Category Archives: Offshore

French presidential front-runner Emmanuel Macron has accused websites linked to the Kremlin of attempting to undermine his campaign by spreading fake news and lies about alleged offshore accounts in the Caribbean. Macron isnt just sounding off the pro-EU candidatefiled a lawsuitThursday against those spreading the misinformation.

Macron filed a complaint with prosecutors in Paris thataccused unknown actors of spreading false information in an attempt to influence the outcome of the election. While his opponent Marine Le Pen isnt mentioned by name, the lawsuit was filed a day after the far-right candidate accused Macron of having a secret bank account in the Bahamas during a live TV debatein advance of the Sunday election. Macron calledthe allegation as defamation.

Speaking on French radio Thursday, Macron called the allegations fake news and lies, and claimed that some of the sites repeating them were linked to Russian interests. Authorities in France and across Europe have repeatedly warned of disinformation campaigns directed by the Kremlin hitting key elections on the continent this year.

The fact that Le Pen is not named means that the lawsuit Macron filed will act as a warning to anyone thinking about repeating the rumor online, showing that the centrist candidate is willing to take anyone to court who spreads the story.

In an interview with BFM TV on Thursday, Le Pen backed away from the claims she made during the debate, saying she had no proof of the secret account, and if she had, she would have raised them with the court.

Macron extends lead

Despite Le Pens allegation made during a debate watched by 16.5 million people an opinion poll published Friday showed that Macron had extended his lead as the candidates entered the final day of campaigning ahead of a quiet day on Saturday.

The poll, conducted immediately after the debate, showed Macron on 62 percent compared to Le Pens 38 percent. Macron had slumped slightly to 59 percent in a previous poll, his lowest ranking in three months.

Another survey suggested that many French voters were disillusioned with both candidates. This poll, carried out by the Odoxa Institute for France Info, says Sundays vote will have the lowest turnout of any second-round presidential election since 1969. Far-left voters particularly those who voted for Jean-Luc Mlenchon in the first round were particularly unlikely to vote.

Following the debate, both candidates received hostile receptions from the electorate, with Le Pen pelted with eggs as she visited a town in the western region of Brittany. Macron on the other hand was booed when he met with trade union members at a glassworks in Albi as a result of his plans to liberalise labor laws.

Russian influence

This is not the first time Russia has been accused of interfering with Macrons campaign. Back in February, French authorities warned Russia not to interfere with the election after alleging that cyberattacks against Macrons website were carried out by hackers linked to the Kremlin.

This form of interference in French democratic life is unacceptable and I denounce it, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said at the time.

According to researchers monitoring the activity of pro-Kremlin accounts and blogs, the disinformation campaign in France didnt kick into gear until January, when Francois Fillons campaign stumbled as a result of a corruption scandal and Macron surged in the polls. The resulting efforts however were somewhat ham-fisted. The disinformation machine tried to go from a car being in neutral to a car being in sixth gear, and it kind of stalled, Ben Nimmo, senior fellow at the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab, told VICE News.

Cover: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Continued here:

Macron files lawsuit over offshore rumors spread by websites linked to Russia - VICE News

Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff

Vendors tear down their displays as the 2017 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC 2017) officially closed Thursday, May 4, 2017, in Houston. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )

Vendors tear down their displays as the 2017 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC 2017) officially closed Thursday, May 4, 2017, in Houston. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )

A closed sign on the registration desk as the 2017 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC 2017) officially closed Thursday, May 4, 2017, in Houston. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )

A closed sign on the registration desk as the 2017 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC 2017) officially closed Thursday, May 4, 2017, in Houston. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )

The NRG Center's carpet is rolled up as the 2017 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC 2017) officially closed Thursday, May 4, 2017, in Houston. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )

The NRG Center's carpet is rolled up as the 2017 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC 2017) officially closed Thursday, May 4, 2017, in Houston. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )

Down come the letters after the Offshore Technology Conference, which had attendance of just under 65,000. people.

Down come the letters after the Offshore Technology Conference, which had attendance of just under 65,000. people.

Vendors pack away their wares. The mood at the OTC darkened as oil prices, which started the week just under $50 a barrel, slid to $45.52 on Thursday.

