Monday, February 19, 2024

Chevron Moves to Expand Giant Israeli Gas Field

By Charles Kennedy - Feb 19, 2024

Chevron has announced the start of the second phase of development at the Tamar gas field offshore Israel.

Despite the ongoing war with Hamas, the U.S. supermajor is working to increase production at the deposit to 1.6 billion cubic meters daily. The expansion project will cost $24 million.

“Reaching FID for Phase Two of Tamar’s expansion reflects Chevron’s ongoing commitment to partnering with the State of Israel to continue development of its energy resources for the benefit of domestic and regional natural gas markets,” Jeff Ewing, managing director of Chevron’s business operations in the Eastern Mediterranean, said as quoted by The Times of Israel.

The Tamar field is one of the two massive offshore gas fields that put Israel on the global gas map when they were discovered. The field last year produced 10.25 billion cubic meters, up by 18% in 2021.

Chevron had to shut down the field last October, after the Hamas attacks on Israel.

“Chevron Mediterranean Limited was instructed by Israel’s Ministry of Energy to shut in production at the Tamar Production Platform,” the local unit of the U.S. supermajor said in a statement at the time.

Chevron Mediterranean Limited operates Tamar and has a 25% stake in the field, alongside Isramco (28.75%), Tamar Petroleum (16.75%), Mubadala Energy (11%), Tamar Investment 2 (11%), Dor Gas (4%), and Everest (3.5%).

At Tamar, six production wells produce volumes of natural gas ranging from 7.1 to 8.5 million cubic meters per day each. Most of the natural gas processing takes place on the Tamar platform situated 24 kilometers (15 miles) west of Ashkelon. Tamar supplies 70% of Israel's energy consumption needs for electricity generation.

Production at the field resumed about a month later after the government in Tel Aviv deemed the danger of production getting disrupted by Hamas to have been eliminated.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

Three Countries Hold 50% of the World’s Uranium Reserves

By ZeroHedge - Feb 16, 2024

Australia, Kazakhstan, and Canada possess over 50% of the world's uranium reserves, with Australia standing out as the leader with over 1.7 million tonnes discovered.
Other significant uranium reserve holders include Russia, Namibia, South Africa, Brazil, Niger, and China, each contributing to the global uranium supply.
The article notes that new uranium deposits continue to be discovered, contributing to the increase in known reserves, with advancements in technology aiding exploration efforts.

There can be a tendency to believe that uranium deposits are scarce from the critical role it plays in generating nuclear energy, along with all the costs and consequences related to the field.

But uranium is actually fairly plentiful: it’s more abundant than gold and silver, for example, and about as present as tin in the Earth’s crust.

Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu visualizes the distribution of the world’s uranium resources by country, as of 2021. Figures come from the World Nuclear Association, last updated on August 2023.

Ranked: Uranium Reserves By Country (2021)

Australia, Kazakhstan, and Canada have the largest shares of available uranium resources—accounting for more than 50% of total global reserves.

But within these three, Australia is the clear standout, with more than 1.7 million tonnes of uranium discovered (28% of the world’s reserves) currently. Its Olympic Dam mine, located about 600 kilometers north of Adelaide, is the the largest single deposit of uranium in the world—and also, interestingly, the fourth largest copper deposit.

Despite this, Australia is only the fourth biggest uranium producer currently, and ranks fifth for all-time uranium production.

Figures are rounded.

Outside the top three, Russia and Namibia both have roughly the same amount of uranium reserves: about 8% each, which works out to roughly 470,000 tonnes.

South Africa, Brazil, and Niger all have 5% each of the world’s total deposits as well.

China completes the top 10, with a 3% share of uranium reserves, or about 224,000 tonnes.

A caveat to this is that current data is based on known uranium reserves that are capable of being mined economically. The total amount of the world’s uranium is not known exactly—and new deposits can be found all the time. In fact the world’s known uranium reserves increased by about 25% in the last decade alone, thanks to better technology that improves exploration efforts

Meanwhile, not all uranium deposits are equal. For example, in the aforementioned Olympic Dam, uranium is recovered as a byproduct of copper mining occurring at the same site. In South Africa, it emerges as a byproduct during treatment of ores in the gold mining process. Orebodies with high concentrations of two substances can increase margins, as costs can be shared for two different products.

