that drilling east of the Military Mission Line in the Gulf of Mexico…
US States Slow Trump Offshore Oil Drilling Expansion Plan
The Trump administration's plan to broadly expand drilling in U.S. offshore waters is moving slowly due to opposition from coastal states and indifference from oil companies that have turned their focus to other opportunities. The administration hopes encouraging U.S. energy development outside of shale oilfields will…
NOIA Comments Support Offshore Leasing Program
he National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) has submitted comments which strongly encourage the Secretary of the Interior to proceed with lease sale planning in all 25 planning areas proposed in the Draft Proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2019-2024 (DPP). Specifically, NOIA supports…
US Senators from 12 States Seek Offshore Drilling Exemptions like Florida's
Twenty-two Democratic U.S. senators from 12 states on Thursday joined the chorus of local representatives seeking exemptions from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's newly proposed offshore drilling plan, after his surprise move on Tuesday to shield Florida. Zinke surprised lawmakers, governors, and industry groups on Tuesday…
As US Opens Up Offshore Waters, Eastern GoM Beckons
President Donald Trump's administration has proposed opening up nearly all of America's offshore waters to oil and gas drilling, but the industry says it is mainly interested in one part of it, now cordoned off by the Pentagon: the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The industry's focus on an area located near a sprawling network of existing platforms…
Trump Aims to Open Nearly All US Offshore to Oil Drilling
The Trump administration on Thursday proposed opening nearly all U.S. offshore waters to oil and gas drilling, a move aimed at boosting domestic energy production that sparked protests from coastal states, environmentalists and the tourism industry. The effort to open previously off-limits acreage in the Atlantic, Arctic…
Offshore O&G Leasing Plan for 2017-2022 Announced
After considering more than 3.3 million public comments and holding 36 public meetings, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Hopper today released the final plan to guide future energy development for the Nation’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for 2017-2022.
NOIA Applauds Passage of House Interior Appropriations Bill
“NOIA applauds members of the House of Representatives for passing the first Interior and Environment Appropriations bill since 2009. Not only does the passage of the bill bring back regular order, the Fiscal Year 2017 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill includes smart policy provisions to limit the harmful…
Tomorrow’s Gulf Lease Sales Important Even Today - NOIA
“Historically, Central and Eastern Gulf of Mexico lease sales have drawn strong interest from industry; however, a combination of factors – continued low commodity prices, increased Federal regulation, and the Administration’s clear lack of support for domestic fossil fuel production – could result in rather small sales tomorrow…
Final Notices of Sale for GoM Planning Areas
As part of the Obama Administration's continued commitment to safe and responsible domestic energy production, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Ross Hopper announced that the bureau will offer approximately 45 million acres for oil and gas exploration and development in the Gulf of Mexico in two March lease sales.
BOEM to Offer 40 mln Acres in GoM Lease Sale
As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Ross Hopper today announced that the bureau will offer 40 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama for oil and…
Oil is Down, Not Out: BOEM Proposes 40-Million-Acre GOM Lease Sale
Despite the continued depressed price of oil and gas, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) via Director Abigail Ross Hopper announced that BOEM will offer 40 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama for oil and gas exploration and development in sales that will include all available unleased areas in the Central and Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Areas.
New Study Examines Hurricane Intensity; Pollution Transport
Researchers study currents that fuel hurricanes and transport pollutants to coastal beaches. As tropical storm Isaac was gaining momentum toward the Mississippi River in August 2012, University of Miami (UM) researchers were dropping instruments from the sky above to study the ocean conditions beneath the storm. The…
Studies Show U.S. Offshore’s Untapped Potential
While short-term news emanating from the global energy sector was universally negative in the waning months of 2014 as the price per barrel continued to plummet below $60, the inevitable truth of oil & gas is that prices will rise again, and the long-term picture for this extinguishable natural resource is decidedly bullish.
