2. Offshore Banking in Singapore

When Singapore gained independence half a century ago, it was a backwater with no natural resources.

Today, it is one of the leading financial centers in the world.

Considering Singapores foreign reserves and sovereign wealth fund, the countrys financial position is exceptional, with net assets well over 100% of GDP.

In short, there is no chance Singapore is going broke any time soon.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is also solvent, and over the past few decades has proven to be a wise financial regulator.

Thats why Singapore has never had a banking failure in its history, ever.

And while past performance is no guarantee of future results, the entire banking system continues to maintain conservative levels of capitalization and liquiditycertainly much more than banks in the West.

It remains an oasis of financial stability. Its banks are well supervised and well regulated.

We wouldnt hesitate opening an offshore bank account in Singapore.

That being said, in the past you could open an excellent bank account in Singapore without even leaving home, but it has gotten much harder over the past few years.

Nowadays you will have to visit the island state in person andmany banks require substantial minimum deposits now.

First, lets get the elephant out of the room.

Unless youve been living under a rock, you are without a doubt aware of the Panama Papers scandal.

Thanks to that, Panama is suffering from an image problem.

Yes, theres a long list of politicians and crooks who used the services of the Mossack Fonseca law firm to hide income or immorally acquired funds.

But most of the Panama Papers uproar is just ballyhooing by people who dont understand (or dont want to understand) how offshore works... or why its so essential to the global economy.

Panama is a 100% dollarized economy and you will be dealing with US dollars as a depositor there.

On top of that Panama is just a short flight away from North America, so the physical presence requirement can be easily met if you reside in the States.

We have spent weeks crunching the numbers and visiting multiple banks in the country, and we can tell you that Panamas banking sector regardless of what ill-informed, financially illiterate journalists report is on solid footing.

Panamanian banks are liquid and well capitalized. Additionally, the governments debt position of 39.1% is pretty manageable.

Here at Sovereign Man we focus on providing objective, rational advice. Here it is:

The Panama Papers scandal should not deter you from considering banking in Panama if that is a jurisdiction that works for you.

On top of that Panama is the easiest place in the world to establish a second residency, which means you can knock out two major Plan B needs with just one visit.

A tiny German-speaking principality sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria, Liechtenstein, like its Swiss neighbor, has perfected the art of banking.

Liechtenstein has long been known as one of the top asset protection and private banking jurisdictions in the world.

The country is in compliance with all major directives and treaties for anti-money laundering and tax regulation initiatives, and it is rightly seen today as a well-regulated, blue-chip, offshore (technically onshore) destination.

Liechtenstein does not bother providing transactional banking to non-residents and focuses instead on high-end services (and does them extremely well).

If you are looking for a private bank, rather than a transactional bank account, we think Liechtenstein should be on your radar.

Not a single bank in Liechtenstein needed ANY assistance from the state during the global financial crisis. The countrys banks are generally conservative and well run.

Unfortunately, only a few of Liechtensteins banks have gone through the trouble and expense of setting up entities licensed as investment advisors with the SEC. Those few are the only ones able to take US persons as clients.

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Offshore Banking in 2017 Where, How & Why | Sovereign Man

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson / Getty Images

BY: Ali Meyer August 23, 2017 11:50 am

The Taxpayer Advocate Service, a division of the IRS, says the agency assumes individuals with offshore accounts are suspect of fraudulent activity.

"The National Taxpayer Advocate has previously raised a number of issues regarding implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the IRS's international withholding and refund policies," the division states in its report to Congress.

This act, according to the IRS, is an effort to prevent tax evasion by individuals who have financial assets and other accounts offshore. For those who have assets more than $50,000 offshore, the act requires that they report information about them on their tax return.

The National Taxpayer Advocate says individuals who are subject to this law are treated by the IRS as if they are suspected of fraud: "Lacking either statistically valid data or analytical justification, the IRS has adopted a coercive approach to international taxpayers, reflecting an assumption that all such taxpayers are suspect of fraudulent activity."

"Financial organizations face substantial record-keeping burdens and economic risks as a result of the manner in which the IRS has implemented FATCA," the report continues. "This has prompted some financial organizations and their representatives to energetically seek repeal of the legislation."

In addition, "A return by the IRS from its current withholding and enforcement orientation to its prior information gathering approach would reduce the burdens placed on FFIs and potentially minimize some of the remaining FATCA opposition."

Chris Edwards, director of Tax Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, says the act should be repealed: "Not just the IRS, but Congress, seems to assume that Americans are guilty just because they hold foreign financial accounts. But holding foreign accounts is integral to international business activities and foreign trade. FATCA is a bureaucratic abomination, and should be repealed."

Original post:

Report: IRS Assumes All Individuals With Offshore Accounts Are Suspect of Fraudulent Activity - Washington Free Beacon

Refugees and asylum seekers protest inside the Manus Island detention centre. The ACT government has passed a motion describing offshore processing centres as unsafe and degrading.

The ACT government has offered to resettle refugees from Australias offshore detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru.

A motion passed the unicameral ACT legislative assembly, without division, declaring that the ACT government is willing and ready to settle refugees and asylum seekers from Manus Island and Nauru in Canberra as part of a national program of resettlement.

The motion, put by Greens MLA and minister for justice Shane Rattenbury, said the offshore processing centres were inhumane and degrading and had been unequivocally shown to be unsafe.

Refugees in these processing centres have been subjected to violent attacks, sexual violence, inadequate medical care, and harassment of mothers, fathers and children as young as six.

The motion was unanimously supported by Labor and Greens members in the chamber. Liberal members did not rise against it or call a vote, effectively abstaining.

The ACT is the only Australian state or territory to have declared itself a refugee welcome zone, one of 148 zones across Australia, including shires and councils from every state.

The declaration is likely to have little practical impact. Decisions on granting visas are the bailiwick of the commonwealth, not state or territory governments. Amnesty International Australia said it hoped the ACTs commitment would establish a precedent for other states and territories.

This sends a strong message to prime minister Turnbull and immigration minister Dutton that their deliberately abusive policies are not welcome and that they must come to an end, Amnesty refugee campaigner Ming Yu Hah said.

Refugees and people seeking asylum who Australia has trapped on Nauru and Manus Island are not safe and further tragedy is inevitable unless Australia acts responsibly.

About 2,000 refugees and asylum seekers are held on Australias offshore immigration islands of Nauru and Manus, either in the regional processing centres or in communities.

Three pregnant refugees held on Nauru who have requested terminations and have been recommended by doctors for transfer to Australia, remain on the island, after being refused transfers by the Nauru hospital overseas medical referral (OMR) committee.

More than 50 refugees and asylum seekers are on the OMR list but have been refused transfers or not considered, raising concerns among medical and departmental staff.

There is particular medical disquiet over pregnancy terminations being referred to the OMR committee. Pregnancy terminations are illegal on devoutly Christian Nauru, and the hospitals doctors are essentially being asked to approve a procedure overseas that is illegal on the island.

Psychiatrists treating the pregnant women have raised concerns the women may self-harm, commit suicide, or attempt a home abortion if they are denied access to the procedure.

The Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians have both said refugees and asylum seekers needing advanced medical care should immediately be brought to Australia.

The opposition immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann and Labor senator Lisa Singh, have both written to the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, over the delayed medical transfers.

Neumann wrote he was concerned by the imposition of an additional step reference to the hospital OMR committee for politically sensitive medical transfers.

I seek your urgent assurance that asylum seekers and refugees residing in Australian-funded offshore processing centres, in particular women and children in Nauru, will have access to medical transfers when required.

Singh wrote the Australian government was aware refugees and asylum seekers held offshore were consistently exposed to harm, violence and abuse and questioned, too, the involvement of the OMR committee in approving terminations.

What is the rationale for this decision by the Australian immigration department, that seems only to serve as a political means of preventing these women from being brought to Australia for medical care? What outcome does your department expect from this looming tragedy?

The Guardian has sought comment from the office of the immigration minister .

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ACT offers to resettle refugees held in 'inhumane' offshore detention centres - The Guardian

PN leadership contender Adrian Delia has not declared owning an offshore bank account in Jersey, according to Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia

Adrian Delia denied being the owner of an offshore bank account

But in a statement posted on Facebook, Delia has categorically denied the claims made by Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who published his account number of an alleged Barclays International account on Jersey, a tax haven.

I repeat that I have no monies in any other jurisdiction except Malta, and that I never had money in Barclays, as alleged by Caruana Galizia, or any other foreign bank.

Delia said he would file a defamation case against Caruana Galizia.

Delia has already denied holding any such offshore assets in an interview with MaltaToday. When asked on Wednesdayby Caruana Galizia, Delia also denied holding an offshore bank account, but the columnist has insisted that Delia, a litigation lawyer, is the owner of a bank account with Barclays International of Jersey, and published his account number.

When asked as to whether he owned such an account, a spokesperson for Delia told Caruana Galizia no, never.

What is the extent of Adrian Delias banking liabilities? Full data here

On Sunday, Delia told MaltaToday that he did not have any companies abroad; overseas accounts; nominee-ships abroad; I dont have people fronting me abroad, when queried about his financial interests.

Delia has been cagey about giving a full declaration of assets after Nationalist MP Chris Said and outgoing PN treasurer Alex Perici Calascione presented their own declarations.

Delia was later revealed to have been assigned a constitution of debt by HSBC Malta of 7.2 million for loans taken out by Mgarr Developments Ltd, a company in which he holds a 9% interest. The other shareholders are two companies, one of which is owned by Delias legal firms partner, Georg Sapiano. The company acquired the former Mgarr Hotel to be redeveloped into a 40-apartment complex.

When asked to declare his assets on Sunday, Delia said:

I have my house in Main Street, Siggiewi a couple of rooms with some fields in Siggiewi, limits of Rabat a 40% shareholding in a small company called Carnaby: we import wines and sell them. Ive already said I have a 9% share in Mgarr Developments Ltd: which has one development in Gozo...