By Zerohedge.com

Construction Starts on Chile’s First Hybrid-Electric Antarctic Cruise Ship

hybrid electric cruise ship — Magellan Dsicoverer which is beginning construction will be hybrid-electric and propelled by pods (ASENAV)

Construction has begun in Chile at ASENAV shipyard on a unique exploration cruise ship which is being built as the first hybrid-electric propulsion cruise ship with Azipods to be built in the Americas. Due to be delivered in 2026, the cruise ship named Magellan Discoverer is specifically designed to operate in Antarctica.

“In terms of maritime engineering, this cruise ship will once again place Chile at the forefront in both R&D and sustainable tourism, as it reduces emissions and improves energy conditions to achieve a low impact on the White Continent,” said ASEENAV during the steel cutting ceremony on February 8 in Valdivia, Chile.

The Magellan Discoverer expands on the shipyard’s earlier construction Magellan Explorer delivered in 2019. Both cruise ships are marketed by a tour company in Chile called Antarctica21. The company pioneered a unique offering where passengers are flown to King George Island. The Air-Sea approach avoids the crossing of the notorious Drake Passage, although the cruise ships are fitted with stabilizers designed specifically to handle rough waters such as the Drake.

The new 6,700 gross ton Magellan Discoverer will feature a hybrid-electric propulsion system with two MAN main engines and gensets. Propulsion will be with ABB Azipod units and the vessel will have an energy storage system with a battery bank developed by Corvus Energy. The operator highlights that this will provide a smoother and quieter operation.

The ship is designed to maximize its energy performance and reduce its environmental impact. For example, the elevators will be fitted with a system that captures energy from braking which will be fed to the battery pack in addition to the more widely employed waste heat recovery system. All the hydraulic equipment will use biodegradable oil and the ship’s system will employ eco-friendly coolants.

The cruise ship will be 308 feet (94 meters) in length. It will comply with the rules for a Polar PC6 ice class specifications and meet Tier III emission standards. It has a maximum capacity of 96 passengers, however, during the air-sea cruises it is limited to 76 passengers and a maximum of 67 crew.

Both of the ships demonstrate the emerging trend of adding luxury to the traditional exploration cruise market. The new Magellan Discoverer with have 40 passenger cabins, including suites, deluxe cabins, and single occupancy all with private balconies. There will be a total of six passenger decks and spaces including a dining area, meeting, rooms, observation bar, gym and sauna, and a unique wet science lab. The design also features a bow observation area.

The ship’s first Antarctic program is scheduled to start in December 2026.

Past Coast Guard Leaders Deliberately Hid Sexual Assault Investigation

USCGA cadets marching — Cadets at USCGA (USCG file image)

Internal materials from 2018 appear to show that past U.S. Coast Guard leaders deliberately hid an investigation into patterns of sexual assault at the Coast Guard Academy (CGA). That investigation, Operation Fouled Anchor, concluded that CGA mishandled sexual assault reports from the late 1980s through 2006, resulting in dozens of cases in which perpetrators were never referred for criminal prosecution.

Over the span of six years, 70 Coast Guard Investigative Service agents spent 20,000 hours looking into these allegations. According to their after-action summary, they unearthed allegations against 43 different suspects, including some who were still on active duty. The top-line finding of the report was that CGA had a "disturbing pattern of conducting internal administrative investigations and/or initiating disenrollment for sexual misconduct instead of referring the matter for criminal investigation."

The investigation's findings were known at the highest levels of Coast Guard leadership, but not to the general public. In 2018, years before Operation Fouled Anchor formally closed, top-level administrators at Coast Guard headquarters decided that it would be best if Congress did not know about the investigation.

