David Paganie • Houston
Final call for central lease sale
MMS has issued the final notice for a Federal oil and gas lease sale in the Central Gulf of Mexico.
Proposed Lease Sale 208, scheduled for March 18 in New Orleans, includes 6,459 unleased blocks covering more than 34.6 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Also included is 4.2 million acres in the southeastern part of the CGOM Planning Area, known as 181 South Area, which has not been offered for lease since 1988.
“The addition of 181 South Area is significant because the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas will share in all revenue from leases in this new area,” says Randall Luthi, director of MMS.
The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 mandated that 181 South Area be offered for lease, and that the four Gulf producing states share in those revenues.
MMS has increased the rental rates for leases offered in this sale, from $6.25/acre to $7.00/acre in water depths of less than 656 ft (200 m) and from $9.50 to $11.00/acre in 656 ft or deeper. For the first time, rental rates will be raised for all leases with initial terms of more than five years and for leases with an approved extension of the initial lease period.
MMS estimates that this sale could generate 0.807 to 1.336 Bbbl of oil and 3.365-5.405 tcf of natural gas. The acreage is from 3 to 230 mi (5 to 370 km) offshore in water depths of 10 ft (3 m) to more than 11,200 ft (3,400 m).
Meanwhile, MMS has initiated a 60-day comment period on its Draft Proposed 2010-2015 OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program (DPP). The regulatory agency also has submitted a notice of its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the DPP.
“We’re basically giving the new Administration a two-year head start,” Luthi says. “This is a multi-step, multi-year process with a full environmental review and several opportunities for input from the states, other government agencies and interested parties, and the general public.”
MMS estimates the OCS contains about 86 Bbbl of oil and 420 tcf of natural gas in undiscovered fields.
TGS completes GoM surveys
Ahead of the lease sale in March, TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co. (TGS) has completed multi-client higher order depth imaging projects that will be used to evaluate hydrocarbon potential in the areas available for lease.
TGS says it has created the industry’s first multi-client reverse time migration (RTM) product on the Stanley 3D survey. The migration covers an 8,900-sq km (3,436-sq mi) deepwater area in Green Canyon and Walker Ridge. Final survey results have been delivered to the early participating customers.
In addition, TGS has completed an anisotropic Kirchhoff depth migration on its Eastern Mississippi Canyon, Deep Resolve, and Sophie’s Link 3D surveys. Anisotropic migration uses well data to calibrate the seismic to the true earth, which provides better positioning and more accurate imaging of the subsurface, the company explains.
These new imaging products tie to the existing anisotropic migration previously completed in the Mississippi Canyon area. TGS now offers 32,000 sq km (1,236 sq mi) of contiguous and seamless anisotropic depth migration in the central GoM. The projects incorporated over 800 well logs in building the anisotropic model.
InterMoor gets exclusive rights to torpedo piles
InterMoor is now the exclusive licensee of torpedo pile technology in the US. The rights were granted to InterMoor by Petrobras on Nov. 28, 2008. In the last eight years, Petrobras has installed more than 1,000 torpedo piles, says InterMoor. The piles are essentially gravity-embedded cylindrically-shaped projectiles used to anchor deepwater flowlines and facilities, the company explains.
Torpedo piles typically range in size from 24 to 98 metric tons (26 to 108 tons). The largest torpedo pile can provide anchor-holding capacity of up to 1,000 metric tons (1,102 tons).
“Petrobras’ extensive experience in the use of torpedo piles has shown them to be both economical and less time consuming to install than alternatives, such as suction piles or drag-embedded plate anchors,” says Bob Wilde, InterMoor chief engineer. “InterMoor looks forward to extending this technology to the Gulf of Mexico and other US waters.”
Petrobras noted in its DOCD filed with the MMS for the Cascade-Chinook development that it was considering torpedo piles to moor the planned FPSO for Phase 1. The base-case scenario included suction piles.
Chouest expands shipyard capacity
Edison Chouest has expanded its shipbuilding capacity on the Gulf Coast with the assignment of Tampa Bay Shipbuilding and Repair’s long-term lease agreement with the Tampa Bay port. Chouest has named the new acquisition Tampa Ship LLC. The company subsequently has assumed management and operation of the yard previously owned by a group associated with Bender Shipbuilding and Repair.
“Tampa Ship provides us more capacity for new construction and the repair of much larger vessels,” says Gary Chouest, president of Edison Chouest. “Now that we have closed on the purchase, we are looking forward to construction on our first new vessel this month (January).”
The Tampa shipyard has capacity for conversion, overhaul, and repair work. The 60-acre facility has two transporters, a 600-ft (183-m) assembly building, lifting units, crawler cranes, and four graving docks capable of servicing ships up to 15,000 dwt.
The company also intends to use the yard for commercial repair and dry-dock services in support of the maritime industry.
Meanwhile, Chouest has agreed to assist in the phase out of a new construction deal with Bender. The previous owner had been building three barges for Overseas Shipholding Group. Chouest will assist in completing that deal, slated for a late 2009 delivery.
Tampa Ship is accessible from the GoM via a 43-ft (13-m) deep channel. The yard fronts Sparkman Channel, which is 34 ft (10 m) deep and 700 ft (213 m) wide. Planned improvements include dredging a 30-ft (9-m) deep slip.
