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Deepwater Horizon Incident
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Regulatory Actions Affecting MMS Operators
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Originally Published May 17, 2010
Drilling Moratorium
Oil Spill Response
NEPA Process and Categorical Exclusions
BOEM Publications (Rules / NTLs / ITLs)
BOEM Restructuring
Deepwater Horizon Investigations
Proposed and Final Legislation
Regulatory News
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Coast Guard Approves Winding Down BP Spill Cleanup
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November 09
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BSEE Approves First BP Drilling Permit to Meet Enhanced Regulations
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October 26
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BOEM Approves First BP Exploration Plan to Meet New Standards
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October 21
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Anadarko Settles Spill Claims with BP for $4 Billion
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October 17
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U.S. Allowing BP to Bid on Leases in the Gulf
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October 14
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Feds Kick Off Oil Spill Sanctions Against BP, Transocean & Halliburton
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October 12
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Gulf Coast Lawmakers Reach Compromise on BP Oil-spill Fine Money
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October 06
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Bill Aimed at Restoring Gulf Goes to Full Senate
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September 22
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Deepwater Horizon Joint Investigation Team Releases Final Report
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September 14
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BOEMRE Director Delivers Final Speech Before Agency Reorganization
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September 13
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Salazar, Bromwich Announce Proposed Rule to Further Strengthen Offshore Workplace Safety
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September 13
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New Offshore Drilling Rules Hinge on Deepwater Horizon Probe
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September 09
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Marine Well Containment Company's First Non-Member Receives Permit Approval
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September 09
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BP Funds Texas Researchers For Gulf Oil Spill Study
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September 01
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Outage of Fees for Services due to Fiscal Year-end Closeout
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August 23
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Salazar, Bromwich Announce Proposed Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale
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August 22
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Technical Workshop Regarding BOEMRE Reorganization
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August 22
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Gulf Spill Report by Marshall Islands Steers Clear of Blame
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August 17
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108,000 Oil-Spill Plaintiffs Get a Trial Date With BP
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August 15
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Republican Unveils Offshore Drilling Oversight Plan
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July 25
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US To Regulate Offshore Drilling Contractors In ‘Select' Cases
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July 20
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Transocean Ltd. Announces Release of Internal Investigation Report on Causes of Macondo Well Incident
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June 22
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BP Agrees to Settlement with Weatherford of Potential Claims Between the Companies Related to The Deepwater Horizon Accident
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June 20
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Judge dismisses a batch of Gulf of Mexico oil spill court claims
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June 16
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The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) Issues Assessement and Recommendations From the Deepwater Horizon Incident
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June 13
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Feds to Extend Deep-water Leases Expiring Before 2016
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June 08
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BOEMRE Approves 15th Drilling Permit
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June 01
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IADC Comments on Volume 1 (Coast Guard) of the Joint Investigation Team's Deepwater Horizon Report
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May 31
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Judge Orders Action on 6 Gulf Drilling Permits
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May 26
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Regulation Reforms at Interior: Simpler, Smarter, and More Cost-Effective
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May 26
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After Final Judgement, Ensco, U.S. Get More Time to Reach Deep-Water Deal
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May 23
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BP Settles Deepwater Horizon Accident Claims With Moex/Mitsui
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May 20
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BOEMRE Approves BHP Exploration Plan
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May 18
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Full Text of Salazar's Statements to Senate Committee and Obama's Energy Initiatives
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May 17
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Salazar Outlines Specific Legislative Priorities for Oil, Gas
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May 17
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Taxpayers on the Hook for BP's Gulf Spill
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May 16
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House Passes Third Bill to Increase Drilling
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May 12
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U.S. House Approves Bill That Seeks To Speed Up Offshore Drilling Permits
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May 11
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Shell Wins Deep-Water Drilling Plan Approval for U.S. Gulf
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May 11
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U.S. Must Act on Six Drilling Requests Within 30 Days, Federal Judge Says
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May 10
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BP Rejects Claims for Gulf Drilling-Ban Losses, Damages to Cleanup-Boats
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May 10
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Louisiana Lawmakers Propose New BP Oil Spill Legislation
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May 09
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BOEMRE Seeking Senior Executives for New Bureaus
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May 06
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House passes Bill to Force Offshore Lease Sales This Year in Gulf and Off Coast of Virginia
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May 05
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Louisiana Seeks Large Share of Oil Spill Liability Money
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May 05
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Anadarko May Settle Some Macondo Spill Claims
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May 03
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Helix Adds Beefed-up Capping Stack
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May 03
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JIT Publishes Addendum to Det Norske Veritas BOP Report
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May 02
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GOP Governors Call for More State Input on Drilling
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May 02
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Offshore Regulators Will Extend Their Reach: Service Providers, Others Fall Under Federal Oversight
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May 02
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BOEMRE Director Discusses Future of U.S. Offshore Oil and Gas Development at OTC
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May 02
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BOEMRE to Hire Regional Leadership for New Bureau
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April 27
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Transcripts Available from Joint Investigation of DWH BOP
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April 26
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Environmental Groups File Suits to Rescind Permits
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April 26
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Coast Guard Investigative Report on Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Fire, Sinking Blasts Rig Owner Transocean
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April 22
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BP Sues Transocean and Halliburton
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April 21
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Transocean Files Claims Against BP, Others Related To Gulf Spill
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April 21
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BP Sues Maker of Blowout Preventer
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April 20
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Statement by Secretary Salazar Marking One-Year Anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
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April 20
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BOEMRE Director Discusses Future of Offshore Oil and Gas Development at Gulf Oil Spill Series
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April 19
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BOEMRE Completes Draft Supplemental EIS for Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale
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April 19
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Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee Sets Goals, Agenda
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April 18
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US Oil Spill Containment Firms May Work Together-BP
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April 18
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House Committee Acts To Stop President's de facto Drilling Moratorium
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April 17
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INTERVIEW-Obama's Oil Spill Chief Reflects a Year Later
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April 16
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Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee to Hold First Meeting
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April 15
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Oil Spill Containment System Ready to Roll in the Gulf
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April 15
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Ministerial Forum Seeks Global Solutions to Deepwater Drilling Safety, Containing Blowouts
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April 14
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Offshore Ministerial Forum Emphasizes Prompt Response to Spills
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April 14
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Year After Gulf Oil Spill, Group Gives Mixed Report Card for Wildlife
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April 13
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Salazar, Bromwich Visit Rig, Encouraged by Change in Drilling Culture
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April 13
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Officials Consider Expanding Offshore Regulation, Oversight Beyond Well Leaseholders
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April 12
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Ocean Energy Bureau Gets Rare Spending Boost in Budget Deal
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April 12
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Gulf's Complexity and Resilience Seen in Studies of Oil Spill
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April 12
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Blowout Preventer Manufacturer Questions Deepwater Horizon Forensic Report
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April 08
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BOEMRE Announces New Key Positions to Further Regulatory Reform
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April 08
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BOEMRE Approves Operations for Tenth Deepwater Well
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April 08
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ATP Gains Second Deepwater Permit from BOEMRE
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April 08
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Bromwich: Permitting Shouldn't Wait for BOP Improvements
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April 08
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Judge who Scrapped Offshore Ban Rules Feds have ‘Broad Authority' on Drilling
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April 07
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BOEMRE Approves Operations for Ninth Deepwater Well
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April 07
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BOP was Overdue for Maintenance
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April 06
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Transocean's Work Schedule Change Questioned by Lawmakers
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April 05
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Interior Department to Seek Continual Improvements in BOPs
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April 05
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BP Denies it Has Liability Under Both Oil Pollution and Clean Water Acts
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April 05
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BOEM Denies BP Deal
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April 04
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BOP Investigator Admits to Fault in Model Used in Forensic Examination
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April 04
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Chu says Drilling Safety in Gulf ‘Going in the Right Direction'
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April 01
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BOEMRE Calls for Public Comment to Inform New Deepwater Environmental Assessment
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March 31
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BOEMRE Approves Deepwater Drilling Permit for New Well included in First Approved Exploration Plan
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March 30
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The Natural Resources Restoration Act of 2011
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March 29
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BP Managers Said to Face U.S. Manslaughter Charges Review
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March 29
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BOEMRE to Aggressively Recruit Environmental Scientists
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March 29
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Coast Guard Quietly Releases Report on Review of its BP Gulf Oil Spill 2010 Response
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March 29
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Salazar to Host Forum on Offshore Drilling Containment
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March 29
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Government releases DNV's findings on Deepwater Horizon BOP
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March 23
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BOEMRE / USCG to Conduct 7th Session of Deepwater Horizon Investigation to Focus on BOP
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March 22
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BOEMRE Approves Additional Deepwater Drilling Permit that Meets New Safety Standards
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March 22
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BOEMRE Director Highlights Role of Environmental Reviews, Announces Science Recruitment Tour at ITM
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March 22
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Interior Approves First Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Exploration Plan with Post-Deepwater Horizon Environmental Review
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March 21
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Court Removes Offshore Permit Deadline for Government
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March 16
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US Issues Second Post-Spill Drill Permit in Gulf
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March 12
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Salazar Names Members of Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee to Guide Oil and Gas Regulatory Program Reform
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March 11
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Legislature Creates Oil Spill Oversight Committee
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March 04
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Interior Department Says it Will Comply with Judge Feldman's Latest Permitting Ruling
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March 02
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BOEMRE Approves First Deepwater Drilling Permit To Meet Important New Safety Standards in Gulf of Mexico
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February 28
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Federal Natural Resource Trustees Announce Next Step in BP Deepwater Horizon Spill Gulf Restoration
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February 19
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Judge Orders BOEMRE to Act on ENSCO Drilling Permits
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February 18
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Oil Companies Complete Spill Containment System
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February 17
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Oil Spill Commission's Chief Counsel's Report Released
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February 17
