IADC CONNECTION • WIRELINES
BOEM announces Lease Sale 259 in US Gulf of Mexico will be held on 29 March
The US Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management (BOEM) has proposed to hold
Lease Sale 259 in the US Gulf of Mexico
on 29 March. Under the terms of the US
Inflation Reduction Act, BOEM must hold
Lease Sale 259 no later than 31 March.

In response to BOEM’s announcement,
IADC issued a statement urging the Biden
Administration to complete its pre-lease
obligations in a forthright and responsive
manner. “With the Administration having
sold over 32% of the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve’s 714-million-barrel reserves, the
nation’s emergency crude stockpile is now
at its lowest level since 1984. In this con-
text, the urgency for increasing offshore
exploration and production in the United
States cannot be overstated. Signaling a
sincere commitment to stabilizing global
energy markets via increased domestic
offshore hydrocarbon production would
bring much needed certainty to tenuous
global energy markets,” IADC President
Jason McFarland stated.

In January, the BOEM also issued its
Final Supplemental Environmental Impact
115 bids received in UK’s 33rd offshore licensing round
The UK’s 33rd offshore oil and gas
licensing round attracted 115 bids across
258 blocks and part-blocks from 76
companies, the North Sea Transition
Authority (NSTA) announced in January.

The round was opened in October as
part of efforts to boost the UK’s energy
security. To encourage quick production – in as
little as 18 months, the NSTA said – four
cluster areas that have known hydrocar-
bons have been prioritized in this licens-
ing round. That compares with an aver-
age time of nearly five years between
the dates of recent discoveries and first
production. The 33rd round attracted similar inter-
est to the 32nd licensing round in 2019,
which received 104 applications from
245 blocks and part-blocks. In 2019 a
total of 768 blocks and part-blocks were
offered, compared with 931 in this round.

Of the 931 blocks and part-blocks of-
fered in the UK’s 33rd offshore oil and
gas licensing round, 258 received bids
from 76 companies. The NSTA said it
will prioritize licenses for blocks that
have the potential to produce quickly.

Statement (EIS) for both Lease Sale 259 and
Lease Sale 261. The latter sale will need to
be held by September 2023 as directed by
the Inflation Reduction Act. The EIS iden-
tifies baseline conditions and potential
impacts of oil and gas E&P.

Scan me for more
information on GOM
Lease Sale 259.

bit.ly/3Qd1Oob API signs MOU to support
Ukrainian energy sector
API and the State Enterprise “Ukrainian
Scientific Center for Standardization,
Certification and Quality Problems” signed
a memorandum of understanding (MOU)
to promote the adoption of API oil and gas
standards and cooperate on a range of
activities, such as:
Promoting the adoption and utilization
of API standards in Ukraine’s oil and natu-
ral gas industry;
Facilitating participation on API
Standards Committees by Ukrainian sub-
ject matter experts;
Driving standards harmonization in
Ukraine and facilitating greater standards
cooperation in the region;
Encouraging the exchange of informa-
tion and capacity building between the
two organizations; and
Jointly organizing standards, training,
certification and safety activities.

EPA issues new rule on heavy-duty engine emissions
API, AMEXHI, IOGP renew
collaboration agreement
The US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) adopted a final rule that
sets more stringent emissions standards
for a wide range of heavy-duty engine
operating conditions. The rule also
changes key provisions of the existing
heavy-duty emission control program,
including test procedures, regulatory
useful life and emission-related war-
ranty. The EPA said its aim is to reduce air
pollution from heavy-duty engines and
vehicles. It estimates the new rule will
reduce NO x emissions from heavy-duty
API, the Asociación Mexicana de
Empresas de Hidrocarburos (AMEXHI) and
the International Association of Oil & Gas
Producers (IOGP) have renewed a memo-
randum of understanding (MOU) focused
on cooperation and enhancing operational
performance in North America.

The MOU establishes mechanisms for
partnership and coordination, includ-
ing joint forums; technical workshops on
areas such as offshore safety; and the
sharing of good practices on environmen-
tal performance, sustainability, emergency
response and other areas.

48 vehicles in 2040 by more than 40%. By
2045, a year by which most of the regu-
lated heavy-duty engine fleet will have
turned over, it estimates that NO x emis-
sions from heavy-duty engines will be
almost 50% lower than they would have
been without the new rule.

Scan me to read the
EPA’s new rule on
heavy-duty engine
emissions. bit.ly/3WjtIQO
JAN UARY/FEB RUARY 2023 • D R I LLI N G CO N T R ACTO R