Trafigura, Phillips 66 to Build Deepwater Texas Oil Port
Global commodities trader Trafigura said on Friday it had formed a joint venture with U.S. refiner Phillips 66 to build a major deepwater port in Texas capable of handling supertankers, ditching its own competing project.The Bluewater Texas Terminal, which will be located 21 nautical miles east of the entrance to Corpus Christi port, will consist of two single point mooring buoys that can load Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) capable of carrying around 2 million barrels of oil.Geneva-based Trafigura said it had withdrawn its Texas Gulf Terminals…
Enterprise, Chevron to Build Offshore Port
Pipeline operator Enterprise Products Partners signed long-term agreements with Chevron Corp to develop Enterprise’s Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT) in the Gulf of Mexico.The American midstream natural gas and crude oil pipeline company said in a release that its SPOT project consists of onshore and offshore facilities, including a fixed platform located approximately 30 nautical miles off the Brazoria County, Texas coast in approximately 115 feet of water.SPOT is designed to load Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) at rates of approximately 85,000 barrels per hour, or up to approximately 2 million barrels per day.
Sentinel Secures Commitments for Offshore Crude Terminal
Sentinel Midstream LLC has secured shipper commitments needed to move forward on a proposed $1 billion crude export terminal off the Texas coast, the company's chief executive said on Wednesday.The firm's Texas GulfLink project is one of eight proposed U.S. deepwater export projects seeking to load supertankers that carry up to 2 million barrels of crude. Sentinel last week became the fifth to apply for federal permits.Sentinel's offshore facility could begin operations in early 2020 and load up to 2 million bpd from single-point mooring buoys in deepwaters 30 miles off Freeport…
OMSA Announces Formation of Wind Committee
Open to all OMSA Members, the Committee Seeks to Further the Domestic Offshore Wind Industry and the Jones Act.New Orleans, LA – Today, the Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA) announced the formation of the OMSA Wind Committee and announced that membership on the Committee is now open to all OMSA members.OMSA President, Aaron Smith said, “Over the past 46 years, OMSA has done a tremendous job in promoting public policy that benefits the vessels, operators, and mariners engaged in the offshore oil and gas industry. As more OMSA members apply their expertise to the offshore wind market…
Sentinel Midstream Mulls Offshore Terminal
Dallas-based oil and gas company Sentinel Midstream is planning to develop a deepwater crude oil export terminal, located near Freeport, Texas. The completed facility will be capable of fully loading Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) vessels.Texas GulfLink will include an onshore terminal with up to 18 million barrels of storage, an offshore 42-in. pipeline, and a manned offshore platform to facilitate port operations with two Catenary Anchor Leg Mooring (CALM) Single Point Mooring (SPM) buoys. Projected export loading rates will be up to 85,000 barrels per hour…
Offshore Terminal Plan Slowed by U.S. Shutdown
The U.S. government shutdown has delayed Enterprise Products Partners LP's plan to build a major U.S. crude export terminal off Houston, blocking the pipeline operator from filing paperwork with U.S. regulators, an executive said on Wednesday.Enterprise plans to file a 10,000-page permit application with the U.S. Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard as soon as the U.S. government reopens. It takes about a year for regulators to process an application for a deep-water terminal."Tell me when the government opens and I'll tell you when it happens…
Exxon Ships Have Not Returned to Disputed Area off Guyana
Seismic research vessels hired by Exxon Mobil to explore for oil off Guyana's coast have not returned to the site of a December incident with Venezuela's navy, but they may in the future, Guyana's foreign minister said on Thursday.Guyana, with no history of oil production, has become the focus of intense interest since Exxon announced the discovery of over 5 billion barrels of oil and gas off its shores. That has reignited a century-old territorial dispute with neighboring Venezuela. OPEC-member Venezuela's crude output is near its lowest levels in 70 years amid an economic crisis.In a speech at a trade union forum in the capital Georgetown…
US Oil Export Boom Sparks Battle to Build Texas Ports
Booming U.S. oil exports have set off a scramble to build Gulf Coast ports to handle more than 3 million barrels per day in new supplies expected over the next five years.Of seven proposed oil-export projects, nowhere is the opportunity greater or the competition more fierce than in Corpus Christi, Texas, where three firms are vying to open the state's first deepwater port.Commodities trader Trafigura has taken an early lead with a planned offshore facility that has an easier path to regulatory approval and faces fewer objections from environmentalists.Its…
NIMASA Executive Director, 23 Others Bags NSE Fellowship
The Executive Director in charge of Operations in the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Engineer Rotimi Fashakin has been conferred with the Fellowship of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE), the umbrella body of the Engineering profession in Nigeria. The event which held at the Nigerian Air Force conference centre, Kado Abuja on Friday, June 30, 2017 also had 23 other distinguished Nigerians bagging same award. In his speech, the Chairman Board and College of Fellows of the NSE, Engr. Chris Okoye charged the awardees…
Egina FPSO to Arrive in Nigeria
On a recent visit to South Korea to inspect the Egina FPSO project, and FPSO scheduled to arrive in Nigeria in August 2017, Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside said the ongoing construction of the multi-billion dollar Egina Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) project will increase the knowledge base of NIMASA as a safety administration and enhance its regulatory capacity. He made the statement during a meeting with the Samsung Executive Vice President Younsang Won…
Delfin Project Gains US Approval to Export LNG
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has approved a long-term application to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the first offshore project, Delfin LNG, LLC. Exports in the amount of 1.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas are approved from Delfin’s proposed offshore Louisiana floating LNG terminal in the Gulf of Mexico. Development of the Delfin project offshore of Cameron Parish, La. will include the construction of floating liquefaction and storage vessels. Due to its offshore location, the environmental review of Delfin was led by the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard. U.S.