When asked about the 7.2 million debt, Delia said that he will be selling off his stake in the company once the properties are sold off and the debt can be repaid.

Originally posted here:

Updated | Delia 'categorically denies' holding Jersey offshore bank account - MaltaToday

August 24th, 2017 Jason Jiang Americas, Offshore 0 comments

Offshore driller Atwood Oceanics has come to an agreement with the offshore employees of its Australian operating subsidiary for a new four year enterprise bargaining agreement .

The agreement provides clarity on working conditions for Atwood Oceanics Australian offshore employees and resets wage levels to better align with current offshore market conditions.

The agreement is anticipated to be approved by the Australian Fair Work Commission in September and will take effect upon the expiry of the nominal term of the current EBA on November 24.

Through application of cost reduction initiatives and innovative approaches to offshore employment, this agreement will reduce offshore personnel costs by more than 19% in its first year and will allow Atwood Oceanics to provide our clients in Australia superior drilling services at more competitive day rates over the next years. We have operated in Australia since 1972, and we look forward to a bright future in this important offshore energy market, said Rob Saltiel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Atwood Oceanics.

Jason Jiang

Jason worked for a number of logistics firms following his English degree, then switched this hands-on experience to writing and has since become one the most prolific writers on the diverse China logistics industry writing for a host of titles including Supply Chain Asia, Cargo Facts and Air Cargo Week. Jasons access to the biggest shippers with business in China has proved an invaluable source of exclusives.

See the article here:

Atwood Oceanics reaches agreement with Australian offshore employees - Splash 247

Tropical storm Harvey has gained strength over the Gulf of Mexico and is still forecast to develop into a hurricane on Friday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest update.

The storm, located about 600 kmsoutheast of Port Mansfield, Texas with maximum sustained winds of 70 km/ris likely to approach the Texas coast on Friday, the NHC said on Thursday.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the State Operations Center to elevate its readiness level, making state resources available for possible rescue and recovery actions. Abbott also pre-emptively declared a state of disaster for 30 counties on or near the coast to speed deployment of state resources to any areas affected.

"Heavy rainfall is likely to spread across portions of eastern Texas, Louisiana, and the lower Mississippi Valley from Friday through early next week and could cause life-threatening flooding," the NHC said.

Emergency officials asked residents along the upper Texas coastline to move or prepare to move inland. Those in low-lying areas were urged to seek higher ground, and those elsewhere were told to monitor official announcements closely.

On South Padre Island, people filled sandbags and loaded them into cars and vans to take to protect exposed homes and businesses. Others in the forecast path of the storm sought out generators, plywood and other goods from hardware stores.

Rainfall totals of 25 to 38 cmwere possible over the middle and upper Texas coast and southwest Louisiana through Tuesday, the Miami-based hurricane centresaid.

Royal Dutch Shell, Anadarko Petroleum and Exxon Mobil announced they were curbing some oil and gas output on at facilities in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Harvey.

Leo Sermiento, left, and Emilio Gutierrez, right, fill sandbags on South Padre Island, Texas. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the State Operations Center to elevate its readiness level and is making state resources available for preparation and possible rescue and recovery actions. (Jason Hoekema/The Brownsville Herald/Associated Press)

Shell said it was evacuating all personnel from the roughly 100,000 barrel-per-day Perdido oil and gas production platform as a precaution. Anadarko said it had shut in production and was evacuating workers from its Boomvang, Gunnison, Lucius and Nansen platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Exxon was in the process of reducing production at its Hoover facility in the Gulf of Mexico, company spokeswoman Suann Guthrie said. The company said it was also working on transportation plans for staged evacuation of its personnel from its offshore facilities, expected to be in the path of the storm, to shore.

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico is home to about 17 per cent of Americancrude oil output and 5 per cent of dry natural gas output, according to the U.S. Energy InformationAdministration. More than 45 per cent of the nation's oil refining capacity is along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

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Oil and gas companies begin evacuations of offshore rigs as tropical storm Harvey looms - CBC.ca

UPDATE, WRITETHRU: In another weekend crowded with holdovers, expansions and no new wide studio releases, the international box office was again led by China and blackout action smash Wolf Warriors 2. Now at an estimated $470M after 11 days, the film is on its way to devouring The Mermaids 2016 record as the biggest movie ever in the Middle Kingdom.

Hollywood is currently shut out of that market, but had business to get on with in the rest of the world. Foxs War For The Planet Of The Apes came out swinging at No. 1 in each of its 14 new markets, including France, Brazil and Germany; and was the top studio movie this frame. The weekend added $31.5M to the critically praised film its best score since offshore rollout began in mid-July for an international total of $147.8M before Korea (August 15), China (September 15) and Japan (October 13) get in on the action.

The No. 2 Hollywood movie at offshore turnstiles, Dunkirk channeled $25M in its third voyage. In the UK, the running cume is $49.8M, surpassing the lifetime of Christopher Nolans Inception. The drop was 44% overall for an overseas cume of $180.6M and a global total at $314.2M. It crossed $300M yesterday.

Elsewhere, Illumination/Universals Despicable Me franchise got even Gru-vier this weekend. It is now the top-grossing animated series ever worldwide with $3.528B, passing the Shrek films for the record. Despicable Me 3 has lifted its worldwide cume to $879.5M.

In other milestones, Universals The Mummy crossed $400M at the global box office.

New titles in soft rollout this session include Sony/MRCs The Dark Tower with $8M in 19 markets (Russia was the only major); and New Line/Warner Bros Annabelle: Creation at a No. 1 $1.1M in Italy (only opening).

H Collective

While we are waiting on estimates for Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets, breakdowns on the films above and more have been updated below.

NEW THE DARK TOWER

REX/Shutterstock

The action fantasy bowed at No. 1 in 11 of 19 markets as The Gunslinger and The Man In Black faced off on 3,800+ screens. Russia launched to $4.1M from 2,150 screens.

Stars Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey should make for some of the draw internationally, led by the huge King brand and general curiosity with little in the way of major titles to come. The offshore release continues over the next three weeks, including France, Germany, Italy, Australia, the UK, Spain, Korea, Brazil and Mexico.

ANNABELLE: CREATION

WB

Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto star as a dollmaker and his wife whose daughter died 12 years earlier. They open their home to a nun, and several girls from a shuttered orphanage. But the shelter turns horrific as the possessed Annabelle sets her sights on the girls.

International box office on The Conjuring 2 rose more than 19% from the first film, while Annabelle did more than 62% of her business offshore. Mexico, Brazil, France, the UK and Indonesia were the biggest plays on that film.

Next weekend adds 38 international markets which go day-and-date with the U.S. including France, Russia, Korea, Australia and the UK.

HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

Fox

DUNKIRK

WB

The UK continues, natch, to be the lead play with another No. 1 hold and $6.1M on 1,163 screens. Maintaining a nearly 50% share of the Top 5 films, Dunkirk also had 14% of its weekend there in IMAX. The total local cume has topped Nolans Inception with $49.8M (38.1M). Australia likewise held No. 1 and has a cume of $13M.

The Top 5 markets are the UK, followed by Korea ($20.1M), Australia, France ($12.7M) and Spain ($6.7M). In the Netherlands, Dunkirk is still No. 1 with a slight drop and a $4.7M cume that beats the lifetime of Nolans Interstellar. There are still Italy, China and Japan on deck.

DESPICABLE ME 3

Universal/Illumination

The Despicable movies passed the Shrek stable of pics that also includes Puss In Boots at $3.501B global. DM3 also outdid DM2s $607.7M earlier this week to become the No. 7 biggest animated move of all time at the international box office.

DM3 is still in play in 64 territories where the international box office total is $638.7M. Combined North America, the worldwide heist is $879.5M.

New this frame was Slovenia (No. 1/$137K). In holds, Korea kept Gru and Dru at No. 3 behind two local titles (A Taxi Driver and The Battleship Island). The weekend estimate is $4.7M for a total of $17.1M. It will pass Minions today and The Secret Life Of Pets tomorrow to become the highest grossing Illumination movie ever in the market.

In Japan, DM3 dipped 31% during its 3rd frame. That total there is $27.9M across 16 days. As it wraps up in China, the film held at No. 6 behind five local blackout movies. The total there is now $149.2M (RMB 1.01B) to take it past Kung Fu Panda 3 (RMB 1.002B). That makes it the No. 2 animated movie of all time in the PROC behind Zootopia.

Following China, the top grossers are the UK ($51.5M), Brazil ($37.2M), Germany ($34.8M) and Mexico ($34.4M). Still on deck are Italy, Turkey and Greece.

THE EMOJI MOVIE

Sony

The UK launched with $3.5M (including previews) on 780 screens, while Germany pulled in $1.2M from 835 screens. Releases continue overseas with Spain, Russia and Brazil throughout August followed by Australia in September and France in October.

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING

Sony

CARS 3

Disney

Holds were strong in the Netherlands (-23%), Belgium (-28%), and Finland (-12%). Leading the overall markets is Mexico with $15.6M, followed by Japan ($11.8M), the UK ($11.5M), Russia ($10.5M) and Brazil ($10.3M). Key releases still to come are in China (August 25), Italy (September 14) and Germany (September 28).

TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT Optimus Prime sharpened up his sword in Japan this frame with a No. 1 start of $4M at 685 locations. Spain also debuted at No. 1 for Paramount with $1.2M at 515; and Israel started in 3rd place with $196K at 74.

In all, Michael Bays last installment in the franchise captured $9.4M from 55 markets. The international cume is $454M.

BABY DRIVER Now in 42 offshore markets, Edgar Wrights getaway romance has lifted $57.5M internationally. Thats with a weekend heist of $7M for the Sony pic on 3,175 screens. Holds have been solid. Leading cumes include the UK at $15.3M, France with $4.7M and Germany at $2.1M.. Mexico drives in next this week.