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President's FY 2012 Budget Includes $358.4 Million for BOEMRE Reorganization, Reforms and New Fees for Drillers
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February 14
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Baker Institute Offshore Energy Forum - Live Webcast
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February 11
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Obama Administration Might Oppose Independent Offshore Oil Safety Agency, According to Draft Memo
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February 10
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Interior Official Says Industry is Making Progress in Preparation for Oil Well Blowouts
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February 09
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Oil Spill Commission Releases Two Staff Working Papers
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February 08
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BOEMRE Begins Environmental Reviews for Proposed 2012-2017 Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales
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February 08
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Feds Want Plan for Collaring Oil Spills
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February 05
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Judge Holds Interior in Contempt Over Drilling Ban
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February 03
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BP Joins Marine Well Containment Company
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February 03
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DOJ says BOP and Cement Testing Still Under Way
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January 31
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Oil Execs Developing Agency to Supervise Drilling Safety
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January 31
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Shell Application for Deepwater Exploration Takes Step Forward
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January 28
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BOEMRE Calls for Public Comment to Inform Deepwater Environmental Assessment
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January 28
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Study Released on Fate Of Dispersants In Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
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January 27
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Century Exploration Sues U.S. Over Drill Ban Changes
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January 25
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Landrieu Oil-Spill Liability Bill May Force All Companies to Pay
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January 19
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Salazar, Bromwich Announce Next Steps in Overhaul of Offshore Energy Oversight and Management
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January 19
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BOEMRE Director Discusses Responsible Stewardship of U.S. Offshore Energy Development at the National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment
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January 19
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Oil Industry Blasts Spill Commission Report
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January 13
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BOEMRE Director Discusses Strengthened Oversight at Gulf Oil Spill Series
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January 13
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Regulatory Reform and Safety Measures Recommended in Final Oil Spill Commission Report
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January 11
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Spill Commission to Release Final Report - Live Stream Available
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January 11
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Oil Spill Commission to Release Report on "Complacency", Hold Public Forum
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January 05
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BOEMRE Provides Additional Clarity for Certain Activities Suspended under the Deepwater Moratorium
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January 03
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BP's Spill Costs Look Manageable 8 Months Later
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December 29
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Increased Safety Measures for Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf
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December 23
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Insurers Team Up in Bid to Boost Deep-Water Coverage
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December 21
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Federal Panel Criticizes BP and Oil Industry Over Safety Programs
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December 16
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Transocean Rejects Responsibility In Oil Spill
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December 16
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Chemical Safety Board Begins Deepwater Horizon Investigation
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December 15
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Attorney General Eric Holder Announces Civil Lawsuit Regarding Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
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December 15
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BOEMRE Issues Guidance for Deepwater Drillers to Comply with Strengthened Safety and Environmental Standards
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December 13
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BOEMRE Director Makes Case for Regulatory Reform at Oil and Gas Law Conference
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December 08
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Salazar Announces Revised OCS Leasing Program
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December 01
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Council on Environmental Quality Issues Guidance to Help Ensure Integrity of NEPA
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November 23
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Salazar, Bromwich Encouraged by Progress of Operators to Comply with Higher Offshore Oil and Gas Standards
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November 22
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Spill Panel Says Rig Culture Failed on Safety
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November 10
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Spill Commission Finds List of Errors in Public Hearing
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November 09
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BOEMRE Director Testifies Before the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
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November 09
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BOEMRE Continues Environmental Reviews in Gulf of Mexico
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November 04
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Bromwich Blog: Criticizing the Inspectors
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November 03
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BOEMRE Leads Study of Deepwater Communities Post-Deepwater Horizon Spill
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October 28
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Drilling rig inspectors had vast gaps in knowledge, oil spill panel finds
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October 26
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Government-Industry Meeting on Containment and Deepwater Drilling
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October 22
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Deep-Water Safety Rules Thrown Out by Federal Judge
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October 19
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Discharge of Oil From Deepwater Horizon/Macondo Well, Gulf of Mexico; Intent To Conduct Restoration Planning
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October 01
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Salazar Announces Regulations to Strengthen Drilling Safety, Reduce Risk of Human Error on Offshore Oil and Gas Operations
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September 30
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Secretary Salazar Testifies on Reform, Response and Recovery Efforts for Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Oil Spill
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September 27
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FY 2010 Gulf Oil Spill Supplemental Federal Funding Opportunity
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September 23
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Judge Rules Against US Government on Oil Drilling
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September 02
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Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE); Cancellation of Oil and Gas Lease Sale 215 in the Western Planning Area (WPA) on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM)
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July 28
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BP Liable for Reporting and Royalties on Oil and Gas from Leaking Well
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July 15
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Temporary Suspension of USCG / EPA Requirements to Increase Cleanup Resources
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June 30
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Raising the Liability Caps
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May 12
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Louisiana Issues Orders in Response to Incident
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May 11
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Incident Declared “Spill of National Significance”
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April 30
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Meetings
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Technical Workshop Regarding BOEMRE Reorganization
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August 22
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IRF Summit Conference 2011
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June 21
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BOEMRE Director Discusses Future of U.S. Offshore Oil and Gas Development at OTC
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May 02
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BOEMRE Director Discusses Future of Offshore Oil and Gas Development at Gulf Oil Spill Series
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April 19
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Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee Sets Goals, Agenda
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April 18
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Salazar to Host Forum on Offshore Drilling Containment
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March 29
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BOEMRE Director Highlights Role of Environmental Reviews, Announces Science Recruitment Tour at ITM
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March 22
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Baker Institute Offshore Energy Forum - Live Webcast
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February 11
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Oil Spill Commission to Release Report on "Complacency", Hold Public Forum
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January 05
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Salazar, Bromwich Encouraged by Progress of Operators to Comply with Higher Offshore Oil and Gas Standards
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November 22
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Government-Industry Meeting on Containment and Deepwater Drilling
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October 22
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Meeting: National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
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October 22
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Secretary Salazar Outlines Vision for a Safe, Secure, Clean Energy Future at the Woodrow Wilson Center
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September 30
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Meeting: National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
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September 29
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Meeting: National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
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September 29
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A Director's Forum with Ken Salazar, Toward a Safe, Secure, and Clean Energy Future
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September 28
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Open Meeting: National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
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September 16
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BOEMRE Hosts International Regulators Forum Special Meeting
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September 13
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Worst-Case Discharge Workshop
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September 03
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Readout From BOEMRE Director Bromwich's Meeting with BP Senior Executives
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September 02
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Director Bromwich to Host Forums in Texas and Mississippi to Discuss Deepwater Drilling Safety, Containment and Spill Response
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August 31
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Director Bromwich to Kick off Forum Series to Discuss Deepwater Drilling Safety, Containment and Spill Response
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August 02
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Bromwich to Host Public Meetings Nationwide to Discuss Deepwater Drilling Safety, Containment and Spill Response
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July 19
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Director Bromwich Discusses Offshore Drilling Reforms with Industry and Conservation Stakeholders
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July 16
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Open Meeting: National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
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June 30
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Oil Spill Financial Responsibility
Drilling Moratorium
June 08, 2011
Return to the top
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Feds to Extend Deep-water Leases Expiring Before 2016
The Obama administration will give oil and gas companies an extra year to develop their deep-water leases to make up for delays caused by last year's Gulf spill and the subsequent moratorium on some offshore drilling.
President Barack Obama broadly announced his lease extension program in a radio address on May 14. Ever since, regulators at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement have been hashing out details of the plan — including how companies could apply for the extensions.
Bureau Director Michael Bromwich previously said the agency soon would issue guidance on that application process.
According to a government official, the extensions will be available for non-producing leases in at least 500 feet of water that expire before Dec. 31, 2015. Roughly 1,450 leases would qualify for the extra time.
The move responds to complaints from Gulf Coast officials and some lawmakers on Capitol Hill who say the five-month moratorium on most deep-water exploration unfairly punished oil and gas companies with no connection to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Some lawmakers, including Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, have advanced more expansive lease extension plans that also would apply to shallow water. The Obama administration did not halt shallow-water drilling after last year's spill, but oil and gas companies complained of a slowdown in government-issued permits for those projects.
http://mobile.chron.com/chron/db_271415/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=qxrKbDn9&storycount=155&detailindex=5&pn=&ps=&full=true#display
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June 01, 2011
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BOEMRE Approves 15th Drilling Permit
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and
Enforcement (BOEMRE) has approved the fifteenth deepwater drilling permit to comply with the rigorous new safety standards implemented in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon explosion
and resulting oil spill.
This permit is for BHP Billiton Petroleum (GOM) Inc. to drill a new development well in Green Canyon Block 653 at a water depth of 4,232 feet, approximately 120 miles off the Louisiana
shoreline, south of Houma.
http://www.ocsbbs.com/hottopics/2011/BOEMRE-approves-drilling-permit-for-15th-deepwater-well.pdf
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May 26, 2011
Return to the top
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Judge Orders Action on 6 Gulf Drilling Permits
A federal judge has given the Obama administration 30 days to act on six permits for deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman on Tuesday ruled on a lawsuit filed by Ensco Offshore Co. and others. He rejected Interior Department arguments that the issue was moot because it already has resumed issuing permits following the moratorium that was imposed last year after the massive BP oil spill.
Three permit applications in the original lawsuit have been granted.
But Feldman said the government's issuing of what he called “a scant few applications” does not provide the certainty Ensco needs to conduct its business in the Gulf. He said the law required the six remaining Ensco-related applications to be acted on within a reasonable period.
http://loga.la/oil-gas-news/?p=4376
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May 23, 2011
Return to the top
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After Final Judgement, Ensco, U.S. Get More Time to Reach Deep-Water Deal
Ensco Offshore Co. and the U.S. Justice Department sought and received more time to negotiate an end to its lawsuit over deep-water oil drilling permits.
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans today gave the government an 11-day extension until June 20 to act on six offshore drilling permit applications that Ensco claims were unreasonably delayed by regulators. Ensco and the government asked for the delay in a joint filing on May 20.
“The parties have been engaged in settlement negotiations that would resolve Ensco Offshore Company's remaining claims in this case without further litigation,” according to the May 20 filing. “The parties have made significant progress but have not yet reached a final settlement. The parties believe that further negotiations may enable the parties to reach a mutually agreeable resolution.”
Both sides said an 11-day temporary delay of the judge's May 10 order would “prevent further unnecessary litigation.” If they can't reach a settlement by June 20, they may seek to extend the stay to continue talks, according to the filing.