Vendors pack away their wares. The mood at the OTC darkened as oil prices, which started the week just under $50 a barrel, slid to $45.52 on Thursday.

Workers roll up a carpet Thursday at NRG Center. OTC attendance has declined nearly 40 percent since 2014.

Workers roll up a carpet Thursday at NRG Center. OTC attendance has declined nearly 40 percent since 2014.

OTC attendance down as offshore loses its groove

Attendance at Houston's annual Offshore Technology Conference, a bellwether for the oil and gas industry, fell for the third consecutive year, sliding to the lowest level in more than a decade as deep-water drillers struggle to match the country's budding shale recovery.

Just under 65,000 people wandered the exhibits at Houston's NRG Park, down from 68,000 last year and 95,000 in 2015. Attendance has plunged nearly 40 percent since hitting a record 108,000 in 2014, the peak of the last oil boom.

RELATED:Deep-water drilling faces shallow future

The latest decline represents an inflection point for the conference and the offshore sector, which has become increasingly diminished as companies shift money, workers and equipment to Texas and other U.S. shale fields that are far less expensive to exploit.

With analysts expecting oil prices to remain low for the next several years, many exhibitors and visitors said the halcyon days of record OTC attendance, over-the-top displays and expensive swag appear over - at least in the near term.

"The money is moving onshore," said Gary Fransen, sales manager at Houston oil services company Agar Corp.

The annual trade show, billed as the world's largest energy trade show, kicked off Monday with a sense of optimism that the worst was behind the oil and gas industry and the recovery that began in the Permian Basin and other productive shale formations would spread to other sectors. The mood was noticeably more upbeat than the 2016 conference, which was just two months removed from the bottom of the downturn, when prices hit a 13-year low of just over $26 a barrel.

The mood, however, became subdued as prices, which started the week just under $50 a barrel, slid to $45.52, the lowest settlement since November and just $1.20 higher than a year ago. Crude fell $2.30 a barrel, or about 5 percent, on Thursday alone over concerns of growing supplies in global markets - despite OPEC production cuts that went into effect earlier this year.

Much of that concern arises from the growing output of U.S. shale drillers.

To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.

"Producers are victims of their own success in getting oil out of the ground faster, cheaper than the market expected," Houston oil analyst Andy Lipow said. "For the offshore world, it means they're on a longer time frame for a wholehearted recovery."

Despite hopes that attendance would rebound after last year's plunge, visitors and exhibitors early on noted signs of another disappointing turnout. Traffic was light, and parking spaces were easy to get. Some major companies were absent.

Tenaris, the giant Argentine oil and gas piping manufacturer, was back, but it pushed its steel for wells drilled in the North American shale basin.

"The OTC, it's the Onshore Technology Conference," CEO Paolo Rocca said. "That's what we call it. It's onshore and offshore at this point in time."

Houston-based Micro-Smart Systems, an oil field services provider that makes devices to measure well data, also said it is focusing investment onshore. But Micro-Smart has had a booth at OTC for two decades. Giving up the spot - as many companies did last year when oil prices hit rock bottom - would mean losing their premier location.

Agar Corp., a 25-year attendee, made the same calculus.

"The growth is going to be onshore, but we are still here," Fransen said.

There were notable absences this year. GE Oil and Gas, which is merging with the Houston oil and gas services giant Baker Hughes; FMC Technologies, now part of TechnipFMC; and Cameron International, now part of Schlumberger, all skipped.

GE opted to give up its OTC booth in favor of a sponsorship that put the company name on lanyards and tote bags. The decision to give up the booth had nothing to do with the Baker Hughes acquisition, spokeswoman Stephanie Cathcart said.

The amount of freight moved to the trade show - blowout preventers, valves, pipes, drill bits and frac trucks, as well all the trappings required for trade-show booths - fell by about 1 million pounds from last year, according to the movers. Attendance was the lowest since 2006, when just over 59,000 came.

The challenge for the offshore industry now is to cut production costs if they are to compete in the "lower for longer" price environment, industry officials and analyst said. The biggest oil companies said they are doing just that by standardizing equipment and technology that can be used and moved to different platforms and rigs, instead of customizing each project.

British oil giant BP has managed to make several Gulf of Mexico projects, including Mad Dog 2, profitable at $40 a barrel, compared with about $80 a few years ago, regional president Richard Morrison said.