ATOMIC BLONDE Universal is releasing the Charlize Theron/James McAvoy-starrer in 24 international territories and kicked off its boots in Australia, New Zealand, Ecuador and Venezuela this weekend. The estimate is $2.1M for on the Universal books. Sierra/Affinity has released the film in 26 markets through its distribution partners. The weekend they kicked in $2.9M. That takes the full international total to $11.7M with $45.8M globally.

Australia opened to No. 3 with a good $1.8M including previews; New Zealand opened No. 2 with $225K for the weekend. Ecuador got off to a fair start at $40K in a very slow market. Conversely, Venezuela, which is currently in the throes of a constitutional crisis, topped comps Lucy and Kingsman: The Secret Service with a $19K bow. Next weekend, Theron takes her ass-kicking to the UK, Netherlands and Colombia.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES The 5th installment in Disneys Pirates franchise is saying yo-ho-ho in Japan where it is now the No. 2 Western release of the year, behind the studios own Beauty And The Beast. The total there is $51.9M. Japan is typically a top market for the series, although (in non-restated dollars) this one is currently at about half of the last film, On Stranger Tides.

Overall, the weekend was worth $1.9M in 20 markets for $609.9M internationally and $781.2M globally. Holds were good in the Netherlands (-37%) and Belgium (-31%) in the films 11th week of overseas play.

GIRLS TRIP Universals breakout comedy opened to No. 1 in South Africa and Trinidad, and held steady at No. 4 in the UK. The weekend is $1.7M internationally for an early total of $5.4M. Worldwide, the cume is $90.8M. The Malcolm D Lee-directed pic scored a better South Africa opening than all comps including Bridesmaids and The Hangover with $192K. In Trinidad, its a similar story with a strong $125K bow. The UKs 2nd session was down just 9% with a 10-day total of $5M.

THE MUMMY With a $1.5M weekend in 47 overseas markets, Universals Dark Universe entry crossed $400M at the worldwide box office today. The offshore total is $322.2M for $402.1M global. Japan, the final market to release, made up the bulk of this weekends tomb take at $1.3M. The cume there is $7.8M after two frames. The rest of the world has essentially completed runs on the Tom Cruise pic.

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (FOX): $1.3M intl weekend (5 markets); $18M intl cume Baywatch (PAR): $882K intl weekend (28 markets); $117.3M intl cume The Beguiled (UNI): $300K intl weekend (16 markets); $4.9M intl cume

LOCAL LANGUAGE While Wolf Warriors 2 has been chomping its way through the Chinese box office, another local film, Once Upon A Time was the No. 2 movie internationally this weekend. At $38M for the FSS as reported by comScore, its got a local take of $61.5M thus far. A romantic fantasy thats based on a book and a TV series, it was still no match for big dog WW2. Its IMAX weekend on 427 local screens was a solid $4M.

In Korea, A Taxi Driver drove away with $25.7M for the weekend. The Showbox movie is directed by Jang Hun and based on a true story. Starring Song Kang-ho and Germanys Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist, Avengers: Age Of Ultron), its set in the 80s when a Seoul cabbie becomes involved with a German journalist on a drive down to Gwangju city and back. The North America release is on Friday.

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China 'Wolf' Howls At $470M; 'Apes' Swings To $148M Offshore; 'Dunkirk' Channels $314M WW International Box Office - Deadline

BOEM could start leasing off-shore property for use by oil rigs-similar to this one-off the North Carolina coast. This particular rig is on a BOEM property on the West Coast. (Port City Daily photo / FILE PHOTO)

WILMINGTON The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has announced it would be holding three meetings across coastal North Carolinaregarding the proposed 2019-24 national outer continental shelf oil and gas leasing program. The first is today in Wilmington.

According to the DEQ, these hearings seek to gatherpublic input and information on the potential impact of oil and gas exploration, and development on the biological, social, economic and aesthetic values of North Carolinas coast.

The information gathered at these hearings will go into consideration for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Managements new five-year national outer continental shelf program, in accordance with the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which could open the Atlantic Coast for seismic testing and eventual oil and gas exploration.

This after President Trump announced his America First Offshore Energy Strategy back in April, an executive order removing many Obama-era regulations that were designed to protect the Atlantic Coast from offshore drilling.

If approved, the plan will allow for five separate companies to being exploratory seismic testing in an area from Delaware, to Cape Canaveral, Florida, extending out 350 nautical miles.

Environmental groups, like the Cape Fear Surfrider Foundation, the North Carolina Coastal Federation, Oceana, Dont Drill NC, as well asstateand community leadersare concerned about the potential for negative impacts to the states natural resources and environment.

Upon completion, the program for 2019-24 will replace the program for 2017-22, which was approved on Jan. 17.

The first meeting will be held in Wilmington on Monday, Aug. 7, at the New Hanover County Government Center, from 5 to 7 p.m. Two more will follow; the first in Morehead City on Aug. 9, and a final meeting in Manteo on Aug. 10.

These meetings will give residents a chance to voice their opinion to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. If you are unable to attend, but would still like to comment, written comments can be sent to Timothy Webster with the NCDEQ at 217 West Jones St., 1601 Mail Center Drive, Raleigh, N.C., 27699, or by email to timothy.webster@ncdenr.gov.

All comments are due by Aug. 15. For information, visit The Bureau of Ocean Energy Managements website at boem.gov.

Get in touch with Reporter Cory Mannion: follow him onFacebook,Twitter, or send an email atcory@localvoicemedia.com.

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Hearings set for potential offshore oil and gas activities off North Carolina coast - Port City Daily

The fight over offshore drilling is heating up again in South Carolina.

A committee of lawmakers researching the state's prospects meets Aug. 22, the group's first attempt to tackle the contentious issue.

After the Trump administration re-opened the leasing process last spring, S.C. House members introduced warring bills: onerequiring state agencies to approve the onshore infrastructure needed to support oil and natural gas drilling, and the other blocking them.

Faced with those bills, House officials formed a subcommittee last spring the Off-shore Drilling Ad Hoc Committee. Only one of its nine members, though, represents the coast.

The subcommittee's chairman, Rep. Bill Hixon, R-Aiken, called it an exploratory group to advise the House on an issue that few representatives who live away from the coast are aware of.

"We want to see what the benefits or harm to our state would be," Hixon said. "Georgia and North Carolina are looking at the same thing. We don't want to do anything to harm South Carolina but we don't want to be sitting on our hands while North Carolina and Georgia bring in the royalties."

Shortly after the subcommittee was formed, Hixon invited federal Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who strongly supports opening the offshore waters to drilling, to speak at the meeting. Hixon has not heard back.

Not waiting for the meeting, which has two pro-drilling group representatives on the agenda, Coastal Conservation League and Conservation Voters of South Carolina staffers met this week to voice their drilling opposition to Hixon and Rep. David Hiott, R-Pickens, chairman of the Agricultural, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs committee.

The conservationists' fight is about to get much tougher.

A natural gas pipeline pumping 1.5 billion cubic feet per day is in the works to run from from West Virginia to the North Carolina-South Carolina border near Interstate 95. It's among a web of other gas pipeline expansions plotted through or near the Palmetto State.

After decades of running natural gas out of the Gulf of Mexico to feed the country, fuel companies are now running natural gas and crude oil fracked from shale supplies in the Midwest and Northeast. The surplus is getting exported out of the Gulf of Mexico.

That's partly why groups opposed to offshore drilling are slowly turning their concern from the potential for spills and wildlife harm in the ocean to the possibility of the "green" South Carolina coast becoming industrialized. A fear is the new push to open the Atlantic offshore of South Carolina to oil and natural gas exploration and drilling has less to do with what could be found, and more to do with getting the onshore industry in place to export from those pipelines to Europe.

That means ports such as Charleston and possibly even Georgetown. And that means money for local and state governments.

"The (pipe) lines are all heading our way. There's something afoot," said Peg Howell of Stop Oil Drilling in the Atlantic, a Pawleys Island-based grassroots group. Howell is a former petroleum engineer.

"The real urgent need for this country is to export," she said.

The export factor so far has not been as prevalent in the discussion as the drill-or-don't drill controversy that cuts to the heart of coastal life. But interests already are divided between exploring for the potential economic benefit of fossil fuels to restricting exploration to protect marine life and a billion-dollar tourism economy.

State legislators who were asked including members of the newly formed House subcommittee said they were unaware of the export potential. But a first-ever state energy plan focuses in part on the natural gas pipeline expansion and mentions several times the moves to exporting the supply.

"With the shale gas growth that has occurred over the last several years, natural gas supply sources and traditional pipeline flows across the nation are in the process of changing," reads a draft of the plan. "There are currently multiple projects underway to build out current (natural gas) export capability, especially in the Gulf Coast," it reads at another point.

Drilling proponents argue the country needs to supplement the oil fields already in place. The United States exports more than 5 million barrels per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The country also is poised to become to third largest natural gas supplier in the world by 2020. It's competing with Russia for the European market, according toJ.D. Supra, a business analyst. The ports that move the fuels now are in the Gulf of Mexico a farther, more expensive transport than from the Southeast Coast.

The infrastructure would be the industry needed to ship the product.

State legislators who live along the coast are aware of the concern for the potential impact of an oil industry on the tourism economy.

"Obviously, the state relies on tourism," said Rep. Lee Hewitt, R-Murrells Inlet, who is on the nine member subcommittee."I find it interesting that I'm the only member who represents the coast. My question is, just what is this committee trying to get to?"

Though not on the committee, Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms, has told people in his district of the threats that industrializing the coast would bring to its tourism economic engine. He and U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., have pointed to the large-scale industrial footprint the industry has on Port Fourchon, Louisiana, a town the size of Sullivan's Island, Campsen said.

"Is this push to drill actually a push to export? I don't know the answer to that," he said. "But I do know it's not about drilling for oil offshore," he said, pointing to the economics of low prices brought by the shale industry making it unprofitable to build or maintain offshore rigs here.