On May 10, Feldman, ruling on one of six issues in the protracted suit, agreed with Ensco arguments that the London- based company's applications to the U.S. Interior Department had been “unreasonably delayed” and he ordered the government to act within 30 days on six deepwater drilling permit requests.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-22/ensco-u-s-report-significant-progress-in-deepwater-drilling-ban-talks.html
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May 18, 2011
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BOEMRE Approves BHP Exploration Plan
WASHINGTON, May 18 (UPI) -- U.S. regulators gave approval to BHP Billiton to explore for oil in the Gulf of Mexico, the third such award since a drilling moratorium was lifted.
The BOEMRE announced that it approved BHP Billiton's plans to drill in the Mad Dog prospect in the gulf. It's the third time the BOEMRE gave its approval since a moratorium on drilling the gulf was lifted in October.
Shell was the recipient of the first two BOEMRE licenses in the Gulf of Mexico that were awarded after the gulf oil disaster.
BHP Billiton won approval for an exploration well about 125 miles off the coast of Louisiana in 4,470 feet of water, the Platts news service reports.
The BOEMRE said the BHP Billiton approval marked the first time a site was scrutinized under new standards enacted after last year's oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig caught fire and sank in April 2010, killing 11 workers and resulting on one of the worst oil spills in the history of the industry.
The BOEMRE approval comes as U.S. lawmakers bicker over the right to explore for more oil on the U.S. continental shelf.
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/05/18/BHP-Billiton-gets-nod-for-Gulf-of-Mexico/UPI-60691305723243/#ixzz1MiA4GJZx
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May 17, 2011
Return to the top
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Salazar Outlines Specific Legislative Priorities for Oil, Gas
WASHINGTON, DC, May 17 -- US President Barack Obama's administration would like Congress to amend the 1920 Mineral Leasing Act to allow federal onshore oil and gas leases of less than 10 years in length, Department of the Interior Sec. Ken Salazar said on May 17. The administration also would like more time for DOI to review offshore permit applications, and generally supports proposals to extend deepwater leases that were suspended by the 2010 moratorium and to develop better coordination among agencies issuing permits, he told the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Emphasizing the importance of remembering lessons learned from the 5 million bbl oil spill following the Macondo well accident in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico on Apr. 20, 2010, Salazar said, “It is important to recognize that our policy in terms of supporting offshore oil and gas development, including the deepwater, has not changed. We are moving forward in the gulf and looking at other possible areas for development. We also are implementing regulations reflecting lessons we learned from the Deepwater Horizon accident and spill.”
But one Democrat on the committee questioned whether Interior and the BOEMRE are moving quickly enough. Mary L. Landrieu (La.) noted that the 14 deepwater wells that have received permits since the moratorium ended all were being drilled before the Macondo well incident. Permits for entirely new wells haven't been approved, and high gulf oil production rates will start to decline, she said.
Federal deepwater well permits are being approved at a rate of one every 4-5 business days since offshore producers demonstrated their capability of controlling and containing subsea leaks in February, BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich said. That rate is not significantly different from before the accident and spill, but is being achieved with additional requirements for operators and more stringent reviews by BOEMRE, he observed.
Opposes House bill
Salazar said he does not support the bill that the House passed last week deeming an applicant's offshore drilling permit approved if BOEMRE doesn't reach a decision in a specified period. “I don't think an extension to 90 days is significant because we need the time to review applications thoroughly,” he said. “No one wants a company to enter into an endless process that leads nowhere. Having a clear process is important. The reality is that 30 days is simply not enough time to either accept or reject a drilling permit application. We're talking about a 90-day time frame to review an exploration plan to conduct the necessary scientific and safety reviews.”
Bromwich said, “Arbitrary time limits are a bad idea. Operators could submit applications they knew were deficient and simply run out the clock. Substandard applications would not satisfy requirements we have put in place.”
He said BOEMRE is looking at ways to make its permitting process clearer and more transparent to lease operators, including ways to let them know where their applications are in the permitting process and developing templates and check lists for them to use. The agency, which historically has been underfunded, finally got money to increase its workforce last month, he added.
Salazar said he supports provisions in S. 916 and S. 917, which committee chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) introduced last week, that would codify administrative changes the secretary already has made at DOI. He said Congress needs to authorize creation of an Ocean Energy Safety Institute to keep DOI's expertise on par with the oil and gas industry's, and to phase out deepwater royalty relief provisions that are no longer necessary to stimulate exploration and production there.
He also asked Congress to increase civil and criminal penalties for companies that fail to comply with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. (last paragraph from MyFoxBoston story: http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/business/white-house-asks-congress-to-change-oil-laws-25-ncx-20110517)
http://www.ogj.com/index/article-display/3628726192/articles/oil-gas-journal/general-interest-2/government/20100/may-2011/salazar-outlines_specific.html
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May 12, 2011
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House Passes Third Bill to Increase Drilling
May 12 (Bloomberg) -- The Republican-controlled U.S. House passed legislation to open areas to oil drilling along the Atlantic, Southern California and Alaska coasts, the third bill approved to boost output as gasoline prices reach $4 a gallon.
The legislation was approved by a 243-179 vote, with 21 Democrats in favor, hours after oil company executives appeared at a Senate hearing to defend $21 billion in tax breaks that Democrats want to repeal to reduce the federal deficit.
Republicans have focused on expanding offshore production to lower gas prices. The House bill would require the U.S. to increase production goals to 3 million barrels of oil a day by 2027, and open areas now off-limits to oil and gas companies.
Congress let a drilling ban along much of the outer continental shelf expire in 2008 after gas prices exceeded $4 a gallon. President Barack Obama said in March 2010 that he supported expanding offshore drilling. He withdrew the plan after an explosion 20 days later aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers and triggered the BP Plc spill, the worst in U.S. waters.
Safety Reforms
Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said Congress should pass safety reforms in response to the spill.
The House has now passed three measures aimed at expanding U.S. oil and gas production. Lawmakers last week passed a bill requiring lease sales in parts of the Gulf of Mexico and off of Virginia's coastline. Yesterday, it passed legislation forcing the Interior Department to rule on drilling permits within 60 days. The permit would be approved if the deadline expired without action.
The administration said it opposes all three measures, without issuing a veto threat. The bills must pass the Democrat- controlled Senate to become law, and the chamber isn't considering similar measures.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-05-12/house-passes-bill-to-add-u-s-areas-for-offshore-drilling.html
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May 11, 2011
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U.S. House Approves Bill That Seeks To Speed Up Offshore Drilling Permits
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to impose deadlines on the Obama administration to issue offshore drilling permits, as Republicans renew calls for greater amounts of domestic oil production amid rising gasoline prices.
The House passed the legislation Wednesday, approving two of three bills that seek to expand and speed up the pace of offshore oil and gas drilling.
The Senate, however, which is controlled by Democrats, is unlikely to approve the measure. The Senate is instead looking to repeal tax breaks given to the largest oil and gas companies, including Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSB, RDSA.LN, RDSB.LN) and Chevron Corp. (CVX).
The bill approved Wednesday follows months during which oil and gas companies, particularly those operating in the Gulf of Mexico, have complained about the length of time it has taken the Interior Department to review and issue drilling permits in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
These companies have accused the department of imposing a de facto moratorium on drilling after lifting a real moratorium on deepwater drilling in October 2010.
Top Interior Department officials have defended their permit reviews, saying reviews are taking longer because they have to ensure compliance with stringent new standards developed in the wake of the oil spill.
The bill cleared the House by a vote of 263 to 163, with votes falling mostly along partly lines.
The bill is part of a package of legislation, introduced by Republicans, that seeks to expand or speed up offshore drilling. Earlier this month, the House approved the first of those bills, aimed at forcing the Obama administration to hold lease sales planned for the Gulf of Mexico and off the Virginia coast.
This most recent bill requires the Interior Department to issue or deny a permit application within 30 days of receiving it, although it allows the department an additional 30 days if necessary.
Under current law, the Interior Department isn't obligated to issue or deny permits in any particular time frame.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201105111534dowjonesdjonline000474&title=u.shouse-approves-bill-that-seeks-to-speed-up-offshore-drilling-permits
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May 11, 2011
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Shell Wins Deep-Water Drilling Plan Approval for U.S. Gulf
Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) won U.S. approval for a second Gulf of Mexico deep-water exploration plan, making it the only company to pass environmental reviews introduced after the BP Plc (BP/) oil spill last year.
Shell, based in The Hague, won approval from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement to drill five exploratory wells in waters as deep as 7,259 feet (2,213 meters), 72 miles off the Louisiana coast, the regulator, known as BOEMRE, said today in an e-mailed statement.
“BOEMRE has approved only two deep-water exploration plans since the lifting of the moratorium, and Shell is pleased to have received both,” Marvin Odum, the chief of Shell's U.S. operations, said in an e-mailed statement today. “This approval is further evidence of Shell's expertise and confidence in the offshore and should be strongly considered as Shell moves forward with additional exploration.”
The U.S. increased scrutiny of environmental impacts from oil exploration after BP's well exploded on April 20, 2010, and gushed for 87 days. Shell won approval on March 21 for the first post-spill exploration plan, for drilling in the Gulf 130 miles from the Louisiana shore.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-11/shell-wins-deep-water-exploration-plan-approval-for-u-s-gulf.html
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May 10, 2011
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U.S. Must Act on Six Drilling Requests Within 30 Days, Federal Judge Says
The U.S. “unlawfully and improperly delayed” permits for deep-water drilling after the BP Plc (BP/) Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year, a federal judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans today ordered offshore energy regulators to act within 30 days on six pending permit applications filed by companies that have contracts with Ensco Offshore Co., the Louisiana drilling company leading the legal challenge to the government's offshore drilling bans.
Federal law “establishes a non-discretionary duty on the Department of Interior to act, favorably or unfavorably, on drilling permit applications within a reasonable time,” Feldman said in a written order. Ensco was harmed by “the government's failure to act on pending permit applications contemplating the use of Ensco's rigs,” he said.
The Obama administration suspended all drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet last May in response to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. More than 4.1 million barrels of crude leaked into the Gulf after the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank while drilling a subsea well for BP off the Louisiana coast in April.
“We're reviewing the judge's ruling,” Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesman for the U.S. Justice Department, said in an e-mail. He declined to comment further “at this time.”
Previous Moratorium
After offshore companies and regional business and political leaders sued in June, Feldman threw out the government's deep-water drilling moratorium as overly broad and punitive to the Gulf Coast economy. Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar imposed a second ban in July. That ban was also challenged in court, and Salazar withdrew it in October before Feldman could rule on its validity.
