Synopsis - Notice to Sole Source: NOTICE OF INTENT TO ISSUE A SOLE SOURCE PURCHASE AND TRANSPORT OF 10,000 GALLONS OF MC20 CRUDE OIL The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b)(1) intends to issue a sole source purchase order to The Couvillion Group, LLC for transport 10,000 gallons (238 barrels) of MC20 and transport the crude oil from Couvillion's Port Fourchon, LA site to BSEE's Ohmsett facility in Leonardo, NJ. The MC20 oil will be transferred from fractionation tanks to two tanker trucks. The product will be sampled for water and sediment using the ASTM D4007 to determine the final volume of fluid on the truck. The product will be offloaded into ISO-tanks already in place at Ohmsett. There is a critical need for large amounts of crude oil with varying physical and chemical properties for performance testing of oil spill response equipment (containment booms and skimmers, remote sensors, dispersants, herders, and sorbents) at Ohmsett - The National Oil Spill Response and Renewable Energy Test Facility. The effectiveness of each response technology depends on the type of oil and the timeframe in which it is used (window-of opportunity). The window of opportunity is determined by the properties of the spilled oil and how these properties change over time after a spill. It is critical to understand both how oil properties change over time, and how the effectiveness of response options change as a function of oil properties. Performance testing of oil spill response technologies cannot be properly/accurately conducted at Ohmsett without crude oils of varying physical and chemical properties. In the United States, crude oil produced from offshore platforms is immediately directed to refineries for processing and eventual distribution as refined products. Crude oil is not sold, unlike refined petroleum products (gasoline, diesel fuel, etc.). Associated to this system is a complicated custody transfer process to ensure all the royalties due from the produced oil are directed to the US Treasury. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan destroyed the Taylor Energy oil platform. Estimates are calculated to be as much as 140,000,000 US gallons spilled affecting an area as large as 8 square miles. In 2019, the US Coast Guard selected The Couvillion Group, LLC (Couvillion) to capture and collect the captured oil. Oil collected from the Mississippi Canyon 20 site (MC-20) in the Gulf of Mexico is stored at the GIS dock in Port Fourchon, Louisiana where the oil is decanted in "frac" tanks. Couvillion's MC20 oil is the only known unique source to purchase and transport the large quantities of MC20 oil to the Ohmsett Facility. MC20 oil is a mid-grade, sweet Louisiana crude oil representative of many of the physiochemical properties needed for oil spill response research. As a result, Couvillion is the only known source of MC20 crude oil. This effort is estimated to be completed within 6 months of award and under the simplified acquisition threshold. PLEASE NOTE: This notice is not a request for proposal (RFP). However, any firm that believes itself capable of meeting the requirement described herein may submit a capability statement or quotation which may be considered if received by the agency by 8:00AM Eastern Time on 15 September 2023. All submissions in response to this notice must be submitted in writing via email to the Contracting Officer at
[email protected] reference notice ID DOIEFBO230011 on the subject line. A determination by the Government not to compete the Government's requirements described in this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.