As our nation cautiously reopens and our economy begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the thought of a summer road trip has never seemed sweeter. Just having the freedom to take to the road and explore our beautiful country has an exciting, renewed significance for many of us right now. Once we get the green light and before our journey begins, however, we'll need to fill up our gas tanks.

Louisiana's offshore oil and gas industry provides fuel that makes our trips possible, as well as hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs that fuel our local, state and national economies. Now, the industry needs help to survive and continue to fuel our nation and economy long after this crisis has passed.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought the global economy to its knees this spring, shuttering businesses, suspending travel and cutting worldwide demand for oil and gas to the lowest levels in modern history at a time when production levels were surging. U.S. crude oil production was, in fact, at an all-time high in early 2020, breaking records and contributing to our nation's new role as a net oil exporter. Louisiana's local companies and infrastructure have supported the production of nearly 20 percent of America's oil supply, 45 percent of U.S. petroleum refining and 52 percent of our nation's natural gas processing.

Then, that historic peak seemed to evaporate overnight as the pandemic extended its reach, demand began to drop, and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia contributed to a glut in the oil supply. We watched oil prices plunge to less than $20 a barrel and analysts predict a 20-percent decline in global oil demand in 2020, still too much for a 10-million-barrel-a-day OPEC production cut to overcome. Global oil storage reached its capacity.

The impact on Wall Street has been devastating, but the impact on America's future domestic oil supply is even more alarming. This economic crisis truly threatens the survivability of our strong domestic offshore oil and gas industry, thousands of small businesses who service offshore production, and the hundreds of thousands of men and women whose jobs are linked to oil and gas production. We must save America's offshore oil and gas industry.

On April 2, LMOGA appealed to President Trump to implement measures to help domestic oil and gas producers and local businesses survive the crisis by putting them in a position to recover and continue fueling our nation and the world once demand and supply stabilize. Without emergency policy measures, producers may have no choice but to shut in wells, accelerate layoffs and cancel contracts totaling millions of dollars with local service companies. Without preemptive federal action, the economic domino effect will be long and brutal, and our future domestic energy supply will be at risk.

One of the measures promoted by LMOGA is the temporary reduction or suspension of royalty payments on federal offshore leases to ensure a robust energy industry remains viable during and after the current crisis. A viable industry is not only good for the economy and our energy supply, but for coastal restoration as well, because production generates federal funds for restoration projects. The U.S. Secretary of Interior has authority to reduce royalty rates for economic purposes, and LMOGA has strongly advocated that President Trump, Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt and Congress make this temporary cut to boost production and future royalty revenues.

LMOGA requested actions including a three-year extension on federal leases in the Gulf, extensions for decommissioning wells, and the protection of pipelines and other infrastructure if limits to storage capacity necessitate well shut-ins.

I am convinced that our global economy will rebound once the pandemic threat has diminished, and then demand for oil and gas will soar. We need to ensure our domestic offshore oil and gas industry survives to meet tomorrow's challenges and continues to fuel our gas tanks, the national treasury, and jobs for men and women everywhere for decades to come.

For more information about Louisiana's oil and gas industry and LMOGA's work to protect and grow the industry, visit http://www.lmoga.com or call (225) 387-3205.

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Save America's offshore oil and gas industry - BIC Magazine

A Louisiana-based offshore services firm and naval architects plan to build a new superfeeder class of vessel to provide offshore wind energy developers a Jones Act-compliant system for transporting turbine components from U.S. ports to installation sites.

The 408x131x16.4 SuperFeeder will be a fully DP-2 dynamic positioning vessel, propelled by three diesel-electric 2,500-kW Z-drives and two 1,200-kW tunnel bow-thrusters, and capable of 10 knots cruising speed while fully loaded with turbines, foundations and blades, according to 2nd Wind Marine LLC, Galliano, La.

Developed by naval architects MiNO Marine LLC, Jefferson, La., the design is planned for two vessels to be built simultaneously, completed in 2021 to work on more than a dozen wind energy areas leased by developers off the East Coast.

They will each be capable of transporting one complete set next-generation wind turbine components from U.S. ports to offshore wind farm sites, enabling optimized construction throughput and the most efficient utilization of non-Jones Act compliant wind turbine installation vessels, according to a statement from the companies.

With early U.S. wind projects dependent on U.S. feeder barges carrying components to foreign-flag European wind turbine installation vessels and the first Jones Act WTIV still a few years away the time is right for the superfeeder concept, according to Joseph A. Orgeron, business and technology developer for 2nd Wind Marine.

Orgeron worked in 2015-2016 with Deepwater Wind (since acquired by wind developer rsted) to bring Gulf of Mexico liftboats north for construction of the Block Island Wind Farm, the first U.S. commercial offshore wind project off Rhode Island. Hes an advocate for the skills and experience that Gulf of Mexico offshore operators can adapt to the nascent East Coast wind industry.

According to the companys own mission statement, 2nd Wind was created as a vessel development, erection, and operations firm that intends to manage the design, finance, construction and ultimate operation of a two purpose-built Jones-Act coastwise compliant vessels capable of transporting (or feedering) of large, next-generation offshore wind turbine components from U.S. marshalling ports out to awaiting installation vessels during installation phases and perform specific O&M tasks in the post-installation market.

The vessels power systems will be primarily diesel-electric with medium speed Tier-IV engines. The hulls and superstructures will be configured to accommodate the coming generation of 12-megawatt and larger turbine parts Orgeron calls the design future-ready.

The design has the house offset asymmetrically to the port side, allowing more bow deck space to accommodate larger vertically stacked blade racks. Below decks will accommodate up to 60 persons, counting 20 crew and 40 offshore workers, in single and double berthed, MLC-2006 compliant staterooms.

The cargo deck rated to transport, and jack up with, 4,000 metric tons has a double deck, so changes in grillage can be easily facilitated without concern to tank and void spaces below. Each vessel is intended to carry a complete next-generation turbine set, including tower, generator nacelle and blades.

A unique Liebherr-designed crane, installed around a jacking leg with an offset-pedestal, will allow access to more than 95 percent of the vessels cargo deck space. Its lifting capacity will be up lifting each component of next-generation turbines from quayside to the cargo deck. With an extended boom variant, the crane will enable operators to change out blades at sea in the wind turbine arrays.

MiNO Marine developed its designed hull form through extensive engineering analysis using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods to yield an efficient hull form suitable for a wide range of offshore operating conditions while also minimizing potential for flow induced drag.

U.S. shipyards have been engaged and are currently evaluating the design and preparing construction cost and timeline estimates, the companies said.

Speaking at the International WorkBoat Show in December 2019, Orgeron likened the potential of U.S. offshore wind for offshore operators to the cusp of offshore oil and gas a half-century before.

Probably 40, 50 years ago with the rise of the Cajun mariners, my dad was looking in the Gulf of Mexico and saw a great opportunity when the oil and gas companies said how much they were going to spend, said Orgeron. With the Block Island project, I saw then there was so much interest in Gulf of Mexico vessels, he said. There was so much more there for Gulf of Mexico operators to look into.

Join us for a live webinar on Thursday, June 25, where well discuss many of these topics and also investigate what the vessel supply chain capabilities currently are, what building a future-ready offshore wind vessel looks like, how creative ideas will ensure timely development and investment, and lastly how characteristics of the northwest Atlantic working environment differ from the European model and how that will affect vessel design and performance. Click here to register.

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'Superfeeder' design offers Jones Act solution for offshore wind developers - WorkBoat

Massachusetts commercial fishing groups objected to a proposed $19 million fund to compensate them for impacts on the industry from the planned Vineyard Wind 804-megawatt offshore wind energy project, saying the plan emerged without adequate input from the fishing community.