Ensco continued its lawsuit after the second moratorium was lifted, contending that regulators were continuing a de facto ban by refusing to process new permits. The government argued that the lawsuit was made irrelevant by the end of the moratorium and that any delays in granting permits were required to prevent future incidents such as the BP spill.
The government has “unlawfully and improperly delayed” Ensco permit applications, Feldman said today.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-10/u-s-must-act-on-six-drilling-permits-federal-judge-orders.html
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May 05, 2011
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House passes Bill to Force Offshore Lease Sales This Year in Gulf and Off Coast of Virginia
WASHINGTON -- The House passed legislation Thursday to require the Obama administration to move ahead this year with lease sales -- three in the Gulf of Mexico and one off the coast of Virginia -- that were canceled by the administration after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The vote was 266-149, with 33 Democrats - including Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans - voting "yes" and 2 Republicans voting "no."
The administration opposed the bill which it said would "hastily open areas of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic using outdated (National Environmental Policy Act) analysis that was conducted before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill."
"The Administration has strengthened NEPA analysis in light of lessons learned from the spill," the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement Thursday, noting that the Department of Interior already "intends to hold all three Gulf of Mexico lease sales referenced in the bill by mid-2012."
The legislation is the first of three GOP bills intended to increase domestic energy production by opening new territory to drilling and picking up the pace of permitting.
"Finally we are doing what the American people have been asking them to do -- start the process of stopping to kick the energy problem can in this country down the road," said Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, in one of several floor speeches he made during the several hours of debate on the bill. "Finally we are going to take the steps necessary to put people back to work and start America down a path toward affordable domestic energy now."
Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee and author of all three bills, said passage of this legislation would help reduce gas prices because it "will send a strong signal to the world market that the U.S. is serious about producing our own resources and bringing more American production on line."
Hastings said that if there was no lease sale this year, it would be the first time since 1958.
Republicans refused to let Democrats offer an amendment to eliminate $32 billion over ten years in tax breaks for the five largest oil companies.
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, spoke next to a chart showing profits for the Big Five oil companies for the first quarter of 2011 - $10.7 billion for ExxonMobil, $8.8 billion for Shell, 7.1 billion for BP, $6.2 billion for Chevron, and $3 billion for ConocoPhillips.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/05/house_passes_bill_to_force_off.html
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April 26, 2011
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Environmental Groups File Suits to Rescind Permits
Environmentalists urged a New Orleans appellate court today to require U.S. offshore-drilling regulators to enforce safeguards for wildlife and water quality that they claim were routinely ignored before last year's BP Plc (BP/) oil spill.
Lawyers representing the Sierra Club, the Gulf Restoration Network, the Center for Biological Diversity and other activist groups asked the court to force the Interior Department to rescind several deep-water drilling permits regulators approved last April, just before and after the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
The activists claim that five drilling permits were awarded last April without completion of the full environmental-impact assessments required by law.
The activist groups sued Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar and his agency seeking multiple changes to U.S. drilling regulations following the Deepwater Horizon disaster last April.
The environmental groups challenged the agency's actions directly at the appeals court, which is permitted under U.S. law. Related offshore-drilling policy lawsuits filed by some of the activist groups in lower federal courts were subsequently consolidated into the appellate actions. A three-judge appellate panel heard arguments on the challenges in back-to-back sessions today.
Government lawyers today urged the appeals court not to interfere with agency decisions that regulators made according to rules that were in place at the time the permits were granted. Regulators notified oil companies in November 2010 that the agency would beef up existing environmental-impact assessment requirements “to consider the implications of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,” government lawyer Ignacia Moreno said in a court filing.
“The petitioners' attempt to have this court rule that the agency should have started that process within days of the Deepwater Horizon initial explosion should be rejected,” Moreno said in the filing.
Environmentalists told the judges the agency's practice of using of so-called categorical exclusions, which let regulators arbitrarily exempt companies from fulfilling certain permit requirements, violated the law.
The lead cases are Gulf Restoration Network v. Salazar, 10- 60411, and Center for Biological Diversity v. Salazar, 10-60417, both in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (New Orleans).
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-26/u-s-must-safeguard-environment-in-ocean-drills-activists-urge-court.html
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April 17, 2011
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House Committee Acts To Stop President's de facto Drilling Moratorium
The House Natural Resources Committee marked up three bills on Wednesday that would require the Obama Administration to stop its obstructive tactics and start producing more oil and natural gas from federal Outer Continental Shelf areas. Committee Democrats dragged out the mark-up for nine hours by offering and insisting on recorded votes on a series of amendments to weaken or gut the three bills—H. R. 1229, 1230, and 1231. None of their amendments was adopted.
It is expected that the House will pass all three bills in May. Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) plans to introduce additional bills in the next few months to increase domestic oil and gas production on federal lands in Alaska and the Rocky Mountains as part of House Republicans' American Energy Initiative.
http://www.globalwarming.org/2011/04/17/this-week-in-the-congress-4/
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April 08, 2011
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BOEMRE Approves Operations for Tenth Deepwater Well
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today approved a deepwater permit for the drilling of a tenth well that complies with rigorous new safety standards implemented in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. This includes satisfying the requirement to demonstrate the capacity to contain a subsea blowout. The approved permit is a revised permit to drill a new well for Statoil Gulf of Mexico LLC Well #1 in Walker Ridge Block 969 in 7,813 feet water depth, approximately 219 miles off the Louisiana shoreline, south of Houma, Louisiana.
“This permit allows the drilling of the tenth deepwater well since industry demonstrated in mid-February that it had the capacity to handle subsea blowouts and spills,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “Permit applications that satisfy our more rigorous safety and environmental standards and that demonstrate the necessary containment capabilities will be approved; those that do not will be rejected. That has been our approach and will continue to be our approach.”
Statoil's Well #1 is a new well. The operator had a rig under contract and an approved permit to drill a new well when activities were halted due to the temporary drilling suspensions imposed following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
As part of its approval process, the Bureau reviewed Statoil's containment capability available for the specific well proposed in the permit application. Statoil has contracted with the Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) to use MWCC's capping stack to stop the flow of oil should a blowout occur. The capabilities of the capping stack meet the requirements that are specific to the characteristics of the proposed well.
BOEMRE has worked diligently to help industry adapt to and comply with new, rigorous safety practices. These standards ensure that oil and gas development continues, while also incorporating key lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This new permit meets the new safety regulations and information requirements in Notices to Lessees N06 and N10, and the Interim Final Safety Rule.
This will be the final news release that BOEMRE will issue to announce individual approvals of deepwater drilling permits. For a list of well types, pending and approved permits (including links to download copies of approved permits), and information on new safety regulations, go to: http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/homepg/offshore/safety/well_permits.html.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0408a.htm
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April 08, 2011
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Bromwich: Permitting Shouldn't Wait for BOP Improvements
Federal regulators are considering new mandates to strengthen emergency equipment known as blowout preventers, but an Obama administration official insisted that deep-water drilling shouldn't be held up in the meantime.
“You can always improve the equipment that is being used,” said Michael Bromwich, the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. “But that doesn't mean you bring activities to a standstill until you've enhanced those rules.”
Bromwich made his comments on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show last night, as he defended the bureau's recent approval of nine deep-water projects that were halted after last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
At issue is whether the government should authorize more deep-water drilling, after a four-month examination of the blowout preventer used at BP's failed Macondo well revealed that it was unable to slash off-center drill pipe, seal the well hole and trap oil underground. That report raised new questions about whether blowout preventers can be counted on as a last line of defense against surging oil and gas, particularly if it is already flowing out of a well.
Bromwich said he was confident that new safety and environmental rules for offshore drilling have already made the practice much safer than it was before the spill. Waiting for new blowout preventer standards — imposed under a federal rulemaking process that could take a year or more — wouldn't be prudent, he said.
“There is an insufficient basis for saying ‘let's stop things in their tracks for the one or two years that it takes to develop better blowout preventer rules,'” Bromwich said. “I think that would be a huge mistake and would be contrary to the best interests of this country.”
Bromwich's appearance on The Rachel Maddow Show demonstrated how he and other drilling regulators face criticism from both ends of the political spectrum.
Republicans and industry advocates have cast the Obama administration as moving slowly to restart offshore drilling after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. In response, the House Natural Resources Committee is set next Wednesday to vote on three bills that would accelerate offshore drilling.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/04/08/bromwich-permitting-shouldnt-wait-for-bop-improvements/
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April 08, 2011
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ATP Gains Second Deepwater Permit from BOEMRE
Operator ATP has gained a second deepwater drilling permit for the US Gulf of Mexico after the drilling moratorium there was lifted.
Permission has been granted by the Bureau for Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) – the US government agency which replaced the Minerals Management Service – for ATP to return to Green Canyon block 300 to complete a well on its Clipper prospect which was first drilled back in 2006.
BOEMRE has given a green light to ATP to return to its CG 300 Clipper number 2 well , in a water depth of 3,454 feet – 1,053 metres – which was originally drilled in 2006 and encountered a gas reservoir in a sidetrack. ATP is planning to return to the well this year with the Diamond Ocean Victory rig and complete it for production.
Earlier ATP received a green light for another deepwater well from BOEMRE, for a fourth well in Mississippi Canyon block 941.
But the US Bureau for Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement has been criticised by the US Offshore Marine Service Services Association for issuing new approvals only for operations which had already been permitted before to the imposition of the deepwater drilling moratorium in the US Gulf of Mexico following the Macondo well spill last year.
http://www.offshore247.com/news/art.aspx?id=18768
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April 08, 2011
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Blowout Preventer Manufacturer Questions Deepwater Horizon Forensic Report
A top executive at the company that built the Deepwater Horizon's blowout preventer expressed major doubts Friday about recent theories of why the massive subsea device failed to shut off BP's blown out Gulf oil well last year.
David McWhorter, Cameron International's vice president for engineering and quality control, spent several months helping advise the forensic examiners who were hired by the government to inspect his company's failed BOP, but he said during testimony before a federal investigative panel in Metairie on Friday that he had major questions about those forensic findings.
