No, Rigzone, Extreme Weather Is Not Becoming Increasingly Dangerous for Oil and Gas Companies

A recent article at Rigzone, "How Dangerous Is Extreme Weather for Oil and Gas Companies In 2024?" repeats the claim that extreme weather events like hurricanes are becoming worse, and therefore pose a major risk to oil and gas operations especially in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Rigzone article consist primarily of interviews with a few oilfield "Experts," particularly an economist named Frederick J. Lawrence, who first makes the obvious statement that extreme weather can be a risk factor for oil and gas, and that "Preparation and faster response will always be needed in addition to improved standards and resilience."

Lawrence is the one who makes the claim later in the article that "Increased preparations for extreme weather events will remain a top priority given what appears to be an increased frequency and intensity of events according to groups that track weather-related incidents[.]". Others interviewed, like Alex Stevens from the Institute for Energy Research, sensibly said that "Hurricanes have always posed risks to oil and gas companies due to their potential impact on supply chain logistics, infrastructure, and extraction demands."

"Always" is correct, and in fact there is no evidence that hurricanes or other kinds of extreme weather that impact oil and gas operations are becoming, as Lawrence said, more frequent or intense.

Theirs is an untrustworthy methodology for finding the truth about weather events, because they begin with the assumption that extreme weather events are caused or influenced by climate change, then work backwards to make their models fit and determine the degree to which climate change impacted it.

Extreme heat, which is another weather condition that can threaten oilfield work especially in hot and arid regions like the American Southwest, is not becoming more intense either, as discussed in Climate At A Glance: U.S. Heatwaves.

While thankfully no one suggested in the particular Rigzone article that ceasing the use of fossil fuels is how you can prevent extreme weather, it is not helpful to spread falsehoods about trends in weather extremes. 

https://climaterealism.com/2024/08/no-rigzone-extreme-weather-is-not-becoming-increasingly-dangerous-for-oil-and-gas-companies/