Based on meeting documents dating to October 2018, U.S. Coast Guard leaders of the era were concerned about the optics of a sexual assault investigation with a memorable "moniker" like Operation Fouled Anchor. They were afraid that disclosing the investigation would lead to "comprehensive Congressional investigations, hearings, and media interest" and could prompt uncomfortable questions about why "the rates of sexual assault reporting have not appreciably changed" at CGA in recent years. (Reports of sexual assault incidents at CGA roughly doubled from 2009 to 2017.)

In a handwritten list of "pros and cons" on the 2018 briefing memo, an unnamed official - identified as Adm. Charles Ray (ret'd), the Coast Guard's second-in-command at the time - wrote out the reasons why the Coast Guard might or might not want to disclose the investigation to Congress. "Pros" included "rip the bandaid off" and "cultural guilt purged." "Cons" included "investigations without end" and "no victims coming forward now." In larger text, he wrote that the "problem is one of the past."

The briefing memo also shows concern that any external investigation would create "intense scrutiny of all past to present [Coast Guard Academy] leadership." In addition, the authors were concerned that Congress could look beyond CGA and launch a "review of ALL Coast Guard cases" [caps original].

To avoid this possibility, the authors recommended that the Coast Guard should not tell Congress or the media that the investigation ever occurred. After deliberate consideration, the agency's leaders selected this option.

Operation Fouled Anchor remained hidden from view until a CNN investigation unearthed it in 2023, prompting outrage from congressional leaders.

Tanker Optimized for Wind-Assisted Propulsion Achieves Strong Fuel Savings

wind optimized tanker design — The hull and superstructure forms were optimize to reduce drag and support wind-assisted propulsion (Deltamarin)

A partnership between Finland’s naval architects Deltamarine and UK-based BAT Technologies looks to develop new standards in sustainable shipping. The companies held a presentation in London for their new concept, a wind-optimized design for an Aframax/LRII tanker that they report could establish a new benchmark in sustainable ship design.

BAR Technologies was launched in 2016 to build on and commercialize the team’s experience in aerodynamics including with racing yachts and the British America’s Cup team. The company gained exposure with its WindWings technology, a large solid sail that can be retrofitted to large cargo ships. They have won assignments for vessels operated by Cargill including by Berge Bulk. They completed the first installation in 2023 on the Pyxis Oceanic (80,000 dwt) and will be moving to the larger 200,000 dwt Berge Bulk vessel in 2024.

In the new project, working with the well-known Deltamarin firm, they are working to optimize the entire vessel for wind-assisted propulsion. They studied both the hull and superstructure design.

The concept presented this week called Aquilo, integrates the next generation of WindWings with the enhanced hull and superstructure design. They report that the hull’s main dimensions were optimized for wind assistance and reducing drag through an enhanced hydrodynamical design.

The second piece of the design is the AeroBridge, a reshaping of the superstructure and bridge area from BAT Technologies. According to the designers, the superior deck house design improves the ship’s efficiency by reducing drag and creating thrust.

The design also incorporates four strategically placed WindWings. They are updated in their design, further enhancing performance, and integrated into the ship’s design.

During the presentation, they reported that the combination of their designs resulted in a significant improvement in fuel efficiency for the Aframax tanker model. They reported that simulations indicated a daily fuel consumption rate of less than 26.8 metric tons per day while operating at a speed of 14.5 knots. Fuel consumption would be dramatically decreased to 12.6 metric tons per day if the vessel was slowed to 12 knots on an average global route.

The companies are continuing in their partnership, sharing experience to further enhance vessel efficiency.

Australia Moves to Strengthen Safety Rules for Offshore Oil Workers

Australia’s Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King has introduced legislation to strengthen laws governing the safety of people who work on the nation's offshore oil and gas projects. This bill follows a recent review of the offshore safety regime by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources.

Some of the changes under the new legislation, the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation Amendment (Safety and Other Measures) Bill 2024 include widening the scope of roles and training of Health and Safety representatives.