MARAD Report: Energy Efficiency & Battery Compartment Design
MARAD released an Energy Efficiency White Paper. The Maritime Administration (MARAD) has announced the availability of the Energy Efficiency White Paper that provides marine vessel owners and operators information on how to evaluate potential investments in efficiency measures and technologies. The white paper outlines the latest energy efficiency measures currently available for marine vessels, including how the technology works, potential fuel savings, applicability to various vessels types, and lifecycle costs. If implemented, these types of…
Governor Cuomo Vetoes Port Ambrose LNG Port
NY Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has vetoed the Port Ambrose Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port, citing security and economic concerns along with the potential to negatively impact off-shore wind development. The project, which had been proposed by Liberty Natural Gas, LLC, required approval from both Governor Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Christie under the federal Deepwater Port Act. Governor Cuomo detailed his full position in a letter sent today to the U.S. Maritime Administration. “My administration carefully reviewed this project from all angles, and we have determined that the security and economic risks far outweigh any potential benefits,” said Governor Cuomo.
Marad Celebrates Deployment of Maritime Fuel Cell Project
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) today celebrated the launch of field trials for the first prototype hydrogen fuel cell unit to power onboard refrigerated containers. MARAD, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy, provided $815,000 to fund the clean energy powered container unit that could pave the way to dramatically reduced harmful emissions at the Port of Honolulu. "President Obama has consistently challenged us to find new ways to protect our environment while supporting our economy,” said Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx. Built into a standard 20 ft.
MARAD to Host Meeting on Proposed Delfin LNG License
MARAD Announces Public Scoping Meetings for Proposed Delfin Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port Export Facility. On July 29, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) published a Federal Register Notice of Intent (NOI) advising the public that the agency, in coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), will host public scoping meetings regarding the Delfin LNG, LLC deepwater port export license application. The scoping process will assist in identifying and determining the range of environmental issues that the Federal government should consider as it prepares the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the application.
Delfin LNG Submits Application for Deepwater Port Export Facility
Delfin LNG has applied to construct, own and operate an offshore deepwater port export facility located approximately 50 miles south of the Texas/Louisiana border in the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed facility would receive natural gas from the national grid, convert the gas into liquefied natural gas (LNG) and transfer the LNG to LNG carrier vessels for export. The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) published a Federal Register Notice of Application (NOA) notifying that it received Delfin LNG’s application through the U.S. Coast Guard.
Yemen War Risk Could Strangle Sea Trade Routes
With Middle East giants Saudi Arabia and Iran squaring up on opposing sides in the Yemen war, the dangers to vital oil tanker and goods voyages are growing daily. Millions of barrels of oil pass through the Bab el-Mandeb and Strait of Hormuz everyday to Europe, the United States and Asia - waterways which pass along the coasts of Yemen and Iran respectively. Insurance costs for shippers are likely to jump. Last week Iran released Marshall-Islands container ship Maersk Tigris and its crew which were seized in the Strait of Hormuz. This prompted the United States to send vessels to temporarily accompany U.S. flagged ships through the strait.
Feds Delay LNG’s Port Ambrose Application
The US Coast Guard and the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) have temporarily suspended their review of the proposed Port Ambrose deep-water LNG import terminal. Liberty Natural Gas’s application to build the Port Ambrose deep-water port to receive LNG in the New York/New Jersey harbour has been delayed by the MARAD after it received more than 100,000 public comments about the project’s final environmental impact study. “The purpose of the suspension is to allow the U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration time to assess public comments and get them into the final Environmental Impact Study,” said Curtis Borland, legal counsel for the U.S.C.G.
MARAD Considers Deepwater O&G Exports
A U.S. agency is considering how the country could export crude oil and natural gas from deepwater ports as the domestic drilling boom adds pressure for Washington to relax trade restrictions and approve shipments of fuel. The U.S. Maritime Administration, or MARAD, is seeking comment on a proposed policy to evaluate applications for building and operating offshore deepwater ports for exporting U.S. oil and natural gas. The agency, part of the U.S. Transportation Department, quietly issued a notice in the Federal Register in October about the rule that received little attention. Congress has banned most U.S.
MARAD Seeks Comments on Proposed Policy for Deepwater Export Applications
The Maritime Administration (MARAD) is seeking comments on the agency’s proposed policy to accept, evaluate and process license applications for the construction and operation of offshore deepwater export facilities. The agency is proposing to use the existing Deepwater Port License regulations, found in 33 CFR Parts 148, 149 and 150, for such purposes. However, due to the considerable technical, operational, and environmental differences between import and export operations for natural gas or oil projects, a separate and complete license application, conforming to all licensing requirements and regulations, is required for export applications.