Chevron Corp. said it is working to collaborate better with other oil companies in deep-water development as a way to minimize costs. But in November, Chevron executives said that when it comes to new investments, the company's operations in the Permian get the first call.

Despite the likelihood that offshore's recovery will lag behind land-based sectors, Neal Anderson, CEO of the energy research firm Wood Mackenzie, said that offshore drilling is far from dead. Deep-water operators have plenty of places to cut costs, although broad reductions have yet to happen.

Not all companies will be able to rely on the Permian Basin, said Julie Wilson, a research director for global exploration at Wood Mackenzie, and some might find success with existing offshore projects.

"They still have to grow," Wilson said, "and can grow profitability with good offshore projects that can break even at $50 or below."

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OTC attendance down as offshore loses its groove - Houston ... - Houston Chronicle

In some versions of a story May 3 about a lawsuit seeking to maintain a drilling ban in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, The Associated Press reported erroneously the name of one plaintiff. It is the Center for Biological Diversity, not the Center for Biological Development.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Groups sue to stop Trump from renewing offshore drilling

Environmental and Alaska Native groups are suing to maintain a U.S. ban on oil and gas exploration in most of the Arctic Ocean and select areas of the Atlantic after President Donald Trump took steps to put the waters back in play for offshore drilling

By DAN JOLING

Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) Environmental and Alaska Native groups sued Wednesday to maintain a U.S. ban on oil and gas exploration in most of the Arctic Ocean and select areas of the Atlantic after President Donald Trump took steps to put the waters back in play for offshore drilling.

The drilling ban was a key part of former President Barack Obama's environmental legacy, aimed at protecting polar bears, walrus, ice seals and Native villages that depend on the animals from industrialization and oil spills. Waters of the Atlantic continental shelf also support whales, swordfish, bluefin tuna, sea turtles and businesses heavily dependent on the health of the ocean ecosystem, according to the lawsuit.

In an executive order Friday, Trump ordered Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review the ban with the goal of opening offshore areas to job-creating energy exploration.

"With one careless stroke of his pen, Trump ignored the law and put our oceans at new risk of a devastating oil spill," said Kristen Monsell, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit in Anchorage.

White House spokeswoman Kelly Love said by email that the administration is confident Trump's commonsense decision to boost the country's energy sector will be vindicated by the courts.

The federal lawsuit claims Trump exceeded his constitutional authority and violated federal law.

Congress has the power to regulate federal land under the Constitution. Lawmakers have authorized presidents to halt drilling in unleased lands of the outer continental shelf but did not allow them to reopen areas, according the lawsuit.

Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton made permanent or time-limited withdrawals from drilling under the Outer Continental Shelf Land Act.

"It says nothing about the authority to undo those withdrawals," said attorney Erik Grafe of Earthjustice, one of two law firms representing the 10 groups. "No president has reversed a withdrawal in the past except for ones that have express end dates. President Obama's withdrawals were permanent."

In 2015, Obama halted exploration in coastal areas of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas and the Hanna Shoal, an important area for walrus. On Dec. 20, he withdrew most other potential Arctic Ocean lease areas about 98 percent of the Arctic outer continental shelf.

Abigail Hopper, Obama's director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said at the time that oil and gas activity in the harsh and undeveloped Arctic was not worth the risks when the nation had ample energy near existing infrastructure.

Josh Kindred, environmental counsel for the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, said Trump's executive order has been portrayed as dramatic when it merely reverts to policy in place for most of the Obama administration.

"It brings us back to the status quo of where we were four months ago," Kindred said.

Obama spent a lot of time developing a five-year Arctic leasing plan, then he halted drilling in Arctic waters without consulting with the state of Alaska and coastal villages, Kindred said.

"It seemed to be a hard-right turn," he said.

In the Atlantic, Obama banned exploration in 5,937 square miles (15,377 square kilometers) of underwater canyon complexes, citing their importance for marine mammals, deep-water corals, valuable fish populations and migratory whales, according to the lawsuit.

Trump's executive order encourages seismic surveys, mandates expedited seismic permitting and directs a reconsideration of offshore safety and pollution control regulations. It calls for development of a new five-year leasing program in the Arctic and Atlantic.