In addition, it improves worker protection against discrimination and coercion. Another significant proposal is clarifying the definition of health in Australia’s offshore legislation to include physical and psychological health. Further, the law seeks to improve health and safety rules for diving operations and dive vessels.

“Offshore safety rules and regulations are not set and forget- the Government will continue to review and update the rules and legislation for the health and safety of workers in offshore industries,” Minister King said.

Several labor groups including the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) have welcomed the new safety legislation. MUA said that for a long time, Australian offshore workers have the least health and safety rights and protections of any group of workers in the country, despite the fact that they work in one of the highest-risk industries.

“The new legislation introduced last week begins the task of addressing these decades-long problems, but we are keen to see further reform and restoration of maritime standards especially on floating petroleum facilities,” said Adrian Evans, MUA’s National Assistant Secretary.

Houthi Missile Attack Damages Bulker, Forcing Crew to Abandon Ship

Location of the reported attack in the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb (UKMTO)

[Breaking] Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked and damaged a merchant ship in the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb late Sunday, prompting the crew to abandon ship. The UK Maritime Trade Organization (UKMTO) reported the incident, and a spokesman for the Houthi group claimed responsibility for the attack later Monday.

UKMTO initially received a report of an incident 35 nm south of Al Mukha, Yemen, at about 2000 hours UTC on Sunday. The vessel's master reported "an explosion in close proximity to the vessel resulting in damage." The crew were unharmed.

In a follow-on update released in the early hours of Monday morning (local time), UKMTO advised that the crew had abandoned ship, and that unnamed military responders were on scene assisting.

The AP has identified the target vessel as the bulker Rubymar, a British-owned, Lebanese-operated bulker flagged in Belize.

"As a result of the extensive damage the ship suffered, it is now at risk of potential sinking in the Gulf of Aden. During the operation, we made sure that the ship’s crew exited safely," claimed Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree in a statement.

He also claimed that the group had shot down an American MQ9 Reaper drone aircraft, though this claim could not be immediately confirmed.

Since the beginning of Israel's operation against terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis have launched dozens of missile and drone attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea. They have also captured and held an Israeli-linked car carrier, the Galaxy Leader, and are still holding the vessel's crew.

So far, no seafarers have been reported injured by Houthi strikes, thanks in part to an American-led maritime security campaign in the Red Sea. U.S. Navy destroyers and carrier-based fighters have shot down countless inbound Houthi munitions, preventing them from reaching their intended targets, and have destroyed dozens more on the ground. There have also been no further hijackings since the increased U.S. Navy presence began.

The World's Coral Reefs are 25 Percent Bigger Than We Thought

Making these maps took plenty of underwater research as well as satellite data. This photo shows Dr Chris Roelfsema conducting a photo transect in a remote area of the Great Barrier Reef. Allen Coral Atlas, CC BY-SA

[By Mitchell Lyons and Stuart Phinn]

The world’s coral reefs are close to 25% larger than we thought. By using satellite images, machine learning and on-ground knowledge from a global network of people living and working on coral reefs, we found an extra 64,000 square kilometers of coral reefs – an area the size of Ireland.

That brings the total size of the planet’s shallow reefs (meaning 0-20 meters deep) to 348,000 square kilometers – the size of Germany. This figure represents whole coral reef ecosystems, ranging from sandy-bottomed lagoons with a little coral, to coral rubble flats, to living walls of coral.

Within this 348,000 km² of coral is 80,000 km² where there’s a hard bottom – rocks rather than sand. These areas are likely to be home to significant amounts of coral – the places snorkellers and scuba divers most like to visit.

You might wonder why we’re finding this out now. Didn’t we already know where the world’s reefs are?

Previously, we’ve had to pull data from many different sources, which made it harder to pin down the extent of coral reefs with certainty. But now we have high resolution satellite data covering the entire world – and are able to see reefs as deep as 30 metres down.

We coupled this with direct observations and records of coral reefs from over 400 individuals and organisations in countries with coral reefs from all regions, such as the Maldives, Cuba and Australia.

