Trump’s bid to expand offshore drilling slows, amid legal and political struggles

[Elderberry]

Houston Chronicle by  James Osborne May 3, 2019

Last year, oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico made history when they pumped out a record 1.7 million barrels a day. But almost a century after oil drillers first descended on the Gulf, some are wondering how long America’s great offshore oil field can continue at such a pace, with analysts predicting Gulf production will plateau over the next few years and then decline.

Looking to the future, oil companies are pushing to expand their footprint into other U.S. waters, namely the southeast Atlantic coast, the Gulf Coast of Florida, and Alaska’s Arctic coastline. And with the industry-friendly President Donald Trump in the White House, this could be their last, best hope to do so.

Now, 16 months after the administration announced plans to expand lease sales for offshore drilling into all U.S. waters, a series of legal and political obstacles have emerged casting doubt whether Trump can pull it off. The Interior Department has already blown by the deadline to get a new five-year plan in place by their intended start date of July 1. And at a Senate hearing in March ,Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said he didn’t know when a final plan would be ready, commenting “We’re at the very beginning of our process.”

“It’s not clear to us what their next steps are going to be,” said Erik Milito, a vice president at the American Petroleum Institute, the oil sector’s largest lobbying organization. “It’s hard to read the tea leaves, but politics has played a big role.”

Along the Atlantic, Republicans and Democrats alike have united in their opposition to Trump’s plans to open up offshore drilling, fearful of oil spills and the effects on the steady flow of tourists to the their coastlines. After the Trump administration began the process of issuing permits for conducting seismic testing along the Atlantic coast, attorneys general from 10 states, including Republican Alan Wilson of South Carolina, joined environmentalists in suing to block them.

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Trump-s-bid-to-expand-offshore-drilling-slows-13816786.php

[thackney]

BP approves Thunder Horse expansion in Gulf
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/BP-approves-Thunder-Horse-expansion-in-Gulf-13817768.php

BP said Monday it approved an expansion in the Gulf of Mexico that will add 50,000 barrels of daily oil equivalent to its massive Thunder Horse field.

The Thunder Horse South Expansion Phase 2 project, which is expected to come online in 2021, follows two other Thunder Horse expansions completed in the last two years. With more than 300,000 barrels of daily production a day in the region, BP remains the Gulf of Mexico's largest producer....