Those findings were released two weeks ago by Det Norske Veritas, a Norwegian company hired by federal investigators to produce what was essentially a coroner's report to help government agencies figure out what stopped the BOP from shutting off the worst oil gusher in American history.
Det Norske Veritas concluded that oil and gas shooting up through a 5.5-inch drill pipe at extremely high pressures caused the pipe to bend, knocking it off-center in the middle of the BOP. Without a centered pipe, the device couldn't use its powerful slicing rams to cut and seal the pipe shut.
The implication of those findings is that the blowout preventer wasn't designed by Cameron to handle such intense emergency conditions. Cameron said it built the BOP to industry standards, but those standards never conceived of a bowed pipe. And standardized tests of BOPs never included a check to see whether the rams could cut off-center pipe.
But under questioning earlier this week, Det Norske Veritas officials acknowledged that they had no physical evidence of the pipe bending and that the elastic bowing of the pipe was simply their theory of what happened based on modeling.
Seizing on that, McWhorter faulted the examiners for not presenting several other things that he believes could have gone wrong to prevent the rams from cutting properly -- things that wouldn't have required the pipe to bend and would have resulted from poor maintenance of the blowout preventer's components by the rig's owner, Transocean.
The Cameron executive questioned whether there could have been enough pressure to buckle the pipe, which by Det Norske Veritas' own calculations, would have required an incredible 113,000 pounds per square inch of force.
McWhorter said the examiners also ignored the possibility that the critical blind shear rams didn't work because there simply wasn't enough power to get them to close fully. He said a normal level of 1,500 psi might have initially triggered the rams instead of the much higher triggering pressures that should have been employed in an emergency.
"If that happened, it would not have been enough force to cut the pipe (even if centered)," McWhorter said. "It's possible then that the pipe was only dented, not sheared all the way through."
He said hydraulic controls might also have simply "not been up to the game that day." And he noted that the "deadman" function that is supposed to automatically close the rams and disconnect the rig from the well when hydraulics, electricity and communications are all lost can be manually armed or disarmed. He suggested it wouldn't have worked if it wasn't armed when the blowout happened, but he didn't know whether it was or was not.
It's been difficult for investigators to get a clear picture of why the "fail-safe" mechanisms in the BOP didn't work, or, for that matter, when various functions of the BOP activated.
Specialists spent two weeks after the explosions trying to get rams and valves to work using remote-controlled submarines, which meant the blowout preventer was not in the same position as it was on April 20, by the time it was brought to the surface in September.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2011/04/blowout_preventer_manufacturer.html
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April 07, 2011
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BOEMRE Approves Operations for Ninth Deepwater Well
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today approved a deepwater permit for the drilling of a ninth well that complies with rigorous new safety standards implemented in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. This includes satisfying the requirement to demonstrate the capacity to contain a subsea blowout. The approved permit is a revised permit to sidetrack for Murphy Exploration & Production Company Well #A008 in Green Canyon Block 338 in 3,325 feet water depth, approximately 170 miles southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana.
"This permit allows the drilling of the ninth deepwater well since industry demonstrated that it had the capacity to handle subsea blowouts and spills,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “We will continue to review and approve permits that satisfy our more rigorous safety and environmental standards and that demonstrate the necessary containment capabilities.”
Murphy's Well #A008 is a sidetrack well. A sidetrack well is drilled to a new geologic target or a new location within the original target from the existing wellbore. The operator had a rig on location when drilling preparation activities were halted due to the temporary drilling suspensions imposed following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
As part of its approval process, the Bureau reviewed Murphy's containment capability available for the specific well proposed in the permit application. Murphy has contracted with the Helix Well Containment Group (HWCG) to use HWCG's capping stack to stop the flow of oil should a blowout occur. The capabilities of the capping stack meet the requirements that are specific to the characteristics of the proposed well.
BOEMRE has worked diligently to help industry adapt to and comply with new, rigorous safety practices. These standards ensure that oil and gas development continues, while also incorporating key lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This new permit meets the new safety regulations and information requirements in Notices to Lessees N06 and N10, and the Interim Final Safety Rule.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0407.htm
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March 31, 2011
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BOEMRE Calls for Public Comment to Inform New Deepwater Environmental Assessment
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today announced that public comment is invited with respect to two Environmental Assessments (EA) for Exploration Plans (EP). Both EPs involve deepwater activity in the Gulf of Mexico and were completed in accordance with new safety and environmental standards implemented since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill.
BOEMRE received from Shell Offshore, Inc. a Supplemental EP which includes five proposed exploratory wells in approximately 7,160 to 7,259 feet water depth and information on three previously approved wells, approximately 72 miles offshore Louisiana. The second plan received is a Revised EP from Statoil, Inc. and includes two proposed exploratory wells in approximately 7,242 to 7,684 feet water depth and information on one previously approved well, approximately 132 miles offshore Texas. Consistent with federal regulations, an EP is deemed “submitted” once all supporting materials and documentation has been provided. Once a plan is deemed submitted, BOEMRE has 30 calendar days to analyze and evaluate it. These are the only two pending exploration plans deemed submitted at this time.
As part of its review, the bureau will prepare an EA specific to the proposed exploration activities. Upon completion of the technical and environmental review, BOEMRE must decide whether to approve the plan, require modifications, or disapprove the plan. An exploration plan describes all exploration activities planned by the operator for a specific lease or leases, including the timing of these activities, information concerning drilling vessels, the location of each planned well, and other relevant information that needs to meet important safety standards.
A revised EP involves changes to proposed activities already included in a previously approved plan while a supplemental EP involves proposed activities on an oil and gas lease that were not included in the operator's original EP.
The 30-day time frame for review includes a 10-day public comment period to allow an opportunity to review and comment on the issues that should be considered by BOEMRE in preparing the EA for the plan. In an effort to make the comment opportunity more accessible, the public can both view and provide comments on agency documents at: http://www.boemre.gov/PublicComment.htm.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0331a.htm
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March 30, 2011
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BOEMRE Approves Deepwater Drilling Permit for New Well included in First Approved Exploration Plan
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today approved a deepwater drilling permit for a new well that was described in Shell Offshore Inc's recently approved Exploration Plan. The proposed well was also considered in the Site-Specific Environmental Assessment (SEA) completed as part of the plan review. In order to receive the permit approval, Shell complied with rigorous new safety standards implemented in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. This includes satisfying the requirement to demonstrate the capacity to contain a subsea blowout. The approved permit is a permit to drill a new well for Shell's Well #DC001 in Garden Banks Block 427 in 2,721 ft. water depth, approximately 137 miles off the Louisiana coastline, south of Lafayette.
Today's permit approval represents a culmination of a broad and comprehensive review process involving an exploration plan, a site-specific environmental assessment, and the application for the drilling permit - all of which complied with our rigorous safety and environmental standards,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “The completion of this process further demonstrates that we are proceeding as quickly as our resources allow to properly regulate offshore oil and gas operations in the most safe and environmentally-responsible manner.”
All offshore wells are identified in either an exploration or development plan, which require approval prior to drilling permits being issued. Shell's supplemental Exploration Plan, which includes Well #DC001, was approved March 21, 2011, as the first new deepwater exploration plan approved since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. As part of the plan's review process, BOEMRE prepared a SEA to examine Shell's proposed exploration activities in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the implementation of departmental and bureau regulations.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0330.htm
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March 22, 2011
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BOEMRE Approves Additional Deepwater Drilling Permit that Meets New Safety Standards
NEW ORLEANS – The BOEMRE today approved a fourth deepwater drilling permit that complies with rigorous new safety standards implemented in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. This includes satisfying the requirement to demonstrate the capacity to contain a subsea blowout. The approved permit is a revised permit to drill a new well for Exxon Mobil Corporation's Well #3 in Keathley Canyon Block 919 in 6,941 ft. water depth, approximately 240 miles off the Louisiana coastline, south of Lafayette, La. Today's is the first permit approved that designates the Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) containment system as its containment solution.
“Today's permit approval is the fourth to be approved in the month since the industry confirmed its capability to contain a deepwater loss of well control and blowout. We will continue to review and approve applications that demonstrate the ability to operate safely in deep water,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “As we have seen, the rate of deepwater permit applications is increasing, which reflects growing confidence in the industry that it understands and can comply with the applicable requirements, including the containment requirement. We expect additional permit approvals in the near future.”
ExxonMobil's Well #3 is a new well. The operator had a rig on-location and an approved Permit to Drill a New Well when activities were suspended due to the temporary drilling suspensions imposed following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
ExxonMobil has contracted with the MWCC to use its capping stack to stop the flow of oil should a well control event occur. As part of its approval process, the bureau reviewed ExxonMobil's containment capability available for the specific well proposed in the permit application and confirmed that the capabilities of the capping stack met the requirements specific to the proposed well's characteristics.
BOEMRE has worked diligently to help industry adapt to and comply with new, rigorous safety practices. These standards ensure that oil and gas development continues, while also incorporating key lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This new permit meets the new safety regulations and information requirements in Notices to Lessees (NTL) N06 and N10, and the Interim Final Safety Rule.
Today's permit adds to the number of permits that have been approved since new safety regulations have been put in place. For a list of well types, pending and approved permits, and information on new safety regulations, go to: http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/homepg/offshore/safety/well_permits.html. .
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0322a.htm
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March 21, 2011
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Interior Approves First Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Exploration Plan with Post-Deepwater Horizon Environmental Review
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Director Michael R. Bromwich today announced that the bureau has approved an Exploration Plan, submitted by Shell Offshore Inc., following the completion of a site-specific Environmental Assessment (SEA) for deepwater oil and gas exploration.
This is the first new deepwater exploration plan approved since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. An exploration plan describes all exploration activities planned by the operator for a specific lease or leases, including the timing of these activities, information concerning drilling vessels, the location of each planned well, and other relevant information that needs to meet important safety standards. Once a plan is approved, additional new applications for permits to drill can be issued.
“The successful completion of this environmental assessment, and the resulting approval of Shell's exploration plan, unmistakably demonstrates that oil and gas exploration can continue responsibly in deep water,” said BOEMRE Director Bromwich. “Shell's submission has satisfied the heightened environmental standards that we are now applying and I am confident that other operators can satisfy the same standards.”