As far as we can tell, this plan was developed by Vineyard Wind through private meetings and consultations with officials from Massachusetts government, the Massachusetts Fishermens Partnership wrote in a May 29 to the state Office of Coastal Zone Management, following an email from state officials announcing the compensation plan. Massachusetts officials may have had the best intentions for the fishing community, but they are not the fishing community and should not have developed a plan on behalf of the fishing community.

The plan dramatically undervalues the fishing industry and dismisses legitimate concerns raised by the fishing community and the National Marine Fisheries Service, the group added.

According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the Fisheries Mitigation Plan will provide funds to offset economic impacts to Massachusetts fisheries across two separate funds: $19.18 million to provide compensation for claims by Massachusetts fishing businesses for economic losses during any phase of the Vineyard Wind project, and a $1.75 million Fisheries Innovation Fund to support programs and projects that support innovative solutions and technology development to ensure safe and profitable fishing continues off the coast of Massachusetts.

That could include grants for development of new technology to improve navigation in and around the wind energy area, and alternative gear and fishing methods.

This agreement to mitigate the impact of offshore wind development on Massachusetts fishing industry, developed through the input of the Fisheries Working Group and other stakeholders, represents another important milestone for this emerging industry in the Commonwealth, and importantly, will offset impacts to our fishermen and invest in innovation to spearhead improvements in fishing vessels, gear, and navigation technology, said Craig Gilvarg, a spokesman for the state energy and environment office.

As state officials released the compensation plan, the Coast Guard on May 27 issued its own Ports Access Route Study of the southern New England waters where Vineyard Wind and other developers propose adopting a uniform grid layout for their turbine arrays, with 1 nautical mile spacing between the towers.

The Coast Guard study recommends against vessel traffic lanes, as wide as four nautical miles, that had been sought by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a coalition of fishing, seafood businesses and other groups.

RODA seemed to have early success with its proposal, when the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in late 2018 put wind developers on notice that they might have to account for traffic lanes in their planning.

But the Coast Guard study contends that setting aside wider navigation corridors through the wind energy areas would create other problems.

Although these larger navigation corridors may appear to provide more area for navigation, they actually provide far less area than the numerous corridors that result from the recommended array and spacing, Coast Guard officials wrote in a notice published in the May 27 Federal Register.Additionally, the project developers have made clear that larger corridors, even though fewer in number, would result in reduced WTG (wind turbine generator) spacing for the WEA. Because the reduced turbine spacing makes navigation more challenging, most traffic would then be funneled into the corridors thereby increasing traffic density and risks for vessel interaction.

The study holds that the proposed uniform 1-nm will allow fishing vessels to continue working in the areas after construction. If larger navigation corridors were imposed, and the spacing between towers reduced, the tighter grid would largely preclude fishing in the WEA, an area of almost 1,400 square miles.

RODA executive director Annie Hawkins said the group is drafting a formal response to the Coast Guard report, arguing the study has structural and analysis flaws.

The report essentially tells fishermen and mariners theres going to be sticks in the water, get used to it, said Hawkins.

In its letter, the Massachusetts Fishermens Partnership contends the southern New England wind energy siting process has been flawed from the start, with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management policy that makes unsolicited lease bids from wind developers a trigger for the planning process.

BOEM should not consider unsolicited bids from prospective wind energy developers, the partnership asserts. Fishing groups have consistently raised this request to BOEM through public comments, petitions for rulemaking, through litigation, and all other available channels notably including a request directly from the New England Fishery Management Council. An unsolicited bid is, by nature, an end-run around any effective public multi-sectoral public process as it predisposes decisions based on mere reliance that a private party has done its due diligence.

RODA is making the same pitch on the West Coast, with a letter to Oregon energy planners urging them to change its offshore wind approach while still in the early stages.

The current approach will not result in developing a new renewable resource without sacrificing one we already have and need, according to a June 2 memo RODA submitted to BOEM and Oregon state officials. The federal approach to offshore wind energy development planning removes areas from consideration that impact national security activities, viewshed, shipping, and other existing ocean uses before Call Areas are identified, resulting in fisheries being the remaining single most conflicting activity.

While those other maritime uses get upfront consideration, fisheries get a closer look only in the late stages of the National Environmental Policy Act review process, Hawkins says.

Fisheries need to be an integral part of the process before key decisions and project investments are made, and leases are awarded; well- informed, data-based planning needs to occur now, she stressed in the memo.

In the deeper Pacific waters, floating wind turbines would be required to develop wind energy areas bringing an array of spatial conflicts with fishing gear.

Technology is evolving to minimize the footprint of the base of an offshore wind platform, but current proposed technologies still have mooring lines and flexible cabling that will make any type of fishing fixed or mobile gear unsafe and thus unlikely within a wind energy area, according to the RODA Oregon memo. Offshore wind energy development in the Eastern Pacific is therefore a topic of extreme concern to the regions fishermen and fishing-dependent communities.

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Fishermen say Massachusetts, Oregon fail in offshore wind planning - National Fisherman

June 08, 2020 As dental practices across the country begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the ADA and National Association of Dental Laboratories are encouraging dentists to conduct the necessary due diligence when sending work out in order to determine whether dental labs are offshoring production.

ADA policy supports dental laboratories letting dentists know if the prescribed dental prostheses, components or materials are to be manufactured or provided by a foreign dental laboratory, said Dr. Rudy Liddell, chair of the ADA Council on Dental Practice. It also notes that state registration of dental labs is one way to achieve this.

According to Travis Zick, immediate past president of the National Association of Dental Laboratories and co-founder of Apex Dental Laboratory Group, offshore companies offering bargain-basement prices for cheap products and material has been a source of frustration for lab owners for years.

Buyers should definitely beware, Mr. Zick said. If a lab is offering products at half the average cost you typically see, you should be very skeptical.

Knowing the source of prosthetics is especially important as dentists returns to their practices after the COVID-19 pandemic as they consider using labs with discounted pricing as a way to cut operating expenses, Mr. Zisk said. In addition to knowing the materials used in the devices dentists provide to patients, he said, dentists also need assurance that the lab manufacturing those devices follow the appropriate infection control protocols.

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Dentists advised to do to their homework regarding offshore production - American Dental Association

The Peepal GIC Report for 2018 counted approximately 1,100 GICs in India employing more than 800,000 individuals and generating approximately $23 billion in revenue. According to Jochelle Mendonca in The Economic Times on April 14, 2020, over 75 global companies set up new centers or expanded their offices in India [in 2019] as they tapped local talent with skills in newer areas such as digital and analytics. GICs have been growing at a faster pace than the broader outsourcing industry for many years, but COVID-19 is forcing organizations to re-evaluate their sourcing strategies.

We reached out to Sachin Kulkarni1 and Vinayak Sastri2 at IBM to seek their insights into the near and long-term implications of the global pandemic on GICs. IBM provides a wide range of service offerings and engagement models for clients with GICs and is working with them to meet the challenges of COVID-19.3 As reflected in their responses below, Sachin and Vinayak view the global pandemic as a Black Swan event that will have a major impact on GICs.

1. What steps have GICs been taking to manage the impact of the pandemic?

Sachin and Vinayak have seen the following steps taken to ensure business continuity, data security and employee safety:

Infrastructure

Security

People

2. How will GICs reopen facilities as lockdown restrictions are lifted?

Sachin and Vinayak have identified the following:

3. How will GICs will change over time and will organizations prefer certain locations?

Sachin and Vinayak anticipate the following areas of focus:

4. Will the pandemic change perceptions about the desirability of GICs vs. outsourcing?

Sachin and Vinayak place organizations into one of three categories and anticipate that each will be revisiting its insourcing, co-sourcing and outsourcing strategy:

For each category of organization, final decisions will involve an evaluation of sourcing options to balance cost, risk, business continuity, security, agility and access to global talent and capabilities; established GICs may be evaluated differently than relatively new GICs.

