MARAD WANTS TO STRENGTHEN TIES TO DOMESTIC PETROLEUM SECTOR

MARAD WANTS TO STRENGTHEN TIES TO DOMESTIC PETROLEUM SECTOR    U.S. Maritime Administrator William G. Schubert wants to strengthen the agency’s ties to the domestic petroleum sector.
   “In the past, the offshore oil industry has not traditionally been considered a stakeholder by the Maritime Administration,” said Schubert at the American Petroleum Institute Committee Reception in Washington Jan. 27. “However, that is about to change. I strongly believe that my agency has an advocacy role for this industry.”
   Schubert explained how his agency is focused on rebuilding the nation’s U.S.-flag shuttle and product tanker fleet. “One of the developing shipbuilding markets we anticipate over the next few years is for shuttle tankers that transport crude oil from offshore oil wells to refineries on shore,” he said.
   There are five ultra-deepwater fields under development in the Gulf of Mexico. More than 100 wells have been drilled with more planned.
   “One of the challenges of this development is transporting the crude to shore,” Schubert said. “Traditionally accomplished in the Gulf of Mexico by utilizing undersea pipelines, the ultra-deepwater fields present the challenge of both water depth (over 5,000 feet deep) and distance to shore, making the use of pipelines difficult and expensive, if not impossible.”
   Schubert said studies have shown that use of floating production, storage and offloading systems (FPSOs) and shuttle tankers would be the most efficient method to transport oil from the ultra-deepwater fields to shore.
   “MarAd is positioned to assist in the development of this industry in a number of ways from training the mariners required both on the FPSOs and shuttle tankers to possible support of the construction of the tankers,” Schubert said.
   Schubert has initiated a program within MarAd to bring newly built product tankers to the U.S.-flag fleet. There will be an increasing need for U.S.-flag product tankers in the coming years as 1960s vintage single-hull tankers are phased out of service.
   In September, MarAd’s new expedited re-flagging policy recently brought the Maersk Rhode Island, a formerly U.K.-flag registered product tanker, under the U.S.-flag. The vessel is currently the only U.S.-flag product tanker fleet involved in the international trades.
   “We still have a lack of capacity of U.S.-flag product tankers operating internationally, so we intend to negotiate a new memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Coast Guard to even further expedite future of re-flagging procedures,” Schubert said.