The plan is a supplemental exploration plan that proposes activities that were not included in an original exploration plan for the same lease – located in Shell's Auger field – which was approved in 1985. This supplements the original plan by proposing to drill three exploratory wells in approximately 2,950 feet water depth, 130 miles offshore Louisiana.
BOEMRE prepared the SEA to examine Shell's proposed exploration activities in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the implementation of departmental and bureau regulations.
The SEA included new scientific information that had not been previously available for consideration or analysis. Based on its review, BOEMRE found no evidence that the proposed action would significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Therefore, BOEMRE determined that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was not required and issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), which allowed the supplemental exploration plan to be approved.
http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Interior-Approves-First-Gulf-of-Mexico-Deepwater-Exploration-Plan-with-Post-Deepwater-Horizon-Environmental-Review.cfm
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March 16, 2011
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Court Removes Offshore Permit Deadline for Government
Just four days before a federal judge's deadline for U.S. oil regulators to act on a number of offshore drilling permit applications that had been delayed after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stepped in and said the government doesn't have to act while it appeals the judge's order.
On Tuesday, the 5th Circuit stayed U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman's February order for the U.S. Department of Interior to make decisions on five offshore drilling applications by March 19. Two more applications were later added, with deadlines of March 31.
Ensco Offshore Co., a shallow-water drilling company in Dallas that had brought suit over the delays in permitting while federal regulators reconfigured the rules after last year's rig explosion and oil release, and its supporters had cheered in February when Feldman's order appeared poised to force a restart of drilling work in the Gulf of Mexico.
Eleven days later, the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement issued its first deepwater drilling permit since the oil disaster, granting permission for Houston-based Noble Energy to resume work on a well that it had already drilled to more than 13,000 feet.
But in an appeal filed March 10, the U.S. Department of Justice said that it was working to educate applicants on the new application process. If regulators were forced to make snap decisions, it would bring everyone back to the same environment that existed before the Deepwater Horizon disaster, subverting the new rules. If regulators were put in that position, they might simply have to deny the applications, the Justice Department said.
David Pettit, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that the 5th Circuit's stay is a temporary victory for those who are concerned about the safety of offshore drilling, but the real questions about a judge's authority to intervene in the regulatory process await the appeal. “The merits are still on the table as to whether this judge or any judge can tell Interior, ‘You need to issue these permits now,'” he said.
If the appeal proceeds on an expedited basis, it could be resolved in a month or so. If it proceeds on a regular timetable, it could take a number of months, which is sure to disappoint business interests keen on restarting oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.
Pettit said that the Interior Department's approval of the Noble Energy permit shows there is no de facto moratorium on permits. “I take them at their word that they needed to work through them, and they're not just holding them up through some sort of back-door moratorium,” he said.
Groups like the National Ocean Industries Association, the Offshore Marine Service Association, Shallow Water Energy Security Coalition and political leaders in Louisiana have argued for a quick restart of offshore drilling, saying delays are hurting the local economy.
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, said in an e-mailed statement that regulators need to stay focused on restarting work in the Gulf.
http://loga.la/oil-gas-news/?p=3693
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March 12, 2011
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US Issues Second Post-Spill Drill Permit in Gulf
The U.S. government has given BHP Billiton the second new permit to drill in the Gulf of Mexico since the Macondo oil spill, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said on Saturday.
A BHP spokesman confirmed that the new permit has been issued for resumption of drilling of a production well at Shenzi.
The well was being drilled in waters 4,234 feet (1,290 metres) deep, 120 miles (193 km) off the Louisiana coast south of Houma, at the time BP's Macondo well blew out in April 2010.
After the blowout, the U.S. government imposed a moratorium pending new rules to increase the safety of offshore drilling. The moratorium was lifted in October but it took several months to issue the first permit.
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Feb. 28 issued the first new permit since the lifting of the moratorium to Noble Energy. At the time, BOEM said more permits would be awarded soon.
Shenzi, located in Green Canyon Blocks 653, 654, 609 and 610, was discovered in 2002 and has been in production since March 2009. The newly approved well is a continuation of production development in the field.
BHP is the operator, with 44 percent ownership. Hess Corp and Repsol are partners, each with 28 percent ownership.
BP, driller of the doomed Macondo well, was a partner in Shenzi but sold its interest to Repsol in 2006.
BHP puts Shenzi platform's maximum production capacity at 100,000 barrels of oil and 50 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
http://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFN1226560220110312?sp=true
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March 10, 2011
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U.S. Appeals for Delay in 30-Day Order on Drill Permits
U.S. offshore regulators asked a New Orleans appellate court to postpone a judge's March 19 deadline for them to act on certain Gulf of Mexico drilling permits delayed by the Obama Administration's drilling ban.
The Interior Department had asked U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman, also of New Orleans, to delay his own order so that the U.S. Court of Appeals would have time to review it. When Feldman didn't respond to that request, the U.S. turned to the appellate court.
“The 30-day deadline is a clear abuse of discretion,'' lawyers for the agency said in their filing today at the New Orleans appeals court. Meeting Feldman's deadline would require the agency to act “nearly as quickly as it did prior to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, even though the enormously negative consequences of inadequate containment planning in that incident unquestionably altered the landscape for consideration of such applications,'' they said.
U.S. offshore regulators said they may deny the seven Gulf of Mexico drilling permits Feldman singled out for quick action if they're forced to act by the judge's deadlines. Feldman ordered government action by March 19 on five permits and by March 31 on two additional permits.
Regulators claim the permitting process is a cooperative dialogue between the agency and operators, which can take days or months to complete. These seven permit applications are incomplete and “cannot be approved in their current state,'' according to a March 4 filing by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-10/u-s-asks-appeals-court-to-delay-30-day-order-on-drill-permits.html
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March 02, 2011
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Interior Department Says it Will Comply with Judge Feldman's Latest Permitting Ruling
WASHINGTON -- Top Interior Department officials said Wednesday that they will comply with a New Orleans federal judge's ruling that ordered it to decide on five deepwater drilling permit applications within 30 days.
"We will comply with the court order and make the decision, up or down, on the pending permits," Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said.
Still, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said that the department is mulling an appeal and that there are still obstacles to the faster permit pace advocated by the oil industry and Gulf State lawmakers.
Referring to New Orleans Federal Judge's Martin Feldman's Feb. 17 ruling, Salazar said that, in his view, the judge "was wrong."
"I don't think the court has the jurisdiction to basically tell the Department of Interior (what) its responsibilities are," Salazar said at Wednesday's hearing by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Asked to elaborate during a break in the hearing, Salazar said the department is examining its legal options on a possible appeal but "we also will comply with the judge's order if that is what we have to do."
Salazar said the permit issued this week to Noble Energy, allowing it to resume deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, will serve as a "template" for others permits "in the days ahead."
But Salazar continued to defend the slow pace of permitting since last April's BP's Macondo well blowout.
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La, suggested the department give the industry a more positive feedback about permitting possibilities now that the industry has developed oil containment systems for future spills. Since many wells will rely on the same containment systems, it seems reasonable to assume that if the plans work for one it would for a comparable well, as well, Landrieu said.
But Salazar said that while progress is being made, the containment plans still "are works in progress," and need "significant amount of work."
He expressed doubt that the department will return to the permitting pace before the BP disaster.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/03/interior_department_says_it_wi.html
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February 28, 2011
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BOEMRE Approves First Deepwater Drilling Permit To Meet Important New Safety Standards in Gulf of Mexico
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today approved the first deepwater drilling permit since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. Noble Energy's application for a permit to bypass is for Well #2 in Mississippi Canyon Block 519, approximately 70 miles south east of Venice, La.
Initial drilling on this well began April 16, 2010, in 6,500 feet water depth, and the activities were suspended June 12, 2010, under the temporary drilling moratorium, issued in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill.
BOEMRE has worked diligently to help industry adapt and conform to new and rigorous safety practices. Noble Energy has met new safety regulations and information requirements in Notices to Lessees (NTL) N06 and N10, and the Interim Final Safety Rule. These standards ensure that oil and gas development continues, while meeting unprecedented new safety regulations that are part of the Obama Administration's efforts to ensure that offshore drilling and production in the United States continues as safely as possible.
As part of its approval process, the bureau reviewed Noble Energy's containment capability available for the specific well proposed in the permit application. Noble Energy contracted with the Helix Well Containment Group (Helix) to use its capping stack to stop the flow of oil should a well control event occur. The capabilities of the capping stack meet the requirements that are specific to the characteristics of the proposed well.
The approved permit allows the drilling of a bypass well. An operator drills a bypass in order to drill around a mechanical problem in the original hole to the original geologic target from the existing wellbore. In this case, Noble Energy will be drilling around the plugs set in the original well when drilling was suspended in order to complete the project.
Today's permit adds to the increasing number of permits that have been approved since new safety regulations have been put in place, including 37 permits for new shallow water wells. For a list of well types, pending and approved permits, and information on new safety regulations, go to: http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/homepg/offshore/safety/well_permits.html.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0228.htm
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February 18, 2011
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Judge Orders BOEMRE to Act on ENSCO Drilling Permits
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 18--A federal district judge in New Orleans ordered the US Bureau of Offshore Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement to decide whether to issue five pending Gulf of Mexico offshore drilling permit applications to Ensco Offshore Co. within 30 days.
The Dallas offshore drilling contractor applied for four of the five permits during the 5-month deepwater drilling moratorium US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar imposed following the Macondo well blowout which destroyed the Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible rig on Apr. 20 and set off a massive crude oil spill. DOI said it was reviewing the ruling.
Judge Martin L.C. Feldman, of Louisiana's eastern district, wrote in his Feb. 17 order that drilling permits were processed in about 2 weeks time before the Macondo accident.
“In stark contrast, the five permits have been pending from 4 to some 9 months,” Feldman said. “These delays have put off indefinitely drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Ensco has incurred significantly reduced standby rates on its rigs and has been forced to move some . . . to other locations around the world.”
He rejected the federal government's argument that Congress, when it passed the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act in 1953, decided not to impose a time limit and consequently left the matter to the US Department of the Interior agency responsible for managing the OCS.
That view, said Feldman, “would produce autocratic discretion.” He noted DOI argued delays are inevitable in a more regulated environment, and conceded that in the spill's wake, some delays are understandable.
