EDITOR’S COLUMN
MARINELOG
The lease sale generated $191.6 million in high bids, but now that’s up in the air.
FEBRUARY 2022 VOL. 127, NO. 2 ISSN 08970491 USPS 576-910 SUBSCRIPTIONS: +1 (402) 346-4740 Fax: +1 (847) 291-4816 Email: marinelog@omeda.com PRESIDENT Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. amcginnis@sbpub.com PUBLISHER Gary Lynch glynch@sbpub.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Heather Ervin hervin@sbpub.com
Photo Credit: Shutterstock/ Mike Mareen
What’s Next for Offshore Oil & Gas?
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n a ruling last month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Rudolph Contreras invalidated the Department of Interior’s decision to offer 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas leasing. The court held that the Interior failed to accurately disclose and consider the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that would result from the sale, violating an environmental law. Turn to page 14 of this issue to learn more about the history of the Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 257, which generated $191.6 million in high bids. And now comes the fall out, which should be no surprise to anyone. The Amer ican Petroleum Institute (API) expressed its disappointment in a statement, saying that it urged “the administration to implement policies that encourage continued leasing and development in the Gulf of Mexico.” The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) said that invalidation of the lease sale may “only strengthen the geopolitical influence of higher emitting—and adversarial—nations, such as Russia.” When we talked to Erik Milito, president of NOIA, about other implications this ruling could have on offshore, he said that it will disrupt companies who are investing in carbon capture and storage in the Gulf of
Mexico—an innovative technology designed to address climate crisis. He said that President Biden has asked OPEC plus to put more oil on the market, validating what BOEM has said in the past: If you don’t produce the oil here, it will get produced somewhere else. “Producing oil here will translate into less GHG because of the efficiencies in the Gulf of Mexico in producing and transporting oil to Gulf Coast refineries, as opposed to bringing it by tanker from all over the world,” said Milito. “It’s an odd situation, where the president is asking OPEC, and even Russia, to produce more. We are importing oil at almost record levels from Russia at a time of ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine.” Milito said he hopes an appeal on the judge’s ruling will be made and the lease sale can continue. It is unclear if the Department of the Interior will defend the lease sale through an appeal, but API and Louisiana can likely do that as interveners in the case.
ART DIRECTOR Nicole D’Antona ndantona@sbpub.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Hillary Coleman hcoleman@sbpub.com MARKETING DIRECTOR Erica Hayes ehayes@sbpub.com PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Mary Conyers mconyers@sbpub.com SALES MANAGER David Harkey dharkey@sbpub.com SALES REPRESENTATIVE KOREA & CHINA Young-Seoh Chinn corres1@jesmedia.com CLASSIFIED SALES Frank Rose frose@sbpub.com CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Maureen Cooney mcooney@sbpub.com CONFERENCE DIRECTOR Michelle M. Zolkos mzolkos@sbpub.com CONFERENCE ASSISTANT Stephanie Rodriguez srodriguez@sbpub.com CONTRIBUTORS Emily Reiblein Crowley Maritime Corporation Tracy Zea Waterways Council Inc. SIMMONS-BOARDMAN PUBLISHING CORP. 88 Pine Street, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10005 Tel: (212) 620-7200 Fax: (212) 633-1165 Website: www.marinelog.com E-mail: marinelog@sbpub.com
HEATHER ERVIN Editor-in-Chief hervin@sbpub.com
Marine Log Magazine (Print ISSN 0897-0491, Digital ISSN 2166-210X), (USPS#576-910), (Canada Post Cust. #7204564; Agreement #40612608; IMEX Po Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2, Canada) is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, 88 Pine St. 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10005. Printed in the U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and Additional mailing offices. PRICING: Qualified individuals in the marine industry may request a free subscription. For non-qualified subscriptions: Print version, Digital version, Both Print & Digital versions: 1 year, US $98.00; foreign $213.00; foreign, air mail $313.00. 2 years, US $156.00; foreign $270.00; foreign, air mail $470.00. Single Copies are $29.00 each. Subscriptions must be paid in U.S. dollars only. COPYRIGHT © Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation 2022. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. For reprint information contact: PARS International Corp., 102 W 38th St., 6th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10018 Phone (212) 221-9595 Fax (212) 221-9195. For Subscriptions, & address changes, Please call (US, Canada & International) +1 (402) 346-4740, Fax +1 (847) 291-4816, e-mail marinelog@omeda.com or write to: Marine Log Magazine, Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, PO Box 239, Lincolnshire IL 60069-0239 USA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Marine Log Magazine, PO Box 239, Lincolnshire IL 60069-0239 USA.
2 Marine Log // February 2022
SENIOR EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Nicholas Blenkey nblenkey@sbpub.com
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