"The notion that you're really going to have offshore oil platforms, I think is pretty remote," he said.

Excerpt from:

New fight over drilling offshore South Carolina could be about exports - Charleston Post Courier

Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Energy Suppliers Find Fresh Lift From Offshore Wind Wall Street Journal (subscription) For more than three decades, Gulf Island Fabrication Inc. has built foundations to anchor offshore-oil platforms to the ocean floor. Now, as lower oil prices take a bite out of that business, it is trying to turn that expertise into an edge in a new ...

Link:

Energy Suppliers Find Fresh Lift From Offshore Wind - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:WTI)

Q2 2017 Earnings Conference Call

August 4, 2017, 10:00 AM ET

Executives

Lisa Elliott - IR

Tracy Krohn - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Thomas Murphy - Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer.

Daniel Gibbons - Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Stephen Schroeder - Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer

Analysts

Richard Tullis - Capital One Southcoast

Aloke Agarwal - Phoenix

Operator

Greetings and welcome to W&T Offshore Incorporated Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host for todays call, Lisa Elliott. Thank you. You may begin.

Lisa Elliott

Thank you, operator and good morning, everyone. We are glad to have you join us for W&T Offshore's conference call to review the financial and operational results for the second quarter of 2017.

Before I turn the call over to the Company, I would like to remind you that information recorded on this call speaks only as of today, August 4, 2017 and therefore, time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of the date of any replay. Also, please refer to the Companys second quarter of 2017 financial and operational results announcement that WT released yesterday for a disclosure on forward-looking statements and reconciliations of non-GAAP measures.

At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. Tracy Krohn, W&T's Chairman and CEO.

Tracy Krohn

Thanks, Lisa. So, good morning, everyone and thanks for joining us today. With me this morning is, Tom Murphy, our Chief Operations Officer, Danny Gibbons, our Chief Financial Officer and Stephen Schroeder, our Chief Technical Officer as they will be available to answer questions later on during the call.

So, before we review our second quarter results, Id first like to update you on the Ocean Energy Management issue which we expect to have completely resolved in a few weeks. On June 28, the BOEM filed a Motion with the Department of the Interior to rescind its four orders issued in 2016 that instructed us to provide additional supplemental bonding of $260.8 million. And on June 31 excuse me July 31, the DOI demanded the orders back or excuse me remanded the orders back to BOEM which is the first important step to the BOEM reversing or rescinding the bonding requirements.

So we anticipate that sometime this month necessary steps will have been taken to allow the BOEM to rescind the orders. When this does occur, we will make an announcement accordingly and hopefully put this behind us. So we are very pleased with both our financial and operational results in the second quarter. Production was in line with our expectations and was up modestly from last years second quarter and from the first quarter of this year.

We produced 3.9 million barrels of oil equivalent or 43,848 Boe per day. Oil and liquids represented about 58% of production which was also up slightly. Undoubtedly, weve continued to drive down our lease operating expense, or LOE rather which declined $5.1 million or 14% compared to last year and down $8.6 million or 22%, compared to the first quarter of this year.

Weve been very successful at reducing our base LOE for the last two years. So our base LOE which does not include variable operating cost such as insurance premiums workovers cost and facilities maintenance costs was $26.7 million in Q2 2017 compared to $30.7 million in Q2 of last year and $34.5 million in Q2 2015.

By driving down base LOE, weve greatly improved our operating margins. So in addition to managing our base LOE down, which weve also been able to significantly reduce our insurance premiums. Most variable element of our operating cost is our workover faculties and maintenance expenses which were much lower in the second quarter.

As a result, our LOE was well below our guidance for Q2. We may see an increase in this cost during the third quarter, but this will be somewhat weather and storm dependent because absence storm downtime weather is normally pretty good in the third quarter. So the better the weather offshore, the more work we can get done.

Regardless, we are projecting a very good operating expense outcome for the full year with the midpoint of our guidance at a $157 million for 2017, which is down a full $12 million from our expectations in guidance at the beginning of the year.

Our estimated production volumes for the third quarter include an allowance for unexpected storm and weather-related downtime of about 3,000 Boe per day. Additionally, we had anticipated that 12 million cubic feet per day recompletion of higher than 22, and oil is only generated at a rate of 2600 Mcf per day.

Third quarter production is predicted is projected to be somewhat lower than our second quarter volumes before ramping back up. In the fourth quarter, with the 87 wells behind of these other wells, will have an impact on our production. We believe this to be a conservative estimate of our production for the rest of the year.

The combination of slightly higher production volumes in Q2 along with a much reduced LOE resulting in EBITDA margins that we havent seen since oil prices were more than twice what they are now. In the second quarter, we generated adjusted EBITDA of $72.6 million, up 31.8 million over the same period in 2016, and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 59%, up from 41% in the same period last year.

So excluding special items, our adjusted net income was $31.1 million, and our earnings per share were $0.22 per share. We have clearly turned the corner this year and are generating solid bottom-line results. Our mid-year 2017 SEC proved reserves or 1P was 74.4 million barrels oil equivalent of which 56% was liquids, up slightly from the year end 2016.

The increase in proved reserves is more than sufficient to replace production proved developed producing reserves increased almost 6 million barrels oil equivalent or 13% compared to year end 2016. The present value of our reported SEC proved reserves discount at a 10% was $955 million or a 27% increase from $754.9 million at year end 2016 and thats due to upward revisions of previous estimates and higher average prices.

We continue to offset most of the natural production declines or asset base, so a substantial portion of this comes from our Mahogany Fields. In April at Mahogany we placed the A-16 well on production which reached a peak production rate of 1625 barrels of oil equivalent per day, thats about 83% oil.

At the end of the second quarter, we completed the A-8 well which is still on completion full back and we expect to in a position next quarter to talk about the A-8 well reserves.

Most of the excuse me both of these test wells were lower cost and low risk wells drilled to more fully exploit the T-sand. That continues to be an amazing another source and the main producer of Mahogany. To-date, the T-sand has contributed approximately 75% of Mahogany Field Q production of almost 45 million barrels of oil equivalent.

So our next Mahogany well, the A-17 is targeting the deeper T-sands for testing and hopefully expanding the further limits of that sand in the field. Operations have recently commenced on the oil and we are looking forward to seeing these well results which we expect in the fourth quarter.

So in addition to the primary T-sand to our A-17 holds additional opportunities with some other interesting potential for stacked pay above the deeper T-sand. The A-17 could be a high impact well for the company with the potential to materially expand the Mahogany field volumes and value. It is possible that the P-sand could prove to be an even larger and more liquid reducer than the T-sand.

So assuming success, the A-17 well could be on production during November and we expect it to make a meaningful contribution to our year-end production exit rates. So as a reminder, our A-18 well at Mahogany was completed in the T-sand and placed on production in mid-January of 2017.

So that well reached the peak initial production of around 5100 barrels of oil equivalent per day and cumulative production so far has already exceeded three quarters of a million barrels of oil equivalent production since it came on line.

The Mahogany Field 2 reservoir was the primary contributor to the meaningful increase in our mid-year 3P reserves with a 48% increase in volumes or 80 million barrels oil equivalent and a 73% increase in value or $1.3 billion from year end 2016. This significant appreciation of 3P reserves is an indication of upside potential if the nominal values exists for this field.

From the Ship Shoal area, we have mobilized the platform linked to our Ship Shoal 300 Field to commence drilling the B-5 well. This seismic led us to map some strong amplitude features in multiple stacked pay intervals in an undrilled fault block, very close to some excellent offset production wells in the field.

Assuming the B-5 well is successful, wed expect to have it on production in the October, November timeframe. W&T operates this well with a 79% working interest and we expect wells with cost of about $8.4 million to drill and complete. So in line with our project selection and hydrating criteria, we expect this well to provide fast payback of under a year and a half.

The well holds the potential for a significant stacked pay with upside cases realized and can trigger a follow-up of the further increase reserves and value. And, we assume we would in that case, we will drill the next well. So we recently added two relatively low risk exploration wells for 2017 drilling program with one at South Timbalier 224 and another at Main Pass 286.

The well at South Timbalier 224 is a shelf-exploratory opportunity located in 170 feet of water near existing infrastructure which is expected to spud in the fourth quarter. W&T operates and holds a 39% working interest, if successful, the South Timbalier 224 well can be tied back to any number of by existing production platforms and placed on production quickly and hopefully cost-effectively and they also spur additional follow-up drilling opportunities on our acreage.

The well at Main Pass 286 is also an excellent exploratory shelf. This is an open water location. It wont be drilled off with the platform. So its 300 feet of water that is near existing infrastructure owned and operated by W&T. Again the prospect exhibits strong seismic amplitude features helping to derisk the opportunity. Drilling will likely begin in the fourth quarter of 2017 and W&T holds a 100% working interest in the prospect.

So, as we previously mentioned, weve planned to commence our Phase 2 drilling program in our Ewing Banks 910 Field area which follows our very successful Phase 1 drilling program when we drilled and completed two successful wells about a year ago from our Ewing Banks 910 platform.

Phase 1 wells have contributed to the increase in production in the field. Phase 2 is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter. We will include two new low risk exploration wells which are planned to be drilled and produce in the South Timbalier 311 platform.

These are both low-risk, stacked pay prospects that can be put on production quickly reducing cycle time and advancing project economics. The Viosca Knoll 823 "Virgo" Field, we have a two to three well program planned to commence later this year with production contributions expected in 2018.

So these low-risk exploitation wells with strong risk reducing seismic attributes coupled with nearby well control and logs, especially essentially have good adding place. These wells can be drilled from the existing platform and can be brought online again relatively quickly.

Weve made great progress and our amendment program over the last few years is assumingly complete all the projects planned for 2017. ARO expenses next year could drop to around the $10 million mark from around $80 million this year. So our total liquidity was $255 million on July of 26, 2017, that included a cash balance of $105 million.