5. How will the pandemic affect the ability of GICs to retain and attract top talent?

Sachin and Vinayak make the following observations:

6. What long-term impacts do you think the pandemic will have on GICs?

Sachin and Vinayak predict different impacts on different types of organizations:

First moversorganizations with a culture of working remotely and investing in collaboration tools and the Cloud, including seamless connectivity and 24 x 7 availability and help desk support, which have communicated proactively with their employees and customers

Middle-of-the-packersorganizations with an on-premises working culture (but with some experience with remote employees) and limited investments in collaboration tools and the cloud, which took longer to communicate with their employees and customers and required more help from partners

Late Adoptersorganizations with little (if any) experience with remote employees and negligible investments in collaboration tools and the cloud, which took much longer to address challenges and now depend heavily on vendors (and their infrastructure and capabilities)

Overall, organizations will re-evaluate sourcing options to balance risk, access to global capability, cost, continuity of business, security, and business agility.

According to Sachin and Vinayak, when the dust settles, agile and resilient GICs could be the transformation engine for the organization in digital, analytics and other critical areas.

Pillsbury Observations:

The setting up of GICs involves thoughtful execution and planning to address many legal and compliance considerations, including international trade, corporate, tax, commercial, HR, real estate and operational matters under the laws applicable to both the organization and the GIC.

These considerations will also be critical when GICs are divested or transformed through vendor partnerships as a result of the pandemic. Experienced in-house, international and local counsel will need to work closely together to avoid costly missteps and to implement a legal strategy that achieves the business objectives of the organization.

1 Sachin is a Managing Partner and Global Transformation Centers (Captives) Leader at IBM.

2 Vinayak is an Associate Partner and Shared Services Transformation Leader at IBM.

3 IBMs Global Transformation Center offerings include the following engagement models: Design-Build-Operate-Transfer and Virtual Captive (to accelerate clients time-to-value to build new GICs); and Evolve and Reinvent (to transform existing in-house centers into effective GICs). Please note that the responses from Sachin and Vinayak represent their individual views only.

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COVID-19: Transforming Offshore Captives/Global Innovation Centers | Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP - JD Supra

SHORT TERM FORECAST

TODAY: Mostly sunny with a very warm afternoon; a touch more humid late. High: 89

TONIGHT: Mild and muggy as skies turn partly cloudy. Low: 65

WEDNESDAY: Partly sunny, breezy, hot and humid with an afternoon shower or t-storm. High: 91 Low: 71

FORECAST SYNOPSIS

Prepare to sweat! An area of high pressure responsible for a pleasant past couple of days will sit offshore for the next few, steering both temperatures and humidity levels up, up, and away. Tuesday is the transitional day. It may take until dusk for dew points to crawl out of the comfortable 50s. Meanwhile, temperatures take no time soaring through the upper 80s Tuesday afternoon, before breaking into the lower 90s for the first time since October of last year Wednesday. It's humid, too, so 90 feels even hotter. The humidity will stick around Thursday until a cold front clears the coast. That front brings the chance for some showers and thunderstorms later Wednesday and Thursday ahead of a drier and more comfortable Friday. However, the unsettled weather may make a comeback over the weekend.

DETAILED FORECAST

TUESDAY

As high pressure shifts offshore, southwest winds will turn the heat up on Tuesday, but the high humidity will be a little more gradual in its return. Highs will return to the upper 80s and some backyard thermometers could flirt with 90 degrees, though dew points will take a little longer to lift into the "muggy" range, probably not until late in the day or at night. So, the bulk of the day still feels nice, considering how humid June days can get, as we'll see first hand by Wednesday. Clear skies will continue through about midnight before patchy clouds develop ahead of an approaching warm front. The night will still be dry, but milder and muggier with lows in the middle 60s.

WEDNESDAY

Both southwest winds wrapping around an offshore high and the fact that we're sitting in the warm sector of a system will lead to a hot and humid hump day in the northern mid-Atlantic. Highs will land on either side of 90 degrees, all while dew points climb close to 70 degrees. It'll be a tough day to do any strenuous work or exercise outside. Much of the day will be dry as sunshine mixes with clouds. Winds may turn a little gusty in the afternoon out ahead of a cold front, the same front that picks up most of the moisture from what was once Tropical Storm Cristobal and sends its into southern Canada. But as this front inches closer late in the day Wednesday and moves closer still overnight, the chance for a few showers and thunderstorms will go up.

THURSDAY

The aforementioned cold front should continue tracking through and off to our east later Thursday. There are some timing differences with the various forecast models on the progression of this system, so at this time, well continue to allow for somewhat cloudy skies along with the chance for a few showers or thunderstorms Thursday, especially the first part of the day. If our front moves quicker however, its very well possible later Thursday ends up dry with some sunshine later in the day. Highs are expected to be in the low 80s and with a slower frontal passage, expect humidity to still be on the sticky side. If our front moves quicker however, then humidity should be more comfortable.

FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND

High pressure will build in from Canada and lead to less heat and humidity behind our front, which may just weaken and hang out off the East Coast into the weekend. However, a trough, or dip in the jet stream, will set up shop over the Great Lakes through the weekend, and there's even the chance a cut-off low could form. Remember we had one a few weeks back, and they are notoriously hard to predict. If and where that sets up will determine if our weekend is fairly dry and comfortable with a good deal of sunshine, or something a bit more unsettled. For now, after a dry Friday, the weekend forecast is a partly sunny one with a daily chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Hopefully, specifics can be determined once the details of a fairly complex weather pattern for June gets resolved.

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Turning up the heat and humidity as high pressure heads offshore - WFMZ Allentown

Wpd Taiwan and WeatherRisk Explore Inc. have signed a turnkey bird survey contract for the Yunlin offshore wind farm in Taiwan.

This March, wpd appointed WeatherRisk Explore to be responsible for the long-term and continuous bird surveys to understand the relationship between the wind farms operations and the surrounding bird ecology.

According to the companies, a lot of advanced technology is used to better understand the impact of turbines on birds and to protect the ecological environment as part of a collaboration with the Japan Weather Association (JWA).

Yunlin will feature 80 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW turbines, installed in the Taiwan Strait, some 8km west of the coast of Yunlin County.

The 640 MW project will be commissioned in two phases. The first phase with a 352 MW capacity will go online by the end of this year, while the 288 MW second phase is scheduled to be up and running in the third quarter of 2021.

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Wpd Awards Bird Survey Contract for Yunlin Offshore Wind Project - Offshore WIND

PGE Group has obtained grid connection terms for the 896 MW Baltica 1 offshore wind project in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea.

Polish transmission system operator Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne issued the terms concerning the technical connection conditions, including the connection capacity and investments in the development of transmission infrastructure.

The announcement comes after the wind farm received a location permit to build artificial islands, a spokesperson from PGE said.

A project plan detailing the schedule and budget is being made, which will enable the signature of a connection agreement, followed by environmental investigations, the company added.

The Baltica 1 offshore wind project is PGEs third concession area, which is located about 80km from the shore. It is planned to be operational after 2030.

The company is also developing the 1,498 MW Baltica 2 and the 1,048 MW Baltica 3 projects, for which the environment permits were secured in January. First power from the wind farms is expected to flow in 2026.

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Polish Offshore Wind Project Secures Grid Connection Terms - Offshore WIND

The investment marks a pivotal moment in the EIB's mission to become the EU's "climate bank", and is the first time it has provided financial backing to a French offshore wind farm it stated.

Located 13km off the coast of Normandy, the 71-turbine497MW Fcamp Fcamp (497MW) Offshoreoff Fcamp, Normandy, France, Europe Click to see full details project is being developed by a consortium made up of EDF Renewables, Enbridge and Wpd.

Last year, France's Council of State, the country's highest administrative court, gave Fcamp the green lightquashing a string of legal challenges that stretched back to 2012.