Industry officials have expressed interest in moving into areas now banned, according to the lawsuit.

"We're suing to preserve the protections that were put in place before oil companies rush in," Grafe said.

The rest is here:

Correction: Trump-Offshore Drilling story - ABC News

E&P

OTC EXTRA: UPS Systems Safeguard Power Supplies On Offshore Rigs E&P When it comes to power on an offshore oil rig, there is no on/off switch for crew shift changes. For safety as well as operational and productivity reasons, the flow of energy must be 24/7 and completely protected from possible blackouts and ... and more »

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OTC EXTRA: UPS Systems Safeguard Power Supplies On Offshore Rigs - E&P

Lawmakers, pushed by Gov. Paul LePage, made the horrible decision in 2013 to push a potential $70 million worth of potential investment in clean energy away from Maine. The current Legislature should not make an even worse mistake this year.

A bill under consideration by the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee would require that an offshore wind test project be moved away from Monhegan Island. This would undo years worth of research, jeopardize $40 million in federal funding that is headed to Maine and, once again, prove that the state is not an honest partner in business dealings.

LD 1262 would kill a decades-long University of Maine energy research and development project by disallowing its use of a state-designated test area off Monhegan Island to test two full-scale wind energy-generating turbines. It would be the first test of floating turbines in North America. There are numerous wind farms in Europe, but they use turbines that are fixed to the seafloor. This limits their placement to near shore, where the wind is less powerful.

If the Maine test, which will use a university-patented technology, is successful, it could propel the state to a leadership role in offshore wind energy, which could mean more investment and much-needed jobs.

Three test areas off the Maine coast were designated by the state in 2009, after a lengthy review process that included 25 meetings with local officials, commercial fishermen and others in communities along the coast. There were also five public hearings. The Monhegan site, about 2 miles off the Lincoln County island, was designated for use by the University of Maine System for testing of prototype and full-scale wind energy generation facilities.

Voters, in 2010, approved a $26.5 million bond that included money for an offshore wind demonstration site.

In 2014, the Maine Public Utilities Commission approved an agreement between Central Maine Power Co. and the Maine Aqua Ventus project, the name of the University of Maine test project, under which CMP would buy power generated by the project for 20 years.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Energy picked the UMaine project as one of two out of 70 slated to receive $40 million in federal funding if they clear several hurdles by early next year. The university is continuing to conduct environmental impact studies and working toward obtaining state and federal permits.

Now, this is all in jeopardy.

The bills only sponsor, Republican Sen. Dana Dow of Waldoboro, said the turbines must be moved to protect the scenic beauty that draws visitors to Monhegan and to preserve the islands culture.

That culture includes some of the highest electricity bills in the state. Monhegan residents now pay about 70 cents per kilowatt hour for power, which comes from a diesel generator on the island. Under the terms of the PUC order, during the test phase, which lasts for 20 years, island residents will receive free electricity from the project or another benefit the community choses.

Longer-term, Aqua Ventus hopes to lower the price of electricity from its project to 7.7 cents per kilowatt hour, making offshore wind power a viable source of electricity to power vehicles and to heat homes.

The two turbines will be visible from three houses on Monhegan. The owners, including famed painter Jamie Wyeth, are supportive of the UMaine project. So is the Monhegan Fishermens Alliance, which represents the islands lobstermen.

Change is hard to accept when one loves a place and has known it for a long time. But we can no longer think of ourselves only, Robin McCoy, a seasonal Monhegan resident and granddaughter of painter N.C. Wyeth, told committee members on Tuesday.

She warned lawmakers that if they pass LD 1262, they will not only force UMaine to lose $40 million, they will end Maines bid for leadership in an industry that is already becoming competitive as a clean alternative to coal and natural gas.

The Monhegan Island saga is reminiscent of the backroom dealing in 2013 that lead Statoil, which has proposed a wind energy project off the coast of Boothbay, to abandon Maine. It has since built offshore energy-generation facilities in Scotland and may soon do so in other states.

Even though the PUC approved a contract with Statoil, LePage convinced lawmakers to renege on the deal in favor of supporting the UMaine project. Now, he is also in favor of pulling the rug out from under that project as well.

Lawmakers must reject LD 1262 or risk reminding the world that Maine is not serious about reducing energy prices and is not a place with consistent rules for doing business.