So as we indicated in the last quarter, compared with the quality of solid growth opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico right now we will review in a number of strategies to find opportunities to enhance our growth prospects.

As we mentioned previously that we have engaged agency folks to help us create a drilling and acquisition fund. We are gaining traction in this process and expect that positive news in the not too distant future.

So with that, operator, we can open up the lines for questions.

Question-and-Answer Session

Operator

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Richard Tullis with Capital One. Please proceed with your question.

Richard Tullis

Hey, thanks, good morning everyone.

Tracy Krohn

Good morning, Richard.

Richard Tullis

Tracy, it sounds like good news potentially on the way from the BOEM. Once that order would be rescinded regarding the supplemental bonding, where do you expect total bonding cost, say in 2018 to be versus what it is currently? Any change there?

Tracy Krohn

No, no change. We might actually see a reduction in it.

Richard Tullis

Okay, good, good. From a follow-up, WT has done a good job over the years of drilling the sub-salt wells at Ship Shoal, do you see the opportunity to kind of transfer that success and knowledge to other fields where you have sub-salt prospects?

Tracy Krohn

Absolutely.

Richard Tullis

Could you elaborate a little bit? Do you expect to start drilling some of those, say, in 2018? And where might those be?

Tracy Krohn

We are a little bit variable on the timing right now as we get a little bit close to that, I will be able to reveal that to you. We are keeping that a little closer to this right now.

Richard Tullis

All right. Thanks a bunch.

Tracy Krohn

Thank you, Richard.

Operator

Our next comes from Aloke Agarwal with Phoenix. Please proceed with your question.

Aloke Agarwal

Tracy, Danny, great quarter all around. Now that, now levels are back up, how are you guys thinking about the capital structure? You have these 2019 bonds coming due and in the past, you had talked about an exchange. I was just curious what you think here?

Tracy Krohn

I dont know exactly. I dont recall exactly what I talked about in regard to an exchange on the 2019 bonds, I believe thats exactly correct. I expect to generate enough cash to paying off.

Aloke Agarwal

Excellent. Thats good news and just as a quick follow-up, on the last call, I believe you had talked about 2017 plugging an abandonment coming in a little bit lower. Its not still the case?

Tracy Krohn

Yes, I think so. Hopefully, we dont have too many storms out here and we should be pretty close to our estimate if we have some more storm activity then naturally that will get - that will be a little bit volatile, it will be deferred into the following year.

Aloke Agarwal

And my last question is, just on the tax refund, the $69 million, is that expected to come in next year?

Tracy Krohn

Yes.

Aloke Agarwal

Thanks for taking all the questions. Good luck

Tracy Krohn

Good.

Operator

We do have another question. Its from Richard Tullis with Capital One. Please proceed with your question.

Richard Tullis

Yes, Tracy, I thought I jump back in.

Tracy Krohn

Sure.

View post:

W&T Offshore's (WTI) CEO Tracy Krohn on Q2 2017 Results - Earnings Call Transcript - Seeking Alpha

Taipei, Aug. 6 (CNA) Taiwan's first offshore wind farm off the coast of Miaoli County has generated 6.5MW as of late July since the launch of commercial operations in April, with capacity expected to grow to 120MW by 2019, according to local company Swancor Renewable, the lead developer for the project.

The wind farm project -- Formosa I -- is one of the three projects supervised by the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Bureau of Energy as part of its stated goal to install 1,000 wind turbines by 2030, in support of the Taiwanese government's plan to produce 4GW of electricity through offshore wind.

Two 4MW wind turbines with a capacity of 8MW were installed in November 2016 under the first phase and became operational in April 2017. The second phase involves the addition of another 30 turbines with a combined capacity of 120MW. Construction on phase two is expected to start in 2019 and begin commercial operation in the same year, according to Swancor Renewable.

Formosa II, which will be located off Miaoli, will have a planned capacity of 300-500MW and is expected to pass environmental impact assessment and obtain a commercial operating license in 2017.

Formosa III, which is located off Changhua County, has a planned capacity of 1,900 MW and is also expected to pass the environmental impact assessment and obtain a commercial operating license in 2017.

In addition to offshore islands, such as Penghu, the areas with the greatest wind energy potential in Taiwan are mainly along the western coast where wind speeds can reach an annual average of 6 meters per second, according to a study commissioned by the bureau.

The study shows that good spots for wind power electricity generation in northern Taiwan are mainly to be found in areas from Dayuan to Hsinwu in Taoyuan, Hsinfeng to Hsiangshan in Hsinchu and Houlung to Yuanli in Miaoli.

The entire coastal area of central Taiwan, from Tunghsiao in Miaoli, through Tachia, Wuchi and Tadu in Taichung, to Changhua and Mailiao are all suitable for wind power generation, according to the study.

In the south, coastal areas in Chiayi and Tainan, as well as Kenting in Pingtung are all areas with high wind energy potential, according to the study.

In addition to Swancor Renewable, Denmark's largest energy firm Dong Energy is developing offshore wind sites in the Changhua area.

(By Pan Chi-i and Evelyn Kao) Enditem/AW

Follow this link:

Taiwan's 1st offshore wind farm to boost capacity 1500% by 2019 - Focus Taiwan News Channel

Are there over $4 trillion of untaxed corporate earnings offshore, as Donald Trump said?

President Donald Trump said U.S. companies have anywhere from $4 trillion to $5 trillion in offshore accounts a substantial increase from just last year.

Trump blamed the large sum of money on what he (inaccurately) considers the highest tax rate in the world in a July 25 Wall Street Journal interview obtained by Politico.

"Were the highest-taxed nation in the world, essentially, you know, of the size," Trump said. "But were the highest-taxed nation in the world. We have nobody knows what the number is. I mean, it used to be, when we talked during the debate, $2.5 trillion I guess its $5 trillion now. Whatever it is, its a lot more. So we have anywhere from 4 (trillion) to 5 or even more trillions of dollars sitting offshore."

Weve already rated Trumps previous claims that were the highest-taxed nation in the world False.

This time we took a look at the amount of U.S. money sitting in offshore accounts. How much untaxed foreign revenue is out there, and could the figure have doubled since Trump cited the $2.5 trillion figure during the 2016 campaign?

The White House did not provide information for this fact-check.

Well start off by saying there is no public estimate on untaxed earnings overseas, as there is no law requiring they be reported.

Researchers can instead look at the indefinitely reinvested earnings on financial statements of publicly traded companies.

Indefinitely invested earnings arent making their way back to the United States anytime soon, which lets them off the hook for taxes and thus fatten after-tax profits. They might go to overseas factories, prospective acquisitions or other investments. Other companies may instead take on a deferred liability, which entails a future tax bill -- but while currently untaxed, most go undisclosed, so they arent counted in the researchers figures.

The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation can provide a fuller picture, because the committee has access to total untaxed foreign earnings. However, that information is only turned over to members of Congress.

The last time the committee made its findings public was in an August 2016 memo to two congressmen. In 2012, the committee said, $2.3 trillion of foreign earnings went untaxed.

Using predictive models, they estimated the number at $2.6 trillion for 2015.

The committee cited Audit Analytics, a third-party research service, to corroborate these findings. Audit Analytics found $2.4 trillion in indefinitely reinvested earnings. There was a $200 billion difference between the JCTs estimate of untaxed foreign earnings and Audit Analytics calculation of indefinitely reinvested ones, which is what experts estimate the current discrepancy to be.

Audit Analytics ran its latest numbers for us. The company found $2.8 trillion of indefinitely reinvested earnings are sitting overseas, as of July 2017 far short of what Trump described.

"It is possible that analysts are still working on entering information from small companies, but it would not change the number from the rounded-off figure of 2.8 trillion," Audit Analytics research director Don Whalen said.

We also turned to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which found that Fortune 500 companies a slightly smaller pool report $2.6 trillion offshore.

ITEP included total untaxed earnings, not just indefinitely reinvested ones, in their studies of Apple and Pfizer, as these companies provide a disclosure allowing for a fuller estimate of their untaxed offshore income and generate a significant amount of earnings through this mechanism.

"There is no reason to believe that this figure is substantially higher than what companies report and certainly not double the reported amount as President Donald Trump has contended without citing any source," said Taxation and Economic Policy senior policy analyst Richard Phillips.

So what else could cause the discrepancy?

Edward Kleinbard, the Robert C. Packard Trustee Chair in Law at the USC's Gould School of Law, said that firms double down their offshore tax planning when they expect a tax holiday, which is when they get to bring back offshore earnings while paying little to no taxes on them.

"Its plausible that people have accelerated their gamesmanship in the anticipation that in tax reform there will be another tax holiday," Kleinbard said. "But its not plausible to think the number could be as high as the 2 trillion-dollar difference between the data and what the president said."

Another possibility is for Trump to have counted tax inversions, which is when a small foreign company in a lower taxed country acquires a larger U.S. company and thus reduces their taxes. But that would entail a change in the definition of untaxed revenue. And even if we were to make that calculation, Kleinbard said the number wouldnt expand by so much in such a short time span.

Our ruling

Trump described untaxed corporate earnings in overseas accounts as growing monumentally, from around $2.5 trillion to "anywhere from 4 (trillion) to 5 or even more trillions of dollars sitting offshore."

The highest reported number of offshore earnings is $2.8 trillion. That could be off by a couple hundred billion dollars due to undisclosed untaxed earnings. But experts agreed the discrepancy could not add up to Trumps $4 trillion or $5 trillion estimate.

Business optimism and altered definitions of untaxed revenue couldnt bridge that gap either.

We rate this statement False.

Share the Facts

2017-08-03 21:47:53 UTC

2

1

7

False

Untaxed corporate earnings used to be "$2.5 trillion I guess its $5 trillion now. Whatever it is, its a lot more. So we have anywhere from 4 (trillion) to 5 or even more trillions of dollars sitting offshore."

