Gulf of Mexico region-wide oil, gas lease sale yields $121 million
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke proclaimed the region - wide Gulf of Mexico lease sale generated $121,143,055 in high bids for 90 tracts covering 508,096 acres in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. A total of 27 companies participated in the sale, submitting 99 bids totaling $137,006,181. The sale offered the largest amount of acreage in the history of the federal offshore program in the Gulf, including parcels offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Lease Sale 249, livestreamed from New Orleans, is the first offshore sale under the National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2017-2022. Under this program, nine additional region -wide lease sales that combine all three planning areas are scheduled for the Gulf, where resource potential and industry interest are high and oil and gas infrastructure is well established.
For more information, visit www.doi. gov or call (504) 284-8605.
BOEM publishes draft EIS for Hilcorp's Liberty oil, gas project
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) analyzing the possible environmental impacts of the activities proposed in an offshore oil and gas development and production plan (DPP) submitted to BOEM by Hilcorp Alaska LLC Sept. 18, 2015.
The publication of the draft EIS opens a 90-day public comment period, which extends through 11:59 p.m. EST Saturday, Nov. 18. During this time, BOEM will conduct public hearings and accept comments. The input received via this process will be used to inform preparation of the final EIS.
The draft EIS and instructions for commenting may be found at www.boem. gov/liberty.
For more information, visit www.Boem.gov or call (907) 334-5208.
Bishop, 118 other House members ask Zinke to expand OCS leasing
House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) and 118 additional members of Congress sent a bipartisan letter to Secretary Zinke requesting the Department of the Interior include consideration of all Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lands in the development of a new National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program .
"Just as today's energy security is the result of production set in motion by decisions made years ago, the decisions on OCS leasing and development facing the department today will lay the groundwork for our energy and national security for decades," the letter stated.
Members urge Secretary Zinke to consider all 26 OCS lands in the development of a new leasing plan. Currently, 94 percent of OCS lands are excluded under the 2017-2022 Five Year Leasing Plan, signed into effect by the Obama administration.
For more information, visit www.Naturalresources.house.gov or call (202) 225-2761.
BP starts fifth major upstream project of 2017
BP Trinidad and Tobago (BPTT) struck first gas from the Juniper development, the fifth of BP's seven upstream major project start-ups planned for 2017. Juniper has begun production on schedule and under budget.
The project is expected to boost BPTT's gas production capacity by an estimated 590 million standard cubic feet a day (mmscfd).
With an investment of approximately $2 billion, Juniper is BP's first subsea field development in Trinidad. It produces gas from the Corallita and Lantana fields via the new Juniper platform, 50 miles off the southeast coast of Trinidad in water approximately 110 meters deep. The gas then flows to the Mahogany B hub via a new 10-kilometer flowline installed in 2016.
For more information, visit www.Bp.com or call +44 (0)207 496 4076.
ONRR repeals Obama-era rule that increased federal royalty rate
To create more workable oil, gas and mineral valuation regulations and avoid costly litigation, the Department of the Interior repealed the Consolidated Federal Oil and Gas and Federal and Indian Coal Valuation Reform Rule (Valuation Rule), which had created confusion and uncertainty regarding how companies report and pay royalties on energy and other mineral resources from federal onshore and offshore areas and American Indian lands.
The repeal of the Valuation Rule, published in the "Federal Register," will provide certainty and clarity to the regulated community by continuing to require compliance with lawful and well-known oil, gas and coal regulations in force for more than a decade. These regulations are easy to understand and provide certainty to industry and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) that correct payment has been made.
For more information, visit www.doi. gov or call (202) 208-3100.