Go here to read the rest:

Maine can't afford a second colossal mistake on offshore wind energy - Bangor Daily News

ISLAMABAD: It feels like 'moving' in full circle. A few months ago, lawyers representing Imran Khan pleaded for conviction of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif because his children allegedly had piles of ill-gotten money in their offshore accounts overseas.

On Wednesday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman faced almost similar charges in the same courtroom. The only difference was that Mr Khan was not present to see Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's attorneys putting forward their arguments.

The issue of offshore accounts abroad came full circle in the Courtroom No1 when Akram Sheikh, counsel for PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi, pleaded for Imran Khans disqualification alleging that he has concealed facts in documents submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan and the Federal Board of Revenue.

Perhaps it was a tough day for PTI's third-tier leadership in the court as judges looked keener to hear arguments of the petitioner's lawyer who kept focus on Article 62 (1) F and Article 63 (1) P. Sheikh argued that Mr Khan is not sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, pleading the court that the PTI chief be disqualified from being member of the Majlis-i-Shura for the time being.

The atmosphere in the court was as energetic as the audience witnessed from January 3 to February 23 in this very courtbut this time only in PML-N camp.

Top leadership of PTI and PML-N could not be seen inside or outside the countrys top court. This correspondent also did not see unusual security arrangements as was witnessed during the Panama Papers case hearing.

During the course of proceeding many senior lawyers were heard whispering that first Sharifs lawyers were arguing on technical grounds now the respondents counsels are seeking dismissal of the petition on same technical grounds.

Naeem Bokhari, counsel for Imran Khan, and Hanif Abbasi sat together for around 100 minutesoverall time for Wednesday's hearing. A thoughtful Naeem-ul-Haq could be seen sitting next to them.

When Chief Justice Saqib Nisar questioned Akram Sheikh under which laws his client sought disqualification of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and PTI General Secretary Jehangir Tareen, Sheikh in a calling-a-spade-a spade manner cited Articles 62 and 63 of the 1973 Constitution.

The courtroom almost filled up before the proceedings started at 11:30AM. Akram Sheikh took the rostrum where he focused on three important points of this case. Key striking point included foreign funding to PTI.

Under Article 17 (3) foreign funding to a political party is illegal, argued Sheikh. Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Umar Atta Bandial were also part of this three-member bench in the court where lawyers and journalists were amused to hear that PTI took foreign funds worth millions of dollars. Mr Khans loyalty to Pakistan is questionable after he received $2.3 million in foreign funding using PTIs name. This is prohibited under the Political Parties Order 2002 and Article 17 of the constitution, Sheikh told the bench of the apex court.

PML-N leader Daniyal Aziz and Hanif Abbasi were in constant communication over whether to talk to media after the proceedings or not as the petitioners counsel, as the judges had warned that parties should avoid media talk on this case in the courts premises.

As the apex court adjourned hearing of the case till Friday (today), lawyers and PTI leaders Arif Alvi and Naeem-ul-Haq rushed to the Courtroom No2 where the decision on the formation of Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was being given. The JIT that would probe the prime minister and his two sons who are facing similar charges of holding offshore accounts, property and business abroad.

Read more:

Live from courtroom: Offshore accounts issue comes full circle in Imran disqualification case - Geo News, Pakistan

President Trump was the clincher: He wants more offshore oil drilling, so forget it. California is right to put up the barricades.

This guy just cant be trusted. He shows no respect for history or the truth. No way should California place its beautiful beaches in his soiled hands.

One of this presidents latest head-shakers, after all, was to claim in a newspaper interview that Andrew Jackson was really angry about the Civil War. He said, Theres no reason for this.

But Jackson had been dead 16 years before the first shot was fired.

Further wounding himself, Trump added: Why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?

As any middle-school kid could tell him, the Civil War was about slavery. What would have been the compromise? Free the women and children, but keep the men in chains? Phase it out over a few generations?

This is not about Trumps ideology and beliefs. Its about his not seeming to have any beliefs and therefore being unpredictable.

Trump should not be the judge of how much oil spill risk is acceptable to California. The answer is none.

And the oil companies cant be trusted either, despite their repeated insistence that modern drilling has become much safer because of new technologies.