Donald Trump

President of the United States

in an interview

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

2017-07-25

Read more:

Are there over $4 trillion of untaxed corporate earnings offshore, as Donald Trump said? - PolitiFact

Donald Trump said allowing some refugees currently held on Manus island and Nauru would kill him politically. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Donald Trump told the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, that a deal to admit to the US refugees currently held on Manus island and Nauru was stupid and would kill him politically, given his status as the worlds greatest person that does not want to let people into the country.

A White House transcript of the contentious 28 January phone call was published by the Washington Post on Thursday. The Post also published a transcript of a 27 January conversation with the Mexican president, Enrique Pea Nieto, in which Trump seems to dismiss his much-vaunted border wall as a political ploy and asks Pea Nieto not to state publicly that he will not pay for it.

The published transcript showed that in the Turnbull call, which was previously reported to have become angry in tone, Trump complained about the domestic political consequences of the Obama-era Nauru agreement.

Referring to the first iteration of his controversial travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, Trump said: I just called for a total ban on Syria and from many different countries from where there is terror, and extreme vetting for everyone else and somebody told me yesterday that close to 2,000 people are coming [from Manus island and Nauru] who are really probably troublesome.

And I am saying, Boy, that will make us look awfully bad. Here I am calling for a ban where I am not letting anybody in and we take 2,000 people. Really, it looks like 2,000 people that Australia does not want, and I do not blame you, by the way, but the United States has become like a dumping ground.

Turnbull explained, repeatedly, that the US was only obligated to look at taking 1,250-2,000 basically economic refugees from Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and that Australia had committed to actions in return.

I think we should respect deals, he said.

Why havent you let them out? Trump asked. Why have you not let them into your society?

OK, said Turnbull, I will explain why. It is not because they are bad people. It is because in order to stop people smugglers, we had to deprive them of the product. So we said if you try to come to Australia by boat, even if we think you are the best person in the world, even if you are a Noble [sic] Prize-winning genius, we will not let you in. Because the problem with the people

Trump interjected, to say: That is a good idea. We should do that too. You are worse than I am.

OK, this shows me to be a dope. I am not like this but if I have to do it I will do it but I do not like this at all

The US president continued however to complain and to misstate the terms of the deal as stated by Turnbull, saying: This is going to kill me. I am the worlds greatest person that does not want to let people into the country. And now I am agreeing to take 2,000 people and I agree I can vet them, but that puts me in a bad position. It makes me look so bad and I have only been here a week.

The president even linked the agreement to his election win, saying: Look, I do not know how you got them to sign a deal like this, but that is how they lost the election. They said I had no way to 270 [electoral college votes] and I got 306.

Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by more than 2.5m ballots.

That is why [the Democrats] lost the election, Trump repeated, because of stupid deals like this. You have brokered many a stupid deal in business and I respect you, but I guarantee that you broke many a stupid deal. This is a stupid deal. This deal will make me look terrible.

Turnbull insisted on the importance of the US honoring its commitments and said the deal was consistent with the principles set out in the Trump travel ban.

The president yielded, if grudgingly. OK, he said, this shows me to be a dope. I am not like this but if I have to do it I will do it but I do not like this at all.

Trump then complained again and asked Turnbull for a guarantee that anyone admitted would not become the Boston bomber in five years.

Before ending the call, he said: I have had it. I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day. [Russian president Vladimir] Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous.

The conversation had begun pleasantly enough, with small talk about the Australian golfer Greg Norman, a mutual friend who had given Trumps number to Turnbull.

In subsequent days, Trump returned to the subject. On 2 February, for example, he tweeted: Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!

The US commitment to take the refugees remains unclear.

At the end of the call, Turnbull asked Trump: Do you want to talk about Syria and [North Korea]?

Trump answered with a remark transcribed as inaudible and said: This is crazy.

Thank you for your commitment, said Turnbull. It is very important to us.

It is important to you and it is embarrassing to me, Trump said. It is an embarrassment to me, but at least I got you off the hook. So you put me back on the hook.

You can count on me, said Turnbull. I will be there again and again.

In February Trump tweeted that reports that the conversation had been anything but civil were fake news.

He repeated the claim when Turnbull went to New York in May. In a joint media appearance, Turnbull agreed after Trump said: We had a good call. You guys exaggerated that call, that was a big exaggeration. We had a great call. I mean, were not babies, but we had a great call. That was a bit of fake news.

Read more:

'You are worse than I am': Trump told Turnbull he admired offshore detention - The Guardian

By David Wethe on 8/3/2017

HOUSTON (Bloomberg) -- The magic of $50 oil is now in the sights of deep-sea drillers as they try to lure customer spending from shale wells on land.

And after more than three years of pain, that prospect has some investors excited. Transocean Ltd. rose the most in more than eight months after the worlds biggest provider of offshore rigs predicted explorers could soon shift their spending from land to sea as crude futures inch closer to the key level. Shares of other deepwater service providers like Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. and Noble Corp Plc also surged on the heels of Transoceans rally.

"Break-even costs in multiple deep-water basins around the world are consistently coming in below $50 and are now often around, if not below, $40," CEO Jeremy Thigpen told analysts and investors Thursday on a conference call. "Deepwater break-evens are starting to compare favorably with onshore, which by the way is now experiencing some fairly significant price inflation across most products and services."

The global oil downturn hit offshore drillers with the double whammy of a drop in customer demand for their services and a glut of new rigs rolling out of shipyards. More than three quarters of Transoceans sales have been carved away since hitting a peak of $3.3 billion at the end of 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

A little more than half of the oil industrys 817 offshore rigs were working in the second quarter, down from the 92% utilization rate for global rigs in 2008, Jud Bailey, an analyst at Wells Fargo, wrote last month in a note to investors.

New contracts

The Vernier, Switzerland-based owner of deepwater rigs said its signed a dozen new drilling contracts or extensions to pacts so far this year, adding $221 million in future work. The entire offshore industry has announced almost as much new work this year as it had in the past two years combined, Terry Bonno, the companys senior vice president of industry and community relations, said on the call.

"It is beginning to feel a lot like we are moving off bottom," she said. Explorers are expected to sanction more deepwater projects next year if oil holds above "the magic $50-level," Bonno said. But if oil falls below that mark, those projects could be re-evaluated and delayed.

Transocean rose 7.7% to $9.30 at 1:38 p.m. in New York, after earlier climbing as much as 11% for the biggest intraday rise since Nov. 30. Transoceans comments were enough to boost shares for its six closest offshore peers, which all climbed at least 5% on Thursday.

While the development costs for deepwater projects have fallen below $50 in many cases, the time to bring offshore projects to production is still several years, compared to a matter of months for shale work, J. David Anderson, an analyst at Barclays, said Thursday in a phone interview.

"Shale wins in every race," Anderson said. "As oil starts to move up above $50, shale will come on much faster."

Longer-term

But shale wells can fade in a matter of months, too, while offshore wells can gush oil for decades after theyve been developed. Average hydraulic fracturing prices for onshore work are up 50% to 100% from the lowest point in the downturn, Brad Handler, an analyst at Jefferies, wrote last month in a note to investors.

About an hour after Transoceans comments on the $50 oil outlook for offshore, land-rigs provider Nabors Industries Ltd. said prices in the high-$40s mark works for many explorers in the U.S. The worlds biggest land driller forecast that the industry would add another 30 to 40 rigs by now and the end of the year in the lower-48 U.S. states.

To be sure, Thigpen conceded hes not ready to declare victory yet.

"Were not saying this is a start of a great upturn thats going to last three to four years," he said. "What were saying is today looks better than yesterday."

See more here:

$50 oil "magic" boosts offshore drillers' hopes of competing with shale - WorldOil (subscription)

Dive Brief:

In theory, there is enough offshore wind potential on the East Coast to meet electricity needs from Florida to Maine, but the costs are still high, especially compared with the cheaper onshore wind and solar energy. The University of Delaware Special Initiative on Offshore Wind has estimated that the Atlantic coast holds 330 GW of offshore wind power, which would be sufficient to power the entire East Coast.

Yet the industry's growth is starting to gain momentum in the United States after wind developer DeepwaterWind completed the nation's first successful offshore wind farm and two Northeastern states set offshore wind targets.But with the federal wind production tax credit set to phase out in 2019, a bipartisan pair of Senators are pushing to create an offshore-specific credit.

By giving private sector companies the certainty they need, our legislation will help accelerate the development of this promising industry in America and create a new, sustainable source of domestic power," said Collins in a statement.

Ten other Senators have signed onto the bill; all of them are Democrats or Independent, most representing coastal states.

Democratic Senators supporting the bill include: Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Ben Cardin (Maryland), Chris Coons (Delaware), Robert Menendez (New Jersey), Edward Markey (Massachusetts), Jack Reed (Rhode Island), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) and Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island). Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent, is also supporting the bill.

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Senators introduce offshore wind credits in bipartisan bill - Utility Dive

If the U.S. is serious about offshore wind, regulators should think seriously about how the energy gets back to shore.

Theres a strong case to be made for taking the transmission portion [of projects] and treating it as a separate entity, said Neil Kirby, HVDC business development manager at GE Energy Connections.

If every project developer takes responsibility for their own grid interconnection, then some may end up choosing a technology that is less than optimal for their projects, thereby increasing costs.

Offshore wind farms can use either alternating current (AC) or high-voltage direct current (HVDC) links to export current to shore. Selecting the right technology for a given location can make a measurable difference to capital costs and production losses.

In a nutshell, HVDC has higher capital costs but is much better than AC for transporting large amounts of energy over long distances.

A single wind farm might almost always find it cheaper to go for an AC link. But if several projects share an HVDC connection, they could incur fewer transmission losses and deliver energy at lower cost.

The critical point at which it makes sense to invest in HVDC rather than AC is when the export volume reaches roughly a gigawatt, Kirby said.

And thats the problem: If the interconnection is the developers responsibility, then they are unlikely ever to install an HVDC line unless they win a gigawatts worth of projects in the same area, which is an unlikely prospect.