In total,Fcamp will cost 2 billion and is now expected to go online by 2023, it was announced last week.

The EUs money has been allocated as part of the banks European Fund for Strategic Investments, also known as the Juncker Plan.

According to the EIB press report, the wind farm will supply enough electricity to satisfy the needs of 770,000 people and create around 100 permanent jobs in maintenance at the nearby port.

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) announced last year that it would build an industrial offshore wind complex at the Port of Le Havre toproduce blades, generators and nacelles for the 8MW and 7MW turbines of Fcamp and other offshore wind projects at Courseulles, Saint-Brieuc, Dieppe-Le Trport and Yeu Noirmoutier.

Although the EIB has financed offshore wind projects in the EU before, this is the first time it has backing a project in France.

The investment has been made to reinforce the climate objectives set by the banks shareholders in November 2019, the EIBs vice-president Ambroise Fayolle explained.

Fayolle believes financing the Fcamp project marks an important milestone on the organisations journey to becoming the EU climate bank.

He added: Like other innovative projects that we are financing elsewhere in Europe, it consolidates our general expertise in fixed and floating offshore wind turbines.

The European economy commissioner, Paolo Gentiloni, said the project demonstrated what could be achieved under the European green deal. It also marked another step towards the EUs goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, he added.

Link:

EIB commits 450 million to French offshore wind farm - Windpower Monthly

ENGIE Fabricom and Iemants have started engineering work on the Hollandse Kust Noord (HKN) offshore transformer station, with construction work for the topside and the jacket scheduled to start in October.

As previously reported, TenneT TSO selected the ENGIE Fabricom Iemants joint venture to construct the offshore substation for the Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm in the Dutch North Sea through a European tender procedure.

The joint venture is also the preferred contractor for TenneTs Hollandse Kust (west) Alpha and the Hollandse Kust (west) Beta platforms.

Scope of Work

The scope of work for the Hollandse Kust Noord project consists of the engineering, procurement, construction, offshore installation, connection, and testing of the offshore transformer station.

The substation consists of a 45-metre-high jacket of 1,930 T and 870 T piles to be placed in 24-metre water depth, and a topside structure consisting of 4 decks weighing approximately 4,100 T. The topside structure is 47 metres long, 35 metres wide and 25 metres high.

Iemants, a subsidiary of Smulders, is responsible for the engineering, procurement, and construction of the steel structures for both the topside and the jacket.

All works will be performed inhouse, at the Smulders production facilities in Arendonk, Balen, and Hoboken in Belgium. The topside will be transferred to the ENGIE Fabricom yard for final assembly. The jacket will be assembled at the yard in Vlissingen, the Netherlands.

ENGIE Fabricom is responsible for the engineering, procurement, integration, construction and testing of all LV, MV, HV, and auxiliary systems for the jacket and the topside.

The engineering, procurement, construction, integration, and onshore testing for the topside systems will take place at the ENGIE Fabricom yard in Hoboken. For the jacket, these activities will take place in Vlissingen.

The load-out of the jacket is planned for the fall of 2021. The topside is scheduled to leave the yard in Hoboken in the spring of 2022.

Hans Schipper, joint ventures project manager for HKN: We are confident that the expertise of TenneT in these highly standardized 700 MW offshore transformer stations, in combination with the wide experience of the Joint Venture in developing offshore transformer stations over the last decades, will result in a safe and successful project conclusion. We are looking forward to working together with TenneT and wish to develop a long-lasting relationship, in the offshore wind industry.

Excerpt from:

ENGIE Fabricom - Iemants Get to Work on Hollandse Kust Noord Project - Offshore WIND

By Peter Millard, Laura Hurst and David Wethe on 6/5/2020

RIO DE JANEIRO (Bloomberg) - Aging offshore oil wells that once brought market prominence to Europe, the U.S. Gulf and Brazil are increasingly money losers that companies want shut down amid low oil prices and a struggling global economy. But the effort wont be cheap.

The cost worldwide: An estimated $104.5 billion by 2030, according to Wood Mackenzie Ltd. At least 23 platforms a year could be retired in the North Sea alone, Rystad Energy Inc. reported in May, while the national oil company in Brazil has said its planning to spend $6 billion to retire 18 platforms, pipelines and other infrastructure by 2025.

Companies cant just abandon aging offshore wells. In most cases, regulators who approved them required pricey guarantees to make sure theyre properly sealed, and there are environmental issues involved in their upkeep. That can mean the use of divers or robot submarines to plug wells and pipelines on the ocean floor, an expensive proposition, as well as cutting apart and moving steel platforms that can weigh as much as 17,000 tons.

Abandonment costs will haunt the industry in the years to come, especially if governments get tougher with parent company guarantees, said Marcelo de Assis, the head of Latin American upstream research at Wood Mackenzie Ltd. The crisis fast forwarded the situation.

The spectacular decline in North Sea production since it peaked in the 1990s has left so much equipment unused that, by 2025, oil companies will spend more on removing redundant equipment than developing new fields, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Costly Cleanup

Deepwater production was a new frontier for the oil industry in the 1980s and 1990s, and many of these projects are now reaching the end of their lives.

But the push to close offshore wells comes as the oil industry has suffered some major blows. They include a price war between oil giants Saudi Arabia and Russia that flooded the world with oil, a pandemic that destroyed demand and skepticism from investors who want less money spent on exploration and more returned to them.

At the same time, the U.S. shale boom has drastically lowered the cost of opening and operating a well on land, as well as closing one, compared with the price tag tied to wells offshore.

Despite a recent uptick in oil prices, they remain too low and volatile to lure buyers to the aging and small-producing fields Brazils Petroleo Brasileiro SA. and other deep-water operators are walking away from. The small- to mid-sized producers with low enough costs to turn a profit from exhausted oil fields are protecting their balance sheets, and banks are reluctant to provide funding.

A Queiroz Galvao SA offshore oil platform stands in the Guanabara Bay near Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, on Thursday, April 26, 2018. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) is scheduled to release industrial production figures on May 3.

In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, which generates about 15% of the nations output, explorers are expected to spend about $1 billion a year over the next half decade to decommission hundreds of wells, according to Wood Mackenzie.

While the collapse in oil prices is having an effect on more offshore wells permanently shut, theres also a push in the Gulf to extend the lives of some aging infrastructure. The key: Drilling new wells near existing platforms that can be fed by undersea pipelines as a way to cut costs.

Companies are doing everything they can to avoid abandoning facilities because thats very expensive, Justin Rostant, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said in a phone interview. Theyre just bringing in third-party production wherever they can to extend the life of these facilities.

It costs an average of $10 million per well in deepwater and about $500,000 a well in shallow waters to plug and abandon a well in the Gulf of Mexico, Rostant said. Most wells shut down in the U.S. Gulf are coming from shallow waters, where the wells are the oldest and have lost their ability to make money.

Meanwhile, the U.K. will be the leader in North Sea decommissioning, followed by Norway and Denmark. The U.K. is forecast to pay out more than 20 billion pounds ($26 billion) to close its platforms in the region by 2030.

Removing offshore platforms can be controversial. Royal Dutch Shell Plc has sought permission to leave the giant concrete legs of its iconic Brent field in the North Sea because it says removing them would pose a greater environmental risk. However, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as environmental group Greenpeace, have raised concerns over leaving the structures in the sea.

Brazils Goal

The goal in Brazil is to restore the environment as close to its original state as possible, Raphael Neves Moura, a superintendent at ANP, Brazils national petroleum agency, said during a web conference held by the Brazilian Petroleum Institute, a lobby group.

ANP introduced regulation in April to handle the influx of deserted equipment due to fallout from the pandemic. The agency will seek to find buyers for discarded fields before moving to abandonment, Moura said.