Full confession: I used to buy into that. Nine years ago I wrote a column advocating the renewal of drilling off the California coast. The country needed to reduce its oil imports and produce more of its own, I wrote. Oil exploration provided good paying jobs. California could use the tax revenue.

And drilling had become a lot safer than nearly 40 years earlier when a Union Oil platform six miles off Santa Barbara spilled crud all over the coast from Goleta to Ventura while also fouling the Channel Islands. An estimated 3,500 sea birds were killed, plus dolphins, elephant seals and sea lions.

At the time, in 1969, it was the largest oil spill ever in U.S. waters.

Four decades later, it seemed like the oil industry had become a bit more enlightened. So I plugged more offshore drilling.

Admittedly, I was biased. My dad worked on oil rigs in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties most of his adult life. My first summer job out of high school was in an oil field. While many considered oil derricks unsightly, I found them fascinating.

But I loved the surf and the beaches a lot more. Oil-tinted breakers depicted the devil.

What started turning me around was the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 people and injured 17. An estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil were unleashed in the worlds biggest marine spill. So much for safety. Where theres offshore drilling, no beaches are safe. Period.

Now Trump has asked the Interior Department to reconsider several safety regulations imposed after the Horizon spill. That could make offshore drilling even more dangerous.

And he has signed an executive order that could open the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans to new drilling in federal waters.

California will fight this every step of the way, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) pledged.

In Sacramento, state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) said shell push legislation that would block any oil pumped in federal waters from reaching Californias shore. It would forbid the state Lands Commission from allowing any new pipeline or other facility to handle expanded oil flow.

If they want to go out and sell leases and try to develop new production in federal waters, were not going to provide them with the infrastructure to transport the oil on shore, Jackson said. Were going to make the three miles we control a no-oil zone.

Updates from Sacramento

Federal waters are those between three and 12 miles off the coast.

Gov. Jerry Brown undoubtedly would sign the bill. He and the Democratic governors of Oregon and Washington released a statement calling Trumps action short-sighted, adding: We cannot return to the days where the federal government put the interests of big oil above our communities and treasured coastline.

The Lands Commission needs no convincing. Its already dead-set against allowing more offshore oil to reach land.

Californias door is closed to President Trumps Pacific oil and gas drilling, announced Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the commission chairman.

The three Democratic commissioners, Newsom said, will ensure that any oil and gas product from new drilling never makes landfall in California.

Anyway, all these Democrats emphasize, California is leading an effort to save the planet from global warming by dramatically reducing the burning of fossil fuel and increasing reliance on renewable energy. Force the oil companies to develop clean energy sources, they say.

There are 27 oil platforms off the California coast. But there havent been any new leases in state waters since the Santa Barbara spill, and none in federal waters since 1984.

Youre not likely to see any new ones either. The California coast, fortunately, is a dry hole for Trump.

george.skelton@latimes.com

Follow @LATimesSkelton on Twitter

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An earlier version of this article contained a quote from a Union Oil official, published during original coverage of the spill, that turned out to be erroneous. It has been removed.

See more here:

California is right to close its door to offshore drilling Trump can't be trusted with our beaches - Los Angeles Times

BBC News

French election: Macron takes action over offshore claims BBC News The frontrunner in the race for the French presidency, Emmanuel Macron, has filed a lawsuit over online rumours that he has a secret bank account in the Caribbean. Prosecutors in Paris have opened an investigation following his complaint. The news came ... Emmanuel Macron launches legal complaint over offshore account allegations spread by Marine Le PenThe Independent Macron Lodges Complaint With French Prosecutor Over Offshore Account AllegationsU.S. News & World Report Emmanuel Macron files complaint after Marine Le Pen's 'offshore account' claimThe Hindu euronews -NDTV -Firstpost all 1,262 news articles »

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French election: Macron takes action over offshore claims - BBC News

Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff

Alek Kolin, a technical adviser at Liebherr, demonstrates a virtual reality crane at the Offshore Technology Conference.

Alek Kolin, a technical adviser at Liebherr, demonstrates a virtual...

Suddenly, the waves rose higher, the weather turned and the giant machine began wobbling as Farrel Alexander tapped a few keys controlling the offshore crane simulation.