To produce the maps, we used machine learning techniques to chew through 100 trillion pixels from the Sentinel-2 and Planet Dove CubeSat satellites to make accurate predictions about where coral is – and is not. The team worked with almost 500 researchers and collaborators to make the maps.

The result: the world’s first comprehensive map of coral reefs extent, and their composition, produced through the Allen Coral Atlas.

The maps are already proving their worth. Reef management agencies around the world are using them to plan and assess conservation work and threats to reefs.

We combined satellite data with real world observations. Here, Dr Eva Kovacs tows a GPS on the Great Barrier Reef. Allan Coral Atlas, CC BY-SA

Where is this hidden coral?

You can see the difference for yourself. Below, red indicates the newly detected coral in reefs off far north Queensland.

Allen Coral Atlas, CC BY-SA

This infographic shows the new detail we now have for the Tongue Reef, in the seas off Port Douglas in Far North Queensland.

Allen Coral Atlas, CC BY-SA

Our maps have three levels of detail. The first is the most expansive – the entire coral reef ecosystem. Seen from space, it has light areas of coral fringed by darker deeper water.

Then we have geomorphic detail, meaning what the areas within the reef look like. This includes sandy lagoons, reef crests exposed to the air at low tide, sloping areas going into deeper water and so on.

And finally we have fine detail of the benthic substrates, showing where you have areas dominated by coral cover.

Coral can’t grow on sand. Polyps have to attach to a hard surface such as rock before they can begin expanding the reef out of their limestone-secreting bodies.

Some of our maps include fine detail of benthic substrates, meaning where coral is most likely to be and the substrates (seafloor) available to the polyps, such as existing coral, sand, rubble, or seagrass.

It’s a crucial time for the world’s coral reefs. We’re discovering the full extent of shallow water reefs – while other researchers are finding large new black coral reefs in deeper water.

But even as we make these discoveries, coral reefs are reeling. Climate change is steadily heating up the sea and making it more acidic. Coral polyps can’t handle too much heat. These wonders of biodiversity are home to a quarter of the ocean’s species. In good news, these maps are already leading to real-world change. We’ve already seen new efforts to conserve coral reefs in Indonesia, several Pacific island nations, Panama, Belize, Kenya and Australia, among others.

Mitchell Lyons is a postdoctoral research fellow at The University of Queensland.

Stuart Phinn is Professor of Geography, Director - Remote Sensing Research Centre, Chair - Earth Observation Australia, The University of Queensland.

This article appears courtesy of The Conversation and may be found in its original form here.

Navy Secretary Roasts Defense Contractors Over "Excuses" and Profits

At the annual West defense conference last week, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro had harsh words for contractors who post profits without delivering the goods. Del Toro turned the conference's theme upside down, asking if industry is delivering enough value for the nation.

"I am committed to providing you in industry clear requirements, robust pipelines for the future, and strong stable investments. However, I need you to do your part as well to provide a proper return on investment for the American taxpayer," Del Toro admonished the crowd of defense executives. "I need you to deliver platforms and capabilities on time and on budget without excuses."

The secretary has long expressed frustration with contractors' inability to speed up production, but last week's remarks were perhaps the most incisive he has yet delivered. He admonished contractors to stop blaming COVID for supply chain shortages, do what is needed to recruit and retain their own workforces, and deliver performance matching their exceptional profitability.

"Many of you are making record profits - as evidenced by your quarterly financial statements - and while I am happy for you, you can't be asking for the American taxpayer to make greater public investments while you continue to goose your stock prices through stock buybacks, deferring promised capital investments, and other accounting maneuvers that - to some - seem to prioritize stock prices that drive executive compensation rather than making the needed, fundamental investments in the industrial base at a time when our nation needs us to be all ahead flank," he exhorted the crowd.

Del Toro made clear that this was more than a lecture, and that he has instructed the Navy's legal team to "leverage all legal means at our disposal to ensure that the American people are getting what they paid for," with particular emphasis on handing over the technical data needed for maintaining existing platforms.