“But now, nearly a year after the spill occurred, delays, particularly those of the length at issue here, become increasingly unreasonable,” Feldman continued. “The permitting backlog becomes increasingly inexcusable.”
http://www.ogj.com/index/article-display/5140830772/articles/oil-gas-journal/general-interest-2/20100/february-2011/judge-orders_boemre.html?cmpid=EnlDailyFebruary182011
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February 08, 2011
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BOEMRE Begins Environmental Reviews for Proposed 2012-2017 Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales
NEW ORLEANS – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today announced that it will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for proposed oil and gas lease sales in the Western and Central Planning Areas of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, for the 2012 to 2017, 5-year oil and gas leasing program.
The notice, published in the Federal Register and available through their website today at: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/public-inspection/index.html, also announced the start of the scoping process.
“This important step in the offshore resource evaluation and development process will help ensure that all interests and concerns regarding oil and gas leasing, exploration, development and production from proposed sales are appropriately considered,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “Every comment will be analyzed and considered as we continue to prepare for the next 5-year program.”
BOEMRE is proposing to prepare a single EIS (multi-sale EIS) for all proposed 2012-2017 Central and Western Planning Area sales. As part of the scoping process, federal, state and local government agencies and other interested parties can submit comments that will assist BOEMRE in determining significant issues and alternatives to be analyzed in the multi-sale EIS. The multi-sale EIS is one step in a multi-tiered environmental review process that goes from the planning phase through the permitting phase.
BOEMRE will be holding public scoping meetings in Houston, New Orleans and Mobile to collect public comments. These scoping meetings will be held in combination with the scoping meetings for the preparation of the overall Programmatic EIS on the 5-Year OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0208a.htm
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February 05, 2011
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Feds Want Plan for Collaring Oil Spills
Facing criticism about its failure to issue permits for new deepwater oil and gas wells, the Interior Department's regulatory agency fired back Friday, saying it can't grant approval to drill until the industry has a new spill-containment plan in place.
"The most critical missing piece in the process of approving applications for permits to drill in deepwater is the demonstration of well control and subsea containment capability. Therefore, I ask that you provide a detailed update as to when your proposed containment systems will be operational," Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, wrote in identical letters sent Friday to Helix Energy Solutions Group, a key provider of well-control equipment, and to the four industry giants that formed the Marine Well Containment Co. after last April's massive BP oil spill.
Bromwich's return volley came exactly six months after executives from the four companies -- ExxonMobil, Shell Oil Co., Chevron and ConocoPhillips -- sat in front of him at Tulane University and promised to unveil an interim containment process within six months as part of their $1 billion effort to create a larger, quicker spill-response system for all Gulf wells.
The cooperative issued a contract to Technip for front-end engineering and design of the containment equipment back in October, but hasn't made any announcements about its progress.
"The Marine Well Containment System is working to finalize the interim response system and agreements with prospective members," ExxonMobil spokeswoman Rachael L. Moore said on behalf of the Marine Well Containment Co.
Besides tacitly calling out the companies on their August promise, the larger implication of Bromwich's letter is that none of the operators wanting to drill new wells have been able to meet new safety rules requiring them to be capable of responding quickly to a blowout. The letter's subtext is that this is the main reason BOEMRE has been unwilling to approve any of the 12 offshore exploration plans submitted for drilling new wells.
At the August meeting, Sara Ortwein, vice president of engineering at ExxonMobil Development Co., said the system's full capabilities will be available for any Gulf of Mexico well within 18 months -- which is another year from now.
But Bromwich's letter suggests that permits for wells might move forward sooner if he gets responses to his requests for details about specific containment equipment, how it will be deployed to respond to an accident quickly and how long it will be before companies seeking permits to drill will be able to rely on the new system.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-16/1296891573127160.xml&coll=1
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February 03, 2011
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Judge Holds Interior in Contempt Over Drilling Ban
A Louisiana federal judge on Wednesday held the Interior Department in contempt for re-imposing a deepwater oil-drilling ban last year after the judge had struck down an earlier version of the moratorium.
The contempt finding provides political ammunition for Republicans and pro-drilling Democrats that say Interior is blocking offshore development. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) quickly called the order a “sharp rebuke of the Interior Department for continuing to place politics before all else following the BP spill.”
Judge Martin Feldman's ruling – which is stuffed with harsh words for Interior – orders the department to pay attorney's fees in the case against last year's drilling ban brought by several offshore oil services companies.
Feldman is the judge who last June struck down Interior's initial drilling ban issued in the wake of the BP oil spill. Interior issued a new version of the deepwater ban in July that it eventually lifted in October, but permitting for deepwater projects has not yet resumed.
Feldman's order Wednesday takes Interior to task for the way it went about issuing a new, but very similar, version of the ban after he granted an injunction against the first one.
“Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the reimposition of a second blanket and substantively identical moratorium and in light of the national importance of this case, provide this Court with clear and convincing evidence of the government's contempt of this Court's preliminary injunction Order,” Fedman writes in Wednesday's ruling. Feldman is with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Court of Louisiana.
The Interior Department declined comment on the new ruling.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/141889-judge-holds-interior-in-contempt-over-drilling-ban
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January 28, 2011
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BOEMRE Calls for Public Comment to Inform Deepwater Environmental Assessment
WASHINGTON— The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today announced that public comment is invited with respect to the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the first Exploration Plan (EP) for deepwater activity in the Gulf of Mexico completed in accordance with new safety and environmental standards implemented since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill.
The plan, a Supplemental EP submitted by Shell Offshore Inc., includes three proposed exploratory wells in approximately 2,950 feet water depth, 130 miles offshore Louisiana. Consistent with federal regulations, an EP is deemed “submitted” once all supporting materials and documentation has been provided. Once a plan is deemed submitted, BOEMRE has 30 calendar days to analyze and evaluate it.
As part of its review, the bureau will prepare an EA specific to the proposed exploration activities. Upon completion of the technical and environmental review, BOEMRE must decide whether to approve the plan, require modifications, or disapprove the plan. A supplemental plan involves proposed activities on an oil and gas lease that were not included in the operator's original EP. Shell's original plan for this lease was approved in 1985. Oil and gas is currently being produced from this lease, which is part of the Auger field. The supplemental plan proposes drilling up to three additional exploratory wells.
"As we continue exploration in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, we will conduct thorough site-specific reviews to ensure that the proposed activities are carried out safely, responsibly and in accordance with our regulations. Our reliance on Environmental Assessments as part of our review of exploratory drilling plans in deepwater underscores our commitment to ensuring that deepwater drilling goes forward with adequate regard and protection for the environment," BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich said.
The 30-day time frame for review includes a 10-day public comment period to allow an opportunity to review and comment on the issues that should be considered by BOEMRE in preparing the EA for the plan. In an effort to make the comment opportunity more accessible, the public can both view and provide comments on agency documents at: http://www.boemre.gov/PublicComment.htm.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0128.htm
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January 28, 2011
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Shell Application for Deepwater Exploration Takes Step Forward
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement launched a 30-day review Friday of the first exploration plan for deepwater activity in the Gulf of Mexico "completed in accordance" with new safety and environmental standards implemented in the wake of the BP disaster.
The announcement was hailed by the applicant, Shell Offshore Inc., as a positive step toward renewed deepwater drilling in the Gulf.
The supplemental exploration plan is one of seven now pending before BOEMRE, but the first to be "deemed submitted," meaning, in essence, that all its papers are in order and the clock can start on the 30 days that the bureau has to evaluate it.
The plan includes three proposed exploratory wells in 2,950-feet of water, 130 miles off the Louisiana coast. Shell's original plan for this lease, a part of the Auger field, was approved in 1985. Oil and gas is now being produced from the lease. The supplemental plan proposes drilling up to three additional exploratory wells. Once the exploration plan is approved, Shell could apply for drilling permits for the wells.
As part of its review, the bureau will prepare an environmental assessment specific to the proposed exploration activities. According to BOEMRE, "upon completion of the technical and environmental review, BOEMRE must decide whether to approve the plan, require modifications, or disapprove the plan."
The 30-day time frame includes a 10-day public comment period.
In the meantime, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Secretary Scott Angelle and members of the Back to Work Coalition met with BOEMRE Director Michael Bromwich for the third time in two weeks to work out the remaining issues impeding the issuance of deepwater drilling permits in the Gulf.
Angelle said Bromwich "assured us that despite the reorganization efforts taking place" in the regulatory regime at Interior, "our efforts to work through the permitting process will not lose momentum."
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2011/01/shell_application_for_deepwate.html
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January 25, 2011
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Century Exploration Sues U.S. Over Drill Ban Changes
Century Exploration New Orleans Inc. sued the U.S. over changes in offshore drilling rules that it said made development of its $23 million Gulf of Mexico lease “commercially impractical.”
The Louisiana oil company filed suit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington today over a series of regulatory changes the Interior Department imposed on offshore exploration after the BP Plc oil spill. The Obama Administration halted all drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet in May, after the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon caused the worst marine oil spill in U.S. history.
Regulators subsequently lifted and reinstituted multiple rounds of changes to offshore drilling policy in ways that effectively rendered Century's “lease bargain illusory,” according to the complaint.
The company isn't seeking reimbursement for the $23 million it paid to acquire the lease in 2008 or the $164,150 in rental fees paid to hold the parcel until drilling begins. Instead, Century seeks damages equal to profit it could have earned on the 12.7 million barrels of oil equivalent in proven reserves and 2.4 million barrels of oil equivalent in probable reserves the Gulf of Mexico parcel is estimated to contain.
Worst-Case Discharge
Century said the expanded calculation of worst-case discharge that companies must address in their oil-spill response plans “has made it economically impracticable for Century to obtain a bond necessary to demonstrate sufficient oil spill financial responsibility.” Such a bond is required of all offshore-drilling operators.
The new restrictions and safety rules caused the value of the lease's estimated proven reserves to be “significantly discounted by the senior lender at the time and subsequently by the financial markets,” according to the complaint. This discount forced Century to issue debt at 12.75 percent, “which was the highest interest rate paid by any issuer of high-yield debt in recent months,” according to the complaint.
“The unpredictable manner in which the United States has promulgated its rules has coupled with conflicting and ambiguous guidance from the United States to create a veritable regulatory morass,” the company said.