In the hallways of the Offshore Technology Conference on Wednesday, the virtual crane operator compensated for the rough seas as he tried to latch the crane's hook to a stack of pipes. After several failed attempts - it's a delicate procedure - it finally worked.

More than 100 people tried their luck on German crane manufacturer Liebherr's five-screen simulator at the OTC this week, operating a heavy offshore crane with twin joysticks and a multitude of buttons. It's probably the biggest workout the simulator has had in a while.

Before the oil bust began in 2014, the manufacturer trained dozens of new crane operators on the simulator at a training center in Miami. But last year, the company trained exactly zero new workers for offshore cranes used at oil and gas platforms and rigs, said Alexander, service manager for offshore cranes at Liebherr.

"Traffic has really slowed down," he said. "Customers aren't going into projects yet because of the price of oil."

Liebherr uses the simulator to train crane operators to become proficient at the controls of big, dangerous equipment. If the driver steers it into the oil platform, for example, things get hairy, quickly. For OTC visitors, it's a fun ride, and it draws plenty of people into Liebherr's booth. But it's not translating into more business.

Even though oil prices are relatively higher and OPEC has cut crude production, Alexander still hasn't seen any sign that offshore crane operators need new workers to learn how to maneuver cranes. It's likely that Liebherr's clients in the oil industry have laid off all but the most seasoned crane operators, and with few new upcoming projects, there's little need for training.

It's yet another sign at the OTC that offshore exploration and project development remain in virtual stasis despite the higher oil prices that have spurred a drilling boom in the United States.

To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.

"It hasn't changed the dynamic," Alexander said. "It takes some time. Notwithstanding, there's a lot of optimism. But the levels of requests from customers haven't followed oil prices."

See the original post:

Crane simulator captures ups - and downs - of offshore industry ... - Houston Chronicle

Americas first offshore wind farm just helped to shut down a small diesel-fired electric power plant on Block Island, Rhode Island.

Block Island officials on Monday switched on a connection between the island and a cable linking the wind farm to Rhode Islands mainland power grid. The connection allowed the islands only electricity source a small diesel-fueled power plant to shut down. The islands 2,000 residents burned about 1 million gallons of diesel fuel annually.

The emissions that go along with nearly a million gallons of diesel a year thats all going to go away, said Jeff Wright, chief executive of the Block Island Power Co.

Diesel releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than any other common petroleum-based fuel except for residential fuel oil, according to the EPA. Less than 1 percent of electricity in the U.S. is generated using liquid petroleum, including diesel.

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Until now, Block Islands power grid was completely isolated from the mainland. The construction of the wind farm and its connection to the mainland allowed the island to connect to the New England power grid for the first time.

Mike Jacobs, an energy analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the Block Island connection is an example of how renewables are helping to displace fossil fuels on the power grid.

Though offshore wind farms are common in Europe, the Block Island Wind Farm is the first ever built in the U.S. a demonstration meant to help prove the viability of offshore wind in the U.S.

The farm marked a historic moment last December when its five wind turbines generated electricity commercially for the first time. The occasion marked the birth of an industry that the Obama administration hoped would flourish off the Atlantic coast, helping to wean the U.S. away from electricity generated using fossil fuels.

The offshore wind power potential in the U.S. is huge. If fully developed, offshore turbines could supply four times todays total U.S. electricity generating capacity enough to power roughly 800 million homes.

Having an operating project demonstrates to the rest of the industry, including the supply chain, that a project can be built, and the same to state governments whose political and financial support for these early projects will be critical, said Jeremy Firestone, director of the Center for Carbon-Free Power Integration at the University of Delaware.

In recent months, developers have won leases from the federal government to build other offshore wind farms along the Atlantic Coast. Projects likely to be completed in the next several years include wind farms off the coasts of Long Island, Maryland, and Delaware, Firestone said.

The shutdown of the Block Island diesel plant came three days after President Trump signed an executive order taking steps to lift restrictions on offshore oil and gas development. One of the administrations main goals is to expand fossil fuel development as much as possible across the U.S. and offshore. At the same time, it has shown no sign that it will stand in the way of expanding offshore wind development, Jacobs said.

Broadly, theres been positive support from the Trump administration for offshore wind, Jacobs said.

More here:

The first U.S. offshore wind farm just shut down a diesel plant - Grist