In a statement, Petrobras said it continues to seek buyers to take on assets its written off. Petrobras is planning to auction three Campos Basin platforms that date back to the 1980s for scrap metal in July. These platforms have been off line since 2015 or so, so werent part of the 62 shut since the pandemic.

In the first quarter, Petrobras wrote off 62 shallow water platforms, or about 75% of its fleet, as part of a 65 billion real ($12.5 billion) impairment. The wells to be closed only produced a combined 23,000 barrels a day, less than half of Petrobrass top wells in the so-called pre-salt region.

In Brazil, the Campos basin has been eclipsed by larger discoveries with higher-quality oil even deeper in the Atlantic, where Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras is focusing its investments. As a result production has plummeted at these fields, and Petrobras is carrying out stress tests at its remaining projects to weed out others that cant survive.

Rystad expects low service costs to encourage operators worldwide to clear out old equipment now that low oil prices have undermined incentives to extend them.

No matter how the millions of tons of steel and pipes are removed, governments are likely to step in to make sure tax payers arent the ones paying, said Wood Mackenzies Assis.

There is a push from regulators. There will be more pressure for financial guarantees, he said.

More:

Underperforming offshore wells rack up over $100 billion in abandonment liabilities worldwide - WorldOil

09 Jun 2020byDavid Foxwell

Japans first auction for offshore wind may take place as soon as September, but will be a floating wind project, not a bottom-fixed windfarm

Representatives of a law firm closely involved with the process and with the offshore wind industry in Japan as a whole said the Goto Island floating wind project, a small, 21-MW project, will probably now be the first project for which an auction takes place in Japan, but others will quickly follow.

Baker McKenzie co-head of its projects group and renewable and clean energy group Ean Mac Pherson and Naoki Nick Eguchi, head of the firms banking and finance practice group, said that although the small-scale project is not representative of the type of project that will form the bulk of the first round of offshore wind projects in Japan which will be bottom-fixed the Goto Island project in the far south of the country is likely to be the subject of Japans first auction because it is in Japans first designated promotion zone in general waters.

Promotion zones are areas designated by prefectures that want to build offshore wind. Many are keen to do so because they recognise that, in addition to providing much-needed clean energy, doing so will have industrial and employment benefits in parts of Japan that are economically challenged.

Other areas are close to becoming designated promotion zones and auctions will take place in these areas before long, they said. These would be for bottom-fixed wind energy. In addition to Goto Island, another 10 promotion zones have been proposed, mostly but not exclusively on the countrys east coast.

Akita, Noshiro Mitane and Oga, and Akira Yurihonjo on the west coast and Chosi/Chiba on the east coast are regarded as the most promising and most likely to secure designated promotion zone status in the near-term, enabling auctions to take place.

Mr Eguchi said it is the ambition of the Japanese Government to auction 1 GW of offshore wind capacity a year from 2020 onwards, which translates into an ambitious target of 10 GW of projects auctioned by 2030.

Ean Mac Pherson: "opportunities for foreign EPC companies shouldn't be ruled out"

As Baker McKenzies experts also noted, the terms and conditions for the auction are indicative of the kind of approach the authorities in Japan will take to offshore wind in the country and will be closely studied as a result.

Mr Eguchi and Mr Mac Pherson said the auction process would take a points-based approach and that the approach taken in the Goto Island floating wind tender could guide the way for subsequent auctions.

Mr Eguchi said although Japan is only now about to embark on auctions for offshore wind energy, the Japanese market has potential to become Asias largest, such is the countrys huge sea area and the potential wind resource in the country. It could, he said, one day become one of the largest offshore wind markets in the world.

Mr Eguchi said the Covid-19 pandemic and the declaration of a state of emergency in Japan has had an effect on progress towards upcoming auctions, but he does not expect them to be delayed by long. He said the short delays brought about as a result of the declaration of the state of emergency, which made travel outside Tokyo difficult, could even help the process and provide more time for consultation with stakeholders. The state of emergency was ended in late May.

Mr Mac Pherson said consortia have already formed to bid for the first round of bottom-fixed auctions in Japan and did not rule out involvement of leading European EPC companies in construction of Japanese offshore windfarms.

Naoki Eguchi: "Goto Island will probably be the first auction because it is in the first designated promotion zone in general waters"

Mr Eguchi said it was true that overseas EPC companies do not have much of track record in Japan, but the countrys solar power industry proves that non-Japanese developer and EPC companies can play a part in the renewable energy sector.

Solar has been good for foreign developers, said Mr Eguchi. They have made good money. Foreign EPC companies are actively talking to Japanese companies about joint ventures.

Mr Mac Pherson and Mr Eguchi said Japan does not have formal requirements for local content, but that local involvement in projects would undoubtedly be important.

Mr Mac Pherson said he anticipates that, as in many other countries where offshore wind is being developed, offshore wind hubs would emerge to support what he expects to be fast growth in the offshore wind industry in the country.

If the Goto auction or whichever is the first is a success, Mr Eguchi said, other auctions for projects in other prefectures would quickly follow and the Japanese market will quickly get going and have lots of options.

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Goto Island floater in the frame for first Japanese offshore wind auction - Riviera Maritime Media

Clean Power

Published on June 8th, 2020 | by Tina Casey

June 8th, 2020 by Tina Casey

The US state of Maine has been eyeballing Scotland for inspiration in the offshore wind energy department, and it looks like they have some major catching up to do. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, Scotland just took a giant step forward on its largest wind farm yet, the 1.14 gigawatt Seagreen 1 project. Meanwhile, Maine has yet to plant its first steel in the water. Nevertheless, the Pine Tree State may have a secret weapon up its sleeve.

Scotlands massive Seagreen 1 offshore wind project takes shape with help from Total (screenshot via Seagreen Wind Energy)

Offshore wind farms are a dime a dozen these days, but the Seagreen project is quite the headline-grabber. Size is one thing, and well get to that other thing in a minute.

Engineered by a subsidiary of SSE Renewables under the moniker Seagreen Wind Energy, the plans call for a massive cluster of offshore wind turbines in UKs Firth of Forth Zone.

Phase One alone will generate enough power for the equivalent of 1 million homes through two wind farms, dubbed Seagreen Alpha and Seagreen Bravo. Thats about 40% of all the homes in Scotland, according to SSE.

Thats just for starters. Fully built out, Phase 1 could add up to 1.5 gigawatts.

So, did the COVID-19 outbreak disrupt those plans? Evidently not. In a flurry of announcements last week, SSE doubled down on its decision to move forward on investing in the offshore project.

SSE also announced a deal with the firm Seaway 7 to do the heavy lifting (literally, the heavy lifting), and it put the final touches on a turbine contract. For those of you keeping score at home, Vestas drew the winning ticket.

The other thing that makes Seagreen noteworthy is that it is being pushed forward by companies that previously focused on the fossil fuel area. SSE Renewables parent SSE closed down its last remaining coal power plant earlier this year, though it still has a formidable presence in gas-fired power.

In addition, last week Total went in on the Seagreen project with a 51% stake.

Laying claim to 1.1 gigawatts of offshore wind in one fell swoop is pretty impressive for a fossil fuel company. However, thats peanuts compared to Totals goal of 25 gigawatts in renewable generation capacity by 2025. Total currently has 5 gigawatts in renewables under its belt, so doing the math, they have their work cut out for them.

The Maine wind power connection comes in because earlier this year, right about the time when the COVID-19 outbreak hit the US in force, a contingent of US officials, including Maine Governor Janet Mills, set sail for Scotland, to take a tour of the countrys wind industry, including its floating wind turbine activity.

Governor Mills was already a renewable energy supporter and apparently the trip provided her with additional momentum.

Just one week after the trip, on March 11, Mills announced her administrations intention to assess the seaport town of Searsport as an international wind industry hub.