Across Europe, which had more than 12 gigawatts of capacity installed at the end of 2016, this problem has led to a proliferation of AC interconnections even in places where HVDC would be preferable.

In the U.K., for example, They have been stretching the capabilities of the cable and the compensation needed, Kirby said.

GE, which is keen to push HVDC for renewable energy transmission elsewhere, last month installed its first-ever HVDC converter platform for offshore wind.

The DolWin3 offshore converter station in the southwestern German North Sea, approximately 80 kilometers from land, was awarded by the transmission system operator TenneT and will connect two wind farms.

The technology represents a crucial turning point for offshore wind...and how we are able to move that energy efficiently, said Patrick Plas, general manager of HVDC and grid solutions at GE Energy Connections, in a press note.

Plans to set the U.S. offshore wind industry up with an East Coast HVDC network got off to a good start in 2010, when Google said it would invest $5 billion in a 350-mile transmission system called the Atlantic Wind Connection, with up to 6 gigawatts of capacity.

The focus of the project was New Jersey, which at the time had just signed an Offshore Wind Economic Development Act with the intention of supporting over a gigawatt of capacity.

New Jerseys offshore wind ambitions failed to take off, however, and the Atlantic Wind Connection website stopped giving updates on the project in 2013.

Given the sluggish pace of progress for the U.S. offshore wind industry, it remains to be seen whether the Atlantic Wind Connection, or another plan like it, will materialize.

Deepwater Wind, developer of Americas sole operating commercial offshore wind farm, had to build its own interconnection link to get power from the Block Island project in Rhode Island.

At 30 megawatts and 3 miles away from the shore, the Block Island project is relatively small. It made sense for the transmission system to be based on AC.

And with analysts predictingthat U.S. offshore wind installations won't reach HVDC-worthy levels until at least the middle of the next decade, it looks as though most upcoming projects will find it cheaper to stick with AC if developers have to build their own grid links.

For the sake of a more efficient, cost-effective industry, it would be better if another party took on the decision-making process for them, Kirby argued.

Separating wind farm projects from interconnection infrastructure would be a big step forward, he said, since a move to adopt HVDC technology is never going to happen based on pure economics.

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To Slash Offshore Wind Costs, Developers Need to Think Carefully About Transmission Technology - Greentech Media

The OPTS is based on a lifting platform rather than a motion compensated gangway and uses a platform basket that is fully compensated

Despite the downturn in the oil and gas sector, the market for offshore access systems or walk-to-work motion compensated gangways shows no signs of slowing down, with new technology and new concepts being brought to market

Rarely a month has gone by in the last couple of years without a manufacturer unveiling a new offshore access system or bringing an enhanced version of existing equipment to the offshore oil and gas and offshore wind markets.

That trend continued into Q3 2017, when a newly formed Dutch company, Lift2Work, confirmed that is building the first six examples of a new type of unit, the offshore personnel transfer system or OPTS, and Barge Master and Bosch Rexroth installed another new walk-to-work system on Vroon Offshores vessel VOS Start. Another well known manufacturer, Uptime in Norway, unveiled a new, larger motion compensated gangway not long after Ampelmann mobilised its first N-type Icemann access system.

Rotterdam-based Lift2Work will build, service, sell and rent the OPTS, which it describes as an innovative way to transfer people and/or tools and equipment offshore.

Unlike the other walk-to-work systems highlighted above, the OPTS is not a gangway but is fully motion compensated. It was designed to provide access to offshore oil and gas platforms, offshore wind structures and other vessels and structures. It has the ability to move freely through 360 degrees and has a reach of 24 m horizontally and more than 20 m vertically above deck level. It can also drop to 6 m below the level of the deck, for example, for rescue purposes.

Originally developed by Offshore Cooperation (OFFCO) in the Netherlands, it is based on a lifting platform rather than a conventional walk-to-work motion compensated gangway. It uses a platform basket that is fully compensated and controlled by an operator.

With an arm length of 10 m and a basic footprint of 2,440 mm x 2,440 mm, it was also designed to be easy to integrate onto a deck. Installation is very easy, said the company. The OPTS weighs approximately 15 tonnes and is easy to transport in an ISO container. It is easy to operate after introductory training and provides accurate and stable lifting of loads. The company says it can transfer up to six people at an outreach of 18 m or four people at a 24 m outreach.

As highlighted above, another new motion compensated gangway has been developed by Barge Master and Bosch Rexroth. It has been installed on Vroons offshore support vesselVOS Startand will be used to transport personnel and cargo to offshore windfarms but is equally suited to applications in the offshore oil and gas sector.

The Netherlands-based companies worked closely to create the motion compensated gangway. Launching the gangway on 21 June at Boxtel, the Netherlands, Barge Master chief executive Martijn Koppert explained that the gangway will be mounted on a pedestal that holds an integrated elevator, used to transport both people and pallet trolleys from ship deck and levels below to the level of the gangway. It can be literally any height, he said.

Bosch Rexroth sales manager offshore projects Boy Biermans described the gangways telescopic sections, which allow its length to be adjusted to the situation offshore by an electric winch system. This next-generation gangway is equipped with extremely fast sensors and control technology, he said. Because of this, the system is able to compensate for wave heights of up to 3 m, resulting in an operating window that can be up to four times higher than other available systems in the market, making it truly unique.

Uptimes new, larger offshore access system, the Uptime 30 m active motion compensated gangway, has what the company says is a totally new design that the company believes will be a game changer in the offshore oil and gasandoffshore wind industries.

The walk-to-work system is being offered with several different setups: on a fixed pedestal, on an adjustable pedestal, with elevator tower amidships or in the centre of the vessel, as an add-on system on existing elevator towers and on a skid. This gives optimal, customised workability for different projects,said Uptime.The gangway will be operated from the wheelhouse wing or from the gangway itself. Our Uptime 23.4 m will still be offered and may of course still be the best option for some projects and setups,the company concluded.

Ampelmann and Uptime International have both recently won contracts for their walk-to-work solutions in the offshore oil and gas and renewables markets. Ampelmann secured a contract in Venezuela that will spread the use of its gangway technology into the Caribbean. The Cardon IV group ordered an A-type system for its operations on the Perla fieldoff Venezuela. The walk-to-work system was deployed on Bumi Armadas 2010-built offshore support vesselArmada Tuah 85to provide access for the workforce to the Perla platform.

The A-type system is a full active motion compensated access gangway, designed to transfer personnel safely and efficiently to offshore structures. Cardon IV has chosen Ampelmann as its partner in this long-term project for the next two years, said Ampelmann business development manager for Latin America Andres Garcia.

Uptime International has won a contract from Cemre Marin to deliver one of its walk-to-work systems to a service operation vessel that is being built at the Cemre Shipyard in Turkey. The vessel is being built for French vessel owner Louis Dreyfus Armateurs for delivery in 2018. The vessel will provide service support for four offshore windfarms off the German coast. These are the Borkum Riffgrund 1 and 2 and Gode Wind 1 and 2 windfarms operated by Dong Energy.

The Uptime system will be an active motion compensated gangway and an adjustable pedestal integrated with an elevator tower. The vessel was designed by Salt Ship Design for personnel and cargo transfer to these offshore windfarms

Van Oords installation vesselAeolushas been fitted with a telescopic access bridge (TAB) by the Netherlands-based SMST. The TAB-M includes a flat rack and pedestal elevator system and will be used for work at the Walney Extension offshore windfarm in the UK.

After training by SMST,the Aeoluscrew completed the first connection on 24 June in significant wave heights of 1 m and wind speeds of 20 m/s. The Walney Extension project requires the transition pieces to be installed in DP2 mode so needs a compensated gangway. The telescopic pedestal will assist with the high tide differences, enabling height compensation of up to 6 m.

Walk-to-work offering owners better rates than subsea market

The subsea vessel market is showing signs of recovery, but a number of owners have long been securing work for subsea vessels above water, rather than below, by fitting them with walk-to-work systems.

Broker Fearnley Offshore Supply AS (FOSAS) said there has been significant subsea vessel activity above the surface and noted that active heave compensated gangways have had an important impact on the subsea vessel market as a whole.

In a July 2017 report, FOSAS said high-end subsea vessels such as Boa Sub C, Polar Queen, Normand Jarl, Normand Jarstein, Acergy Viking, Edda Fauna and Stril Server have been supporting topside work, either in the offshore wind market or in the offshore oil and gas segment.

The trend is almost, if quite without exception, that most operators are securing modern vessels, in part due to Special Purpose Ship regulations and requirements but also because vessel owners are attracted to walk-to-work campaigns because they typically offer longer charter periods and slightly better margins than the current subsea market, said FOSAS.

This trend has a positive impact on the supply overhang for this segment albeit a moderate one that, at best, is only part of a solution. For short-term and spot subsea scopes, however, the competition is fiercer and the income potential is lower while the vessel options are numerous. Rates reflect this.

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Lifting platform joins growing ranks of offshore access offerings - OSJ Magazine

Tesla and wind farm developer Deepwater Wind are planning to team up to create the largest project in the world that combines an offshore wind farm with large-scale electricity storage, the companies announced Tuesday.

The project, called the Revolution Wind Farm, would generate electricity about 12 miles off the shore of Marthas Vineyard, Mass., and store some of it in large batteries built by Tesla. The project would have the capacity to generate 144 megawatts of wind power, or enough electricity to power 80,000 homes, according to Deepwater Wind.

The Block Island Wind Farm, America's first offshore wind farm, was built by Deepwater Wind and began operating in 2016. Credit: NREL/flickr

If approved by the state, the wind farm would begin operating in 2023. It is expected to be built next to another wind farm proposed by Deepwater Wind called the South Fork Wind Project. That project would serve Long Island, N.Y.

The companies proposed Revolution Wind as part of a call in Massachusetts for new sources of renewable energy across the state. The state hopes to generate more clean energy to meet its climate goals by cutting the states greenhouse gas emissions. Electric power plants running on coal and natural gas have historically been Americas largest source of carbon pollution contributing to climate change.

