Liskow & Lewis (LexBlog Mexico)

BOEM’s GOM wind lease sale earlier this week resulted in just 1 high bid of $5.6 million. A drop in the bucket compared to last year’s California wind lease sale which received five winning bids ranging from $130-$173.8 million and totaling $757.1 million. Now what? Find out here on Liskow’s Energy Law Blog.

In advance of holding an offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, which is expected this summer, the Department of Interior recently took several steps to update the offshore wind regulatory framework. First, Interior issued a Final Rule, which reassigns the responsibilities for certain regulations governing offshore wind from BOEM to BSEE. This reassignment aligns...

Over the past year, the U.S. Department of Interior has taken several important steps toward making wind energy development a reality in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the first in a series of articles in which Liskow’s offshore team will discuss the regulatory framework for wind energy projects in federal waters and highlight legal...

In response to multiple requests from stakeholders and interested parties during the third Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management agreed to extend the public comment periods for the two potential wind energy areas (WEAs) and the draft Environmental Assessment (EA). Both 30-day comment periods, which...

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held its third Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting on July 27, 2022 (3rd Meeting). The first two meetings were held on June 15, 2021, and February 2, 2022, respectively. The primary purpose of this meeting was to present the preliminary areas in Gulf of...

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held its third Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting on July 27, 2022 (3rd Meeting). The first two meetings were held on June 15, 2021, and February 2, 2022, respectively. The primary purpose of this meeting was to present the preliminary areas in Gulf of...

On July 20, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced it is seeking public comments on two draft wind energy areas (WEAs) in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. As illustrated on the map, below, the first WEA, covering 188,023 acres, is located 56 nautical miles off the coast of Lake Charles,...

Within the first six weeks of 2022, both state and federal governments have taken steps toward offshore wind energy development off the coast of Louisiana. On February 1, the Climate Initiatives Task Force submitted the Louisiana Climate Action Plan to Governor Edwards. The Plan offers strategies and actions aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in...

Within the first six weeks of 2022, both state and federal governments have taken steps toward offshore wind energy development off the coast of Louisiana. On February 1, the Climate Initiatives Task Force submitted the Louisiana Climate Action Plan to Governor Edwards. The Plan offers strategies and actions aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in...

Last week, the Louisiana Governor’s Office hosted Louisiana Wind Week 2021 to assess Louisiana’s future in offshore wind energy development. Louisiana Wind Week followed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)’s first Gulf of Mexico Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting, which was held on June 15. The first-day session focused on Federal and State administration...

On June 8, 2021, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a Request for Interest (RFI) to assess interest in possible commercial wind energy leasing in the Gulf of Mexico OCS. BOEM will consider the information received in response to the RFI to determine whether to schedule a competitive lease sale or issue a noncompetitive...

On June 8, 2021, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a Request for Interest (RFI) to assess interest in possible commercial wind energy leasing in the Gulf of Mexico OCS. BOEM will consider the information received in response to the RFI to determine whether to schedule a competitive lease sale or issue a noncompetitive...

Governor John Bel Edwards has identified offshore wind energy as a feature component of his recently announced renewable energy initiative for the Gulf of Mexico. The Governor announced the initiative at the inaugural meeting of his Climate Initiative Task Force. In August, Governor Edwards created the 23-member Climate Initiative Task Force via an executive order....

In the aftermath of a 2012 platform explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in which three workers were killed, the Department of Justice ultimately indicted the contractors who supervised the work (along with the lease holder, Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations, LLC) with violating the Outer Continental Shelf Land Act (“OCSLA”), a felony carrying a...

In the next few days, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will publish in the Federal Register a Proposed Rule that would result in a significant change on how the agency regulates air emissions from oil and gas operations on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico (GOM). ...

  By Robert E. Holden and Carlos J. Moreno On October 1st, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released the final NPDES general permit for discharges from oil and gas facilities in the western and central portion of the Outer Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico (the “final permit”). The final permit has yet...

By Kerry Murphy On Wednesday September 2, BP drilled the world’s deepest oil well – the Tiber Prospect Well – and discovered a huge pool of crude oil. The Tiber well is located in the western Gulf of Mexico, southwest of New Orleans in U.S. waters. It is expected to rank among the largest petroleum...

By Katie Cambre As reported in the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association Daily News Summary, a federal auction of drilling tracts in the central Gulf of Mexico drew far fewer bids at much lower prices than during past auctions, and analysts attributed the decline to a poor economy and new energy policies proposed by...

A unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has held that the United States Department of the Interior violated the Outer Continental Shelf Deep Water Royalty Relief Act (“RRA”) by imposing price threshold conditions that require federal lessees to pay royalties when commodity prices rise.  Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas...

By Clare Bienvenu In Marcy v. Rowan Cos., Inc., No. 06-31238, 2008 WL 588745 (5th Cir. 2008), the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision to dismiss a qui tam action brought under the Federal Claims Act (FCA). The action alleged that the defendants violated the FCA by concealing the discharge of pollutants...

The Energy Information Agency reported as follows in its September 13, 2007, report: Since Wednesday, September 5, natural gas spot prices increased as tropical storms threatened to disrupt supplies and pipeline explosions in Mexico stirred concerns of supply security.  Crude oil recorded yet another record high, increasing over $4 per barrel to nearly $80. Commodity...

MMS’s August 22, 2007 Western Gulf of Mexico lease sale offered 3,338 tracts, or approximately 18 million acres, offshore Texas.  Forty-seven companies participated, submitting 358 bids on 282 tracts.  The total of all bids received was $369,496,840.  MMS Director Randall Luthi observed that “the success of this lease sale once again demonstrates industry’s commitment and interest in...

Since Wednesday, August 15, all prices reported in the weekly chart (for both natural gas and crude oil) have decreased as Hurricane Dean failed to have a significant impact on domestic production in the Gulf of Mexico, and temperatures moderated demand.  Natural gas volumes in storage continue to increase. Commodity Price or Volumes Change since...

On June 27, 2007, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) issued its notice advising the public of its intention to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) for proposed OCS Lease Sale 206, which is the Central Gulf of Mexico lease sale to be held in March 2008. Notably, the EA will not include approximately 5.8 million acres...

The Eastern District of Louisiana recently held that insurance claims for damage to a Gulf of Mexico production facility will not support federal court jurisdiction under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.  Accordingly, the district court remanded the case of LLOG Exploration Co. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, 2007 WL 854307 (E.D. La. 3/16/07), to state...

In preparation for hurricane season, which began on June 1, the Minerals Management Service has established a web site that brings together extensive hurricane-related information and resources. The web site is designed to describe and explain improvements instituted since Hurricane Season 2005, when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita cut a destructive path through the Gulf of...

In 2002, Jupiter Energy Corporation (“Jupiter”) applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) for a determination that two of its pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico were not for the primary purpose of transporting gas — a purpose within the FERC’s regulatory jurisdiction — but were instead for the primary purpose of gathering gas...

Two developments this week will increase protections for South Louisiana’ s Port Fourchon and Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP).  Port Fourchon handles more than 75% of the oil and gas production from the Gulf of Mexico, while LOOP is the only port in the U.S. capable of offloading the deepest draft tankers.  First, the Department of...