Maine is well-positioned to become a leader in the offshore wind industry just as Scotland has, said Governor Mills, with an eyeball on both the US coast and the EU markets and the potential for building a $1 trillion industry.

If that sounds pretty ambitious, it is. Other east coast states are already pushing the offshore envelope, notably New York State which is also the host of the national Offshore Wind Energy R&D Consortium.

Thats where the secret weapon comes in. Maine has been cultivating its own homegrown floating wind turbine technology through the firm Aqua Ventus, and aims to be the first US state to achieve commercial operation.

That would certainly put Maine on the offshore map. Floating wind turbines come into play where the water is too deep for conventional turbine platforms, which translates into a more expansive reach for offshore development.

Aqua Ventus nailed down a power take-off contract with local utility CMP last fall, which was a big step for the floating wind project.

On the other hand, unresolved issues with Maines important fishing industry could put a damper on things despite Governor Mills support for offshore wind development, so stay tuned for more on that.

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Image (screenshot): via Seagreen.

Tags: Electricity, Energy, Maine, Scotland, Seagreen Wind Energy, SSE Renewabless, Total, united states, US, Vestas

Tina Casey specializes in military and corporate sustainability, advanced technology, emerging materials, biofuels, and water and wastewater issues. Tinas articles are reposted frequently on Reuters, Scientific American, and many other sites. Views expressed are her own. Follow her on Twitter @TinaMCasey and Google+.

Read more here:

Green Recovery, Offshore Wind Edition: 1.14 GW Love Letter From Scotland To Maine - CleanTechnica

OPEC members and their non-OPEC allies, together called OPEC+, agreed to a production cut extension until July-end. The 9.7-million barrels per day (bpd) of oil production cut had a somewhat positive effect on crude prices, which revived from the negative zone as the May futures market tanked on rising inventories. Extension of the output curb is a huge positive for the market as this time, producers who failed to comply earlier will compensate.

Better Compliance Ahead

Countries like Iraq, Nigeria, Angola and Kazakhstan that exceeded production quotas in May and June are now expected to not only deepen cuts but also compensate for their extra output in July, August, and September. This move was much needed, given the fact that global storage capacity is under stress. However, ceasefire in Libyas civil war can bring back more oil supplies to the market. This will likely reduce the effect of the output cut extension.

Improving Demand

With the supply side showing signs of stabilization, the demand side of the market is required to play a pivotal role in pushing crude prices to above $50 per barrel from the current level of around $40. The gradual lifting of coronavirus-induced lockdowns by global economies will push demand for energy products higher, significantly drawing more from the inventories.

The process of reopening of economies can take time. Scott D. Sheffield, CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources Company PXD, stated that the reopening of several economies will result in a rebound in demand to the range of 94-95 million bpd in the coming days. However, it will likely take two to three years for demand to reach pre-pandemic levels.

Unemployment Declines

The United States is bouncing back from the shutdowns, giving investors reason for more optimism. Importantly, the U.S. economy added 2.5 million jobs in May, dragging the unemployment rate down to 13.3% (might include a misclassification error of 3 points) from 19.7% (adjusted) in April. Even after making adjustments, the data shows positive signs, contradicting most forecasters prediction of near 20% unemployment in May. The declining unemployment rate is delighting for investors in the energy sector as it would translate to higher energy demand.

Low Price Blocking New Wells

Its true that as crude prices are recovering from historic lows to around $40 per barrel, the early signs of shale recovery are in sight. EOG Resources, Inc. EOG, one of the biggest shale producers, is expected to bring much of the curtailed production back online in the third quarter. Another shale player, Parsley Energy, Inc. PE also intends to resume a vast majority of its curbed production this month.

Although these producers will likely resume output, it is expected in the form of opening up of paused wells rather than drilling brand new wells. The current price level of $40 per barrel is discouraging most of the producers to dig new wells. As the wells in the shale plays have relatively lower life span compared with other resources, these are anticipated to dry eventually. As such, analysts are expecting a decline in shale output in the long run, given that price remains in the current levels. That might not be the case for producers in offshore resources.

Oil producers with significant offshore exposure are expected to gain a lot from their wells under the sea beds that have a longer life span and low decline rates than shale wells. Due to their long reserve lives, offshore producers will be able to maintain production levels without incurring the cost of digging new wells. As such, with demand expected to improve with withdrawal of lockdowns, offshore producers are expected to gain further.

Our Picks

One stock with heavy offshore activities is Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM. Its discoveries in the prolific Stabroek Block, located off the coast of Guyana, are remarkable. Moreover, this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company projects daily Guyana oil production volumes of more than 750,000 gross barrels by 2025. Importantly, the pandemic hasnt affected current operations offshore Guyana, as revealed by the company. You can seethe complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

W&T Offshore, Inc. WTI is a leading oil and natural gas explorer with operations primarily focused on resources located off the coast of Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The prolific oil and gas offshore fields in the GoM shelf have been primarily boosting the companys production since inception. New discoveries in those fields, located at a water depth of 500 feet, will likely boost its production further. It currently has a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

Story continues

See original here:

3 Offshore Oil Stocks to Buy as OPEC+ Extends Production Cuts - Yahoo Finance

The oil market collapse caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is set to delay several oil and gas developments in Western Europe, putting capital expenditure in the offshore sector on a continued downwards trajectory through 2022. In light of the postponement of multiple final investment decisions (FIDs) on projects and lower investments in offshore oil and gas, coupled with increased activity in the offshore wind sector, independent research agency Rystad Energy expects that the two markets will reach parity as soon as next year.

We anticipate that capital expenditure (capex) on offshore wind will surpass upstream O&G spending in Europe in 2022, the energy research firm stated.

The analysis details that the Capex towards offshore wind in Europe surpassed the USD 10 billion mark in 2015 and has since hovered in the range of USD 10 billion to USD 15 billion per year. Annual capex levels are expected to rise from around USD 11.1 billion in 2019 to around USD 13.8 billion in 2020, USD 18.2 billion in 2021, and more than USD 22 billion in 2022.

While the abundant oil supply and reduced demand have taken their toll on the oil price, and consequently annual capex towards upstream offshore oil and gas in Europe is expected to decline from more than USD 25 billion in 2019 to less than USD 17 billion in 2022.

Offshore wind development in Europe is expected to flourish in the coming years as countries strive to reach their ambitious 2030-targets and large investments will be required, said Alexander Flotre, Rystad Energys project manager for offshore wind. Commissioning activity is expected to increase towards 2025, and projects expected to be operational in 2023-2025 are already driving up capital expenditure in 2020. This trend will continue in the coming years.

Historically, Europe has been the key market for offshore wind development, accounting for almost 80 percent of global installed capacity at the end of 2019. While strong growth is expected in China, South East Asia and the US in the years to come, Europe is expected to maintain its number one position through 2025 in terms of installed capacity. From an installed base of 21.9 gigawatts (GW) in 2019, European capacity is expected to increase to more than 53 GW by 2025, constituting an annual growth rate of 16 percent. While Europes ambitious plans for 2030 will require new tender rounds in the coming years, most of the commissioning activity towards 2025 is expected to come from projects that have already been approved.

The UK is the largest country in Europe in terms of offshore wind capacity and is expected to drive a big portion of the growth towards 2025, with mega-projects such as Dogger Bank, Sofia and additional Hornsea phases currently on the cards, among others. Other established countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Denmark are also expected to contribute to the increased spending levels, while newcomers such as France and Poland will add to the growth in the 2023 to 2025 period.

Many service companies have already transitioned towards concentrating increasingly on offshore wind activities, compared to their legacy oil and gas business. For these players, the growth in the offshore wind market provides a well-timed cushion that softens the blow of declining investments in the traditional oilfield services sector, Flotre concluded.