Del Toro also warned contractors that the Navy is doing a "deep dive" into "chronic poor performance and misconduct," not only at the company level, but at the level of specific personnel.

"For those of you who think I will not hold firm, you obviously do not know me very well," he added.

Giant Antarctic sea spiders reproductive mystery solved by UH researchers

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA

Giant Antarctic Sea Spider — IMAGE:
GIANT ANTARCTIC SEA SPIDER (PHOTO CREDIT: R. ROBBINS)
view more
CREDIT: PHOTO CREDIT: R. ROBBINS

Link to video and sound (details below): https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/JwM0o5gQdq

The reproduction of giant sea spiders in Antarctica has been largely unknown to researchers for more than 140 years, until now. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa scientists traveled to the remote continent and saw first-hand the behaviors of these mysterious creatures, and their findings could have wider implications for marine life and ocean ecosystems in Antarctica and around the world.

Sea spiders, or pycnogonids, are a group of spider-like invertebrates found in marine habitats globally. Most species are smaller than a fingernail, but some Antarctic species have leg spans (tip of one leg to the tip of the opposite leg) of more than a foot. These animals are a famous example of “polar gigantism,” a phenomenon where certain organisms in polar regions, such as the Arctic and Antarctic, grow to much larger sizes than their relatives in warmer climates.

“In most sea spiders, the male parent takes care of the babies by carrying them around while they develop,” UH Mānoa School of Life Sciences Professor and lead researcher Amy Moran said. “What’s weird is that despite descriptions and research going back over 140 years, no one had ever seen the giant Antarctic sea spiders brooding their young or knew anything about their development.”

Moran’s lab has studied polar gigantism for more than a decade. In October 2021, during a field research expedition to Antarctica, the team, including Moran and School of Life Sciences PhD students Aaron Toh and Graham Lobert, made a groundbreaking discovery. Diving under the ice, they hand-collected groups of giant sea spiders that appeared to be mating and transported them to tanks for observation.

To their amazement, two different mating groups produced thousands of tiny eggs. Instead of carrying the babies until they hatched, as in most species of sea spiders, one parent (likely the father) spent two days attaching the eggs to the rocky bottom where they developed for several months before hatching as tiny larvae. The researchers findings were published in Ecology in February 2024.

“We were so lucky to be able to see this,” Toh said. “The opportunity to work directly with these amazing animals in Antarctica meant we could learn things no one had ever even guessed.”

Within weeks after laying, the eggs had been overgrown with microscopic algae, providing perfect camouflage.

“We could hardly see the eggs even when we knew they were there, which is probably why researchers had never seen this before,” Lobert said.

Breakthrough research

Lloyd Peck, a renowned Antarctic biologist with the British Antarctic Survey who was not involved with the study said, “The general ecology and reproductive biology of Antarctic marine species remains overwhelmingly unknown and we have data on only a handful of species, so papers like this one are of huge importance in shedding light on how animals function in one of the least studied parts of the world’s ocean.”

The UH Mānoa School of Life Sciences is housed in the College of Natural Sciences.

Link to video and sound (details below): https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/JwM0o5gQdq

VIDEO:

BROLL: (0:55)

0:00-0:05: Up close look at the Antarctic sea spider

0:05-0:39: UH researchers diving to collect the sea spiders

0:40-0:45: UH researchers jumping into the icy cold waters

0:45-0:55: UH researchers flying into McMurdo Station in Antarctica

SOUNDBITES:

Amy Moran, UH Mānoa School of Life Sciences professor

(14 seconds)

“These giant sea spiders, the males do care for the young, but they do it differently and they do it in a much simpler way than the other sea spiders. So it may provide a kind of a look at the evolutionary bridge that leads to fathers taking care of their offspring.”

Graham Lobert, UH Mānoa School of Life Sciences PhD candidate

(13 seconds)

“So the organisms and the ecosystems that are down there are very difficult to study and to be able to find something that's, has been, eluded researchers for 140 plus years is really amazing.”