Revolution Wind brings together two new industries in the U.S. offshore wind and electricity storage. The expansion and scalability of renewables depends in part on new ways to store wind and solar power, which today can only be used when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining. Big batteries are seen as a solution to that problem because they allow renewable energy to be used whenever its needed.

So far, batteries are most often used to store solar power. Tesla has teamed up with electric companies in California to build batteries to help them use more solar, but it has not used the batteries for offshore wind power anywhere in the U.S.

Tesla has not said what kind of batteries it plans to use for Revolution Wind, but the large batteries it currently builds, including the Tesla PowerPack, are composed of 16 pods that together weigh more than 3 tons and are 7 feet tall. The pods are daisy-chained together and provide hundreds of kilowatts of power. Tesla declined to comment.

If approved, the Revolution Wind Farm will be built by Deepwater Wind, which switched on Americas first offshore wind farm in Rhode Island last year. That farm lead to the shutdown of a diesel-fired power plant on Block Island.

In a statement, Deepwater Wind said the offshore wind-battery storage pairing will provide clean energy during the times of highest electricity demand. The project will prevent the need for new power plants that operate only when power demand is at its daily peak.

A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources said he had not seen the proposal and was unable to comment.

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Tesla Joins Effort to Pair Batteries With Offshore Wind - Climate Central

ByWilliam H. Funk

Bay Journal

Scientists are worried that anexecutive orderissued by President Trump earlier this year that seeks to open large portions of the mid-Atlantic and other coastal areas to oil and gas exploration would harm the endangered North Atlantic right whale and other species that occasionally visit the Chesapeake Bay.

Trumps order, issued April 28, reverses a 2016 policy from theObama administrationthat closed federal waters off portions of the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific coasts and the Gulf of Mexico to drilling as part of the administrations effort to boost domestic energy production. The order also instructed federal agencies to streamline the permitting process to speed approval of seismic testing to locate oil and gas reserves in those areas.

But the action is increasingly unpopular with many elected officials along the East Coast.

Hogan, Frosh opposed

In July, MarylandGov. Larry Hoganpublically stated his opposition to any further offshore exploration. And the attorneys general from nine East Coast jurisdictions including those from Maryland, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia and Delaware submitted comments opposing additional surveys.

The proposed seismic tests are themselves disruptive and harmful, MarylandAttorney General Brian Froshsaid in a statement. Worse, they are the precursors to offshore drilling that would put the Chesapeake Bay at risk to drilling-related contamination. That contamination would have catastrophic impacts on fragile ecosystems and important economies. This is a foolish gamble with our precious natural resources.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginiais the lone Southeastern governor supporting marine oil exploration, saying he never had a problem with seismic testing. While 127 municipalities have passed resolutions against the tests, only five are in Virginia.

But coastal Virginians unease with seismic tests appears to be growing. In July, thecity council of Norfolkpassed a unanimous resolution opposing both offshore drilling and seismic testing, citing threats to marine life, local fisheries and wetlands that offer vital protection from rising seas. The previous month, the city council of Virginia Beach also voted to oppose offshore drilling.

24/7 airguns

The seismic testing has raised particular concern because of its potential impact on marine life. The tests are conducted by firing seismic airguns from ships every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, at a noise level that would rupture a human eardrum, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group which was among10 organizationsthat filed suit May 3 over the executive order. Among the plaintiffs contentions is that seismic blasts could deafen and even kill whales, dolphins and other animals.

Cetaceans whales and their relatives use specialized echolocation for almost all of their activities, including hunting, migration, courtship and communication, but they are extremely sensitive to underwater sound vibrations, scientists say. Right whales, whose population is thought to number only around 500, could be at particular risk, they say.

As far as the impact goes, the chances of an animal being outright killed by seismic air gun arrays are slim, said Doug Nowacek, with the Duke Marine Lab, according to Coastal Review Online. The effects that we worry about mostly are producing sound in their environment, and thats the sensory mode they use.

To locate new sources of undersea oil, companies employ airguns to blast powerful acoustic waves formed of compressed air down and through the seafloor. Each seismic test can affect an area of more than 2,500 square nautical miles, raising background noise levels to 260 decibels, approximately equaling the epicenter of a grenade blast.

This can go on continuously for weeks or even months, according to a2013 reportreleased by theinternational bodycarrying out the United Nations-sponsored Convention on Biodiversity.

Not just whales affected, plankton too

Scientists say potential harm is not limited to large marine mammals. Zooplankton, tiny microscopic invertebrates that constitute the core of the marine food chain for everything from shrimp to baleen whales, could also be impacted.

In aJune 2017 studypublished in the journal Nature, a team of marine ecologists found that, experimental airgun signal exposure decreased zooplankton abundance when compared with controls, as measured by sonar and net tows, and caused a twoto threefold increase in dead adult and larval zooplankton.

The studys conclusion says that, There is a significant and unacknowledged potential for ocean ecosystem function and productivity to be negatively impacted by present seismic technology.

In May, 133 environmental and civic organizations sent a joint letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke asking him not to proceed with the Trump administrations plan to expand offshore oil drilling and related seismic testing, stating that offshore drilling brings unacceptable risks to our oceans, coastal residents, communities, existing economies, and our climate.

But Zinke followed up on the presidents executive order with an order of his own on May 11, setting the seismic testing in motion. Seismic surveying helps a variety of federal and state partners better understand our nations offshore areas, including locating offshore hazards, siting of wind turbines, as well as offshore energy development, Zinke said in a statement. Allowing this scientific pursuit enables us to safely identify and evaluate resources that belong to the American people.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has also proposed authorizing more than 90,000 miles of active seismic blasting which, based on the results of the Nature report, would constitute approximately 135,000 square miles, according to the Natural Resource Defense Council.

How it works

Reflection seismology, as the geophysical exploratory process is called, uses concussive compressed air to send a sudden shock of sound beneath the ocean surface. Oil deposits can be detected by a geological interpretation of what the bounced sounds, called reflections, reveal what lies beneath.

Reflections are gathered and collated by floating hydrophones, also called towed arrays or streamers, which emit 10 to 15-hertz echoes that bounce off the seafloor. Where geologically suitable, up to 20 or 30 kilometers of the oceans floor can be penetrated through this technique.

Oil companies look for two seafloor features to indicate the presence of oil: salt domes and seeps. Salt domes were created over eons when oceanic regions were repeatedly drowned and parched, to atmospheric events such as glaciation. This periodic give and take of oceanic deposits squeezes buoyant sea salt to the top of the sedimentary layer, trapping oil and gas underneath, which leaves a unique shape and composition detectable to seismic exploration.

Seeps occur when oil and gas escape from the seabed and cloudily rise through the water column toward the ocean surface, making them verifiable through onsite seafloor analysis.

Deafening array of underwater sounds

Maria Morell is with the zoology department of the University of British Columbia, and specializes in marine mammal acoustics. When a mammal is exposed to an audible sound of high intensity and long duration, she said, the sensory cells of the inner ear can suffer mechanical and metabolical fatigue, followed by a cascade of alterations that can lead to temporary or permanent hearing loss.

Testing for oil, she said, adds another stressful seismic factor to a deafening environment that the Atlantics marine mammals must confront every day, including maritime transport, offshore oil and gas exploration and exploitation, industrial and military sonar, military and civilian engineering activities, supersonic aircraft noise, the construction and operation of sea-based wind farms, and acoustic deterrent and harassment devices.

Ingrid Biedron, a marine biologist with the conservation group Oceana, said that Trumps call for offshore drilling may be difficult to enact under federal law. Current proposals conflict with the Marine Mammal Protection Act, she said. They also conflict with the Endangered Species Act because several endangered whale species use the area proposed for seismic airgun blasting.

Citing a federal study, she said that, If seismic airgun surveys are approved in the Atlantic, by the governments own numbers, up to 138,000 whales and dolphins could be harmed and up to 13 million disturbed.

Potential harm to marine species from seismic testing isnt limited to cetaceans. Jessica Coakley, a fishery management specialist with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, said that these impacts stretch from the recent stranding of giant squid off Spain in areas adjacent to seismic testing to sensitive habitats such as deep-sea corals.

Ocean noise roadmap

The recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationsOcean Noise Roadmaprecognizes that sound is a fundamental component of the physical and biological habitat that many aquatic animals and ecosystems have evolved to rely on over millions of years.

In addition, Coakley said, the University of Rhode Island, in partnership with NOAA, has created a website called sound in the sea, through which visitors can click to hear what seismic airguns actually sound like when heard several thousand kilometers away underwater.

The speed of sound underwater is five times faster than sounds traveling through air, so marine creatures perceive sound coming from much farther distances than their terrestrial counterparts.

For animals that rely on sound as much as we do on sight, its not difficult to imagine the grinding anxiety of being subjected to a constant bombardment of sensory deprivation caused by seismic activities, including oil exploration. Marine mammals already facing an uphill struggle for survival could face yet another industrial challenge.

Scientists are especially worried about the North Atlantic right whale, Beidron said, Increased noise from seismic blasting could be one of the factors that further tips this species toward extinction.

Last spring, 28 top marine mammal scientists specializing in right whales signed a statement declaring unequivocally that for this species, among the most endangered whales on the planet, and already facing a desperate level of endangerment, widespread seismic surveys may well represent a tipping point, contributing significantly to a decline towards extinction.

wfunk@bayjournal.com

Bay Journal is published byBay Journal Media, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, to inform the public about issues that affect the Chesapeake Bay. A print editionis published monthly and is distributed free of charge. News, features and commentary are available free online atbayjournal.com.MarylandReporter.comis partnering with the Bay Journal by publishing one of its articles every Friday.

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Opposition grows to seismic testing for offshore oil amid concerns about impacts on marine life - MarylandReporter.com