See the original post here:

Offshore Wind Capex in Europe to Surpass Upstream O&G by 2022: Rystad - Saurenergy

Energia Wind 2020 srl, part of the Italian energy company 3R Energia srl, has submitted an application to the Italian government for a 30-year concession of an area in Italys sector of the Adriatic Sea, where it plans to build a 330 MW offshore wind farm.

The application outlines a site some off the coasts of Rimini, Riccione, Misano Adriatico and Cattolica municipalities, in the stretch of sea pertaining to the Port Authority of Rimini.

The project, dubbed Rimini, would consist of 59 wind turbines of a 5 MW class, with 58 of them having a nominal output of 5.6 MW and one having an output of 5.2 MW.

The wind turbines would be supported by monopile foundations of some 4.8 metres in diameter, installed in water depths of up to 35 meters.

Furthermore, the project would feature two circular offshore substations with a diameter of 40 metres each, and 20 kilometres of subsea electric cables which would connect the wind turbines and group them into two main sections of 151.2 MW and 178.8 MW to be hooked to the offshore substations.

The Rimini offshore wind farm would then be connected to land with two export cables from the substations coming together into a single route around ten kilometres from the coast.

Once the export cable reaches the mainland, it would cross the beach for about 160 metres to be connected to the onshore electrical infrastructure, most likely in Bellariva di Rimini.

The application was filed on 30 March to the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

On 4 June, the ministry and the Port Authority of Rimini put the project plans for public consultation that will run until 4 July. Stakeholder feedback has been invited for observations or oppositions regarding the use of sea (traffic, navigation, fishing, etc.).

The environmental impact assessment of the final project will take place in a subsequent phase, in which the stakeholders input will again be invited in these terms.

Read more here:

Italy: Application Submitted for 330 MW Offshore Wind Farm in Adriatic Sea - Offshore WIND

When it comes to unprecedented moments in seafood industry history, Mays executive order from President Donald Trump is certainly near the top.

The needs and desires of the US fishing and aquaculture sectors have traditionally not been the focus of Oval Office inhabitants, making Trumps May 6 proclamation a truly unique moment.

Its not uncommon for US presidents to use executive orders to unilaterally pursue policy objectives, but that doesnt lessen the significance or the potential of Trumps Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth decree as far as its impact on the seafood industry, particularly the US aquaculture sector.

While the order seeks to streamline fisheries regulations and promote more fair seafood trade, much of the value of this executive order will be determined by whether the United States evolves into the aquaculture powerhouse it has been threatening to become for nearly 30 years.

The roots of the current executive orders aquaculture component can be traced back to 2005, when US Senate Commerce Committee Co-Chairmen Senators Ted Stevens of Alaska and Daniel Inouye of Hawaii introduced the National Offshore Aquaculture Act of 2005.

The bill, which became a template for future iterations of similar legislation, was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and laid out a permitting process for offshore aquaculture development in US federal waters. It also encouraged investment and research in the sector.

The latest attempt to lift US aquaculture off the mat is a bill known as the Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture" (AQUAA) Act, which has been crawling its way through Congress since being first introduced in 2018. It seeks to establish an Office of Marine Aquaculture within NOAAs National Marine Fisheries Service to streamline aquaculture facilities permits, as well as help fund research and extension services for several existing aquaculture priorities.

A similar version was re-introduced in March by Representatives Steven Palazzo of Mississippi and Collin Peterson of Minnesota, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. Expectations are a Senate version of the measure could be introduced this session.

The likelihood of any bills passage this session is low. The coronavirus pandemic and the upcoming presidential election have members of Congress focused elsewhere.

But the signing of the presidents executive order is likely to pump new muscle into the bill when the 117 th Congress convenes next January. It is impossible to know now whether Trump will still be president or whether a Democrat will rule the White House, and what impact that might have on the executive order and the bill. President Trump is noted for his repeal of many Obama-era executive orders.

Nevertheless, the executive order and the AQUAA Act are now intertwined and backed by bi-partisan and new environmental NGO support, giving it perhaps the best chance such a bill will ever have of becoming law.

Pushing a piece of legislation through Congress is one thing but getting the ear and the attention of the presidents advisors is something entirely different. During his confirmation hearing in January 2017 Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross put a spotlight on the seafood industry, sending a signal that the White House was listening.

Given the enormity of our coastlines, given the enormity of our freshwater, I would like to try to figure out how we can become much more self-sufficient in fishing and perhaps even a net exporter," he said during the hearing.

A year later, Ross amplified this message during a budget hearing, saying the United States should be careful when importing seafood from countries that don't have similar aquaculture standards. He also said the United States could reduce the seafood trade deficit by pushing for maximum sustainable catch from its own fisheries, a message he continues to deliver.

With congressional willingness and a new receptive administration at the helm, all that was needed was a concerted industry push. It came in December of 2017 when leading executives from Sysco, Red Lobster, High Liner, feed-giant Cargill, Pacific Seafood, Taylor Shellfish and others formed the group Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS).

The group contracted with lobbyist Margaret Henderson -- who was vice president of government relations at the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) from 2005 to 2010 -- to help mount a political charge to address US aquaculture development.

The timing couldnt have been better. The Trump administration had released its 2018 -2022 strategic plan, which included a section on developing aquaculture in the United States.

A perfect storm was in the making, as the industry strengthened ties with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Presidents Office of Domestic Policy.

So where do we go from here?

While the executive order makes one mention of land-based fish farming in its definition of what aquaculture is, the proclamation is clearly focused on boosting offshore ventures. A bit ironic given the amount of money pouring into US land-based projects.

Nevertheless, the first step will be getting Congress to pass some version of the AQUAA Act and for the president to sign it.

With a November election hanging in the air, it is unknown whether Trump will still be president. If there is a change in the White House, it, too, is unclear whether the goals of the executive order will go forward with the new administration.

Nevertheless, the US aquaculture industry is closer than it has ever been to launching a new era of offshore fish farming, but yet it is still a long way away from this becoming a reality.

Any comments, complaints, retaliatory rants, please feel free to email me at: john.fiorillo@intrafish.com

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Offshore aquaculture has Trump's backing, but that's just the beginning - IntraFish

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New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Monday conducted searches on the premises of the promoter, directors, CFO and auditor of the Cox & Kings Group (CKG) in Mumbai, which is allegedly involved in the Rs 3,642-crore Yes Bank fraud case.

Cox & Kings, the ED alleged, had created multiple layers of onshore and offshore subsidiaries across the globe, through which it siphoned off money.

The ED also alleged that the company forged its consolidated financials by falsifying the balance sheets of the overseas subsidiaries to get loans.

A formal complaint in this regard was filed on 18 March by Yes Bank, and during investigation irregularities were noticed in relation to the loan sanctioned to Cox & Kings Group.

The ED said in a statement that it searched premises of Ajay Ajit Peter, Pesi Patel, Abhishek Goenka, Anil Khandelwal and Naresh Jain, promoter/directors/CFO/auditor of Cox & Kings Group in Mumbai in Yes Bank fraud case of Rs 3642 crores under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

According to the ED, Cox & Kings Ltd (CKL), India, had an outstanding loan of Rs 563 crore, while Ezeego One Travel and Tours Ltd (EOTTL), India, had an outstanding of Rs 1,012 crore. Moreover, Cox & Kings Financial Services Ltd (CKFSL), India, had an outstanding loan of Rs 422 crore, Prometheon Enterprise Limited, UK, had an outstanding of Rs 1,152 crore and Malvern Travel Ltd, UK, of Rs 493 crore.

Also read: In Yes Bank crisis, you cant miss the ugly realities of Indias private sector lenders

According to the ED, Malvern Travel Limited, UK, an entity of CKG, had an outstanding of Rs 493 crore, which submitted the forged bank statement of RBS Bank, UK, State Bank of India, UK, and forged end-use certificates of BDO LLP (Statutory Auditor of the UK-based Entity) to avail the loan from Yes Bank.

According to the ED, this forgery was pointed out by KPMG, the administrator of this UK-based entity. It said the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange were informed about this in writing.

The statutory auditor of the Prometheon Enterprise Limited, UK (PEL- a subsidiary of CKG) was Raffingers UK LLP, and the financials of PEL were sent to India by fictitious domain name impersonating the current officials of Raffingers UK LLP. For this, Raffingers UK LLP filed a criminal complaint to the National Crime Agency, UK, an ED official said.

According to the ED, after CKL defaulted on the loan, the lenders appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers for forensic audit, but the management did not cooperate.

However, based on the limited data available with them, PWC confirmed falsification of accounts, overstating the sales figures and understating the debt figures, fictitious transactions etc, a senior ED official said.

PWC reported that from FY15 to FY19, sales of Rs 3,908 crores were made to 15 non-existent, fictitious customers. Majority of collection shown in ledgers from Ezeego were not found in the bank statements, the senior official added.

According to the ED, the PWC report found another 147 sets of customers to be suspicious and non-existent.

Anil Khandelwal, CFO of CKL, diverted Rs 1,100 crore to Alok Industries Ltd without any approval of the board, the officer said.

The ED further claimed that CKG sold Holiday Break Education Limited, UK, another subsidiary for Rs 4,387 crore, and instead of discharging the liability of the bank, it siphoned off the majority of the money.

From this siphoning, USD 15.34 million was transferred to Kuber Investment Mauritius Pvt Ltd, which was controlled by Peter Kerker, the senior ED officer said.

From Ezeego, Rs 150 crore was diverted to Redkite Capital Private Limited, which was promoted by Khandelwal and Naresh Jain, internal auditor of CKL. This fund diverted to Redkite was used to buy a controlling stake in Tourism Finance Corporation Of India Ltd, a listed non-banking financial company, the officer added.

Also read: Yes Bank rescue is like Hotel California You can enter but cant exit

The ED registered a money laundering case against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor and others on 7 March on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI.

In the FIR, it was alleged that between April and June 2018, Yes Bank had invested Rs 3,700 crore in the short-term debentures of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL).

Simultaneously, Kapil Wadhawan, MD of DHFL, allegedly paid a kickback of Rs 600 crores to Rana Kapoor and his family members in the garb of loan given by DHFL to DOIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, also a Rana Kapoor Group Company.

In addition, the FIR said, Yes Bank Ltd also sanctioned a loan of Rs 750 crore to RKW Developers Group, which is beneficially owned by Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhawan and their family members. This loan was allegedly siphoned off by Wadhawans through their shell companies and it was never used for the declared purpose.

Investigation conducted under PMLA revealed the role of Rana Kapoor in money laundering and he, therefore, was arrested by the ED on 8 March, the ED said.

Also read: Moral of Yes Bank collapse story: Money makes you do things you dont want to

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Cox & Kings created layers of onshore and offshore subsidiaries to siphon off money: ED - ThePrint

09 June 2020

NovoJuris Legal

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Pursuant tothe recent notification by the Central Board of Direct Taxes("CBDT"), there has been an amendment tothe income tax rules in relation tothe minimum remunerationpayable by an offshore fund to its India based fund manager("Fund Manager").

Income-TaxAct provides for a special taxation regime for certain eligibleinvestment funds, in the context of their fund managers beinglocated in India. To further encourage fund management from India,Section 9A of the Income-Tax Act, 1961, subject to otherconditions, was introduced to provide safe harbour rules whichfacilitated onshore management of offshore funds; thereby implyingthat, an offshore fund is not categorised as a resident in Indiasimply because its fund manager undertaking fund managementactivities on behalf of the offshore fund is located inIndia.

Previously,as a condition under the law, an offshore fund was required toensure that remuneration paid to the Fund Manager is not less thanthe arm's length price. This condition has been supersededafter April 1, 2019 and the remuneration thresholds have beenrevised to refine the provisions of the Act.The prevalentmethodology in relation to the minimum remuneration is tabulatedbelow:

OffshoreFund

Minimumremuneration payable to the Fund Manager

Category IForeign Portfolio Investor

atleast0.10%of the assets under management (i.e. theannual average of the monthly average of the opening and closingbalances of the value of such part of the fund which is managed bythe Fund Manager)

othereligible investment funds

i)0.3% of the assets under management; or

ii)10% of profits derived by such fund in excess ofthepre-defined threshold beyond which the fund agrees to paya share of the profits earned by the fund from the managementactivity undertaken by the Fund Manager (i.e the specified hurdlerate), where the remuneration is only income or profit linked;or

iii)50% of the management fee,attributable to the managementactivity undertaken by the Fund Manager, as reduced by the amountincurred towards operational expenses including distributionexpenses, if any.

However, incase the amount of remuneration is lower than the amount determinedas per the amended rules, the fund will be entitled to avail theopportunity to apply to the CBDT seeking approval for that loweramount to be the amount of remuneration. Upon receipt of suchapplication from the fund, the CBDT may, after considering therelevant facts, approve such lower amount as theremuneration.

Additionally,pursuant to the notification, the Fund Manager is also required toobtain a duly verified report from an accountant in the mannerspecified in Form No. 3CEJA, in respect of any activity undertakenby the Fund Manager for the fund. The report procured from anaccountant must certify that the fee received by the Fund Manageris in compliance with the prescribed rules.

Itmust be noted that the above regime is only applicable in relationto offshore funds which undertake fund management activities fromIndia and is not relevant in any other scenario.

Theincome-tax notification can be read here.

The content of this article is intended to provide a generalguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be soughtabout your specific circumstances.

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Courtesy of Hermitage Offshore

By The Maritime Executive 06-05-2020 09:51:08

Hermitage Offshore Services became the latest company in the offshore sector to issue a dire financial outlook. The company said it has engaged financial advisors to provide consultation and has commenced discussions with its lenders.

The owner of 23 vessels consisting of 10 platform supply vessels, two anchor handling tug supply vessels, and 11 crew boats that primarily operate in the North Sea or the West Coast of Africa, said that current circumstances give rise to substantial doubt about the companys ability to continue as a going concern.

In reporting first quarter results, the company cited the outbreak of COVID-19 coupled with the abrupt deterioration in the price of crude oil resulting, which prompted significant reductions of both current and planned capital expenditure outlays from major oil producers throughout the world. Consequently, it said, the markets in which the company's vessels operate, particularly in the North Sea, have come under significant pressure in the form of reduced spot market rates and utilization, higher lay-up activity, and contract cancellations and renegotiations.

Hermitage became just the latest company in parts of the offshore sector to raise concerns. At the beginning of the week, offshore rig operator Seadrill said that it would voluntarily delist from the New York Stock Exchange followed by issuing its own going concernwarning for investors, citing the fundamental market imbalance between rig supply and demand.

Numerous companies related to the offshore industry have also announced cutbacks in their workforces. Subsea 7 announced this week that it would reduce its headcount by about 3,000 employees during the second quarter out of a global workforce of 12,000. In the North Sea, Maersk Drilling announced about 300 layoffs in April and another 150 in May. In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil patch, the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association indicates that its members have already laid off as much as a quarter of its workforce.

Siem Offshore, which operates a fleet of 35 vessels serving the oil and gas industry, announced in April that it has entered into a standstill agreement with its secured lenders in Europe and Norway as a first step toward improving cash flow and liquidity to maintain operations. Siem, however, must also obtain a similar agreement with its secured lenders in Brazil and Canada as well as obtaining approval from its bondholders to defer payments and suspend their acceleration rights.

After years of struggling with oversupply and weak demand, many analysts point to the challenges in the current economic downturn from the global pandemic as causing the current collapse in the industry.

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Hermitage Offshore Becomes Latest to Issue "Going Concern" Warning - The Maritime Executive