Ocean Energy Management
Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, and Kendra Barkoff, a spokeswoman for the Department of the Interior, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
http://sfgate.bloomberg.com/SFChronicle/Story/Print?docId=1376-LFLOAW6JIJUO01-3IVKMLGHR3FIPSTEBJNNCELHO8
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January 03, 2011
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BOEMRE Provides Additional Clarity for Certain Activities Suspended under the Deepwater Moratorium
WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today notified 13 companies whose deepwater drilling activities were suspended by last year's deepwater drilling moratorium that they may be able to resume those previously-approved activities without the need to submit revised exploration or development plans for supplemental National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews. Before resuming those activities without additional NEPA review, however, the companies must comply with BOEMRE's new policies and regulations.
“Going forward, we are substantially enhancing our environmental reviews and analysis under NEPA,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “But as we move forward, we are taking into account the special circumstances of those companies whose operations were interrupted by the moratorium and ensuring that they are able to resume previously-approved activities. For those companies that were in the midst of operations at the time of the deepwater suspensions, today's notification is a significant step toward resuming their permitted activity.”
Today's notice lays out the steps these companies must take for previously-approved operations to restart. This includes compliance with new regulations and information requirements in Notices to Lessees (NTL) N06 and N10, and the Interim Final Safety Rule.
These operators will not be required to revise a previously submitted Exploration Plan or Development Operations Coordination Document (DOCD) if the worst-case discharge estimated for the project, as calculated pursuant to NTL-N06, is less than the worst-case discharge estimate included by the company in its Oil Spill Response Plan. However, if the worst-case discharge exceeds the Oil Spill Response Plan, further reviews will be conducted.
As described in guidance issued by BOEMRE on December 13, 2010, new exploration and development drilling operations must be conducted under new or revised plans subject to appropriate NEPA analysis (http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2010/press1213.htm).
The 13 companies that received today's notice are: ATP Oil & Gas Corp., BHP Billiton Petroleum (GOM) Inc., Chevron USA Inc., Cobalt International Energy, ENI U.S. Operating Company Inc., Hess Corp., Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp., Marathon Oil Company, Murphy Exploration & Production Company – USA, Noble Energy Inc., Shell Offshore Inc., Statoil USA E & P Inc., and Walter Oil & Gas Corp.
For more information on the new regulations, go to: http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/homepg/offshore/safety/well_permits.html
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0103a.htm
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December 13, 2010
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BOEMRE Issues Guidance for Deepwater Drillers to Comply with Strengthened Safety and Environmental Standards
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today issued additional guidance regarding the steps required of operators to resume deepwater activity. This information contains no new or additional regulatory requirements, but instead provides additional information to assist the oil and gas industry in their efforts to comply with recently-issued rules and prior guidance.
Since Interior Secretary Ken Salazar lifted the deepwater drilling moratorium on October 12, 2010, BOEMRE has met with multiple oil and gas operators and industry representatives to help clarify and provide additional guidance about new regulations, Notices to Lessees (NTL), and how the agency will apply National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) requirements with respect to deepwater drilling operations. Today's guidance presents a clear path to move forward with the resumption of work in deepwater.
The issues addressed in the information document include compliance issues relating to: the Drilling Safety Rule (or Interim Final Rule), NTL-6 (including Worst Case Discharge calculations), and NTL-10, as well as further information on BOEMRE's inspections of BOP testing, Oil Spill Response Plans (OSRP), and the manner in which environmental assessments will be conducted for deepwater drilling plans.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/PDFs/DeepwaterDrillingComplianceInfo.pdf
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December 08, 2010
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BOEMRE Director Makes Case for Regulatory Reform at Oil and Gas Law Conference
Today, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director Michael R. Bromwich delivered the keynote address at the First International Offshore Oil & Gas Law Conference in New Orleans, La.
Director Bromwich discussed lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon blowout and spill, ongoing regulatory reform efforts, the reorganization of the former Minerals Management Service and the guidance document that is being prepared which is intended to be a comprehensive description of the “way forward” for permitting in deepwater.
For a full read out of Director Bromwich's remarks, please see the link provided.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2010/press1208.htm
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December 01, 2010
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Salazar Announces Revised OCS Leasing Program
Today, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced an updated oil and gas leasing strategy for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Based on lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Department has raised the bar in the drilling and production stages for equipment, safety, environmental safeguards, and oversight. In order to focus on implementing these reforms efficiently and effectively, critical agency resources will be focused on planning areas that currently have leases for potential future development. As a result, the area in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico that remains under a congressional moratorium, and the Mid and South Atlantic planning areas are no longer under consideration for potential development through 2017. The Western Gulf of Mexico, Central Gulf of Mexico, the Cook Inlet, and the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the Arctic will continue to be considered for potential leasing before 2017.
Consistent with the President's Executive Order on National Ocean Policy, today's modified plan also confirms many actions announced in March, including environmental analysis to determine whether seismic studies should be conducted in the Mid and South Atlantic, and rigorous scientific analysis of the Arctic to determine if future oil and gas development could be conducted safely.
In connection with today's announcement, BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich stated that he is in the process of completing an agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through which NOAA will collaborate with BOEMRE in the environmental analyses for OCS planning.
http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Salazar-Announces-Revised-OCS-Leasing-Program.cfm
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October 12, 2010
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Salazar: Deepwater Drilling May Resume for Operators Who Clear Higher Bar for Safety, Environmental Protection
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has determined it is appropriate that deepwater oil and gas drilling resume, provided that operators certify compliance with all existing rules and requirements, including those that recently went into effect, and demonstrate the availability of adequate blowout containment resources.
Secretary Salazar reached his decision after reviewing a report from Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEM) Director Michael R. Bromwich and considering other information on the progress of offshore oil and gas safety reforms, the availability of spill response resources, and improved blowout containment capabilities.
In his decision today, Secretary Salazar directs BOEM to require the following before approving drilling in deepwater that would have been subject to suspension under his July 12 Decision Memorandum:
- Pursuant to applicable regulations, each operator must demonstrate that it has enforceable obligations that ensure that containment resources are available promptly in the event of a deepwater blowout, regardless of the company or operator involved. The Department of the Interior has a process underway regarding the establishment of a mechanism relating to the availability of blowout containment resources, and Secretary Salazar said he expects that this mechanism will be implemented in the near future.
- That the CEO of each operator seeking to perform deepwater drilling certify to BOEM that the operator has complied with all regulations, including the new drilling safety rules.
Director Bromwich said that before deepwater drilling will resume, BOEM intends to conduct inspections of each deepwater drilling operation for compliance with regulations, including but not limited to the testing of BOPs.
In addition to the recently issued Drilling Safety Rule, Secretary Salazar said he anticipates the Department and BOEM will undertake further rulemaking that considers additional safety measures – such as redundant blind shear rams, remote activation systems for BOPs, and enhanced instrumentation and sensors on BOPs – to further enhance recent safety improvements. Future rulemakings may take into consideration information developed by ongoing investigations into the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, or as a result of public comments on the recently issued Drilling Safety Rule.
http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Salazar-Deepwater-Drilling-May-Resume-for-Operators-Who-Clear-Higher-Bar-for-Safety-Environmental-Protection.cfm
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September 02, 2010
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Judge Rules Against US Government on Oil Drilling
A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the U.S. government's request to dismiss an industry lawsuit challenging its deepwater oil and gas drilling moratorium.
In his 20-page ruling on Wednesday, Judge Martin Feldman said the administration's new moratorium offered "no substantial changes" from the first one, and denied the motion to dismiss the Hornbeck lawsuit.
For reference, the below is the address for the initial ruling:
http://www.laed.uscourts.gov/GENERAL/Notices/101663_doc67.pdf
The below is the latest ruling:
http://www.laed.uscourts.gov/GENERAL/Notices/10-1663_doc165.pdf
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August 25, 2010
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Bipartisan Policy Center (Lifting the Moratorium)
Assignment
The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling requested that the Bipartisan Policy Center, “identify the appropriate questions for the federal government to consider in determining which of the suspended activities could safely resume if the moratorium were lifted.”
Conclusion
- We believe that the need to impose a moratorium on deepwater drilling reflects how unprepared both government and industry were for an incident of this magnitude.
- The DOI's drilling moratorium has served the productive purpose of allowing time for both industry and government to prepare for a safer, more vigilant, and dependable future for U.S. offshore drilling.
- We believe DOI and the industry have used this time effectively to develop a new regime for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
- We are satisfied that compliance with the Interior Department's Notice to Lessees #5 and #6 and other actions by the Department of Interior (DOI) will achieve a significant and beneficial reduction of risk.
- We believe this new regime will provide an adequate margin of safety to responsibly allow the resumption of deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
- It is possible that the costs and technical sophistication needed to comply with these new requirements may discourage some rigs and companies from future operation in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Although this outcome would be unfortunate, we believe it is imperative that all companies be held to a consistent set of safety requirements.
- While we appreciate the costs of delay, we urge DOI and industry to ensure effective compliance with this new regulatory regime.
Prevention
- While numerous questions remain about the adequacy of DOI's past oversight, it should be commended for its far-reaching effort over the past three months to improve the safety of deepwater drilling.
- Based on a wide array of commentary and our own review, we believe that the increased DOI safety measures represent a reasonable and appropriate near-term framework to mitigate the risks associated with deepwater drilling.
- While we do not support the dilution of any of these requirements for purposes of mere expedience, DOI should adopt a strategic approach to reviewing industry compliance with new safety requirements to ensure that, the safe resumption of drilling does not take an undue amount of time.
Containment
- Over the course of the last four months, BP, government, and industry experts have developed considerable knowledge and physical infrastructure to respond to deepwater incidents.
- To maintain and build upon the current containment capacity, all critical containment equipment must be preserved and pre-staged.
- Based on the expectation that this knowledge and equipment will be available to all deepwater operations, the industry should be able to respond to a similar incident with far greater speed and effectiveness.
- The Marine Well Containment (MWC) joint industry initiative, led by Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Shell, to rapidly develop advanced containment capacity is commendable for its breadth – enhanced near-term response capacity and ongoing R&D – and aggressive 18-month timeframe for comprehensive response capacity.
Response
- The failure of response systems to improve alongside advances in exploration technology is glaring.
- Broadly speaking, response capacity at this scale of incident appears inadequate across the entire industry and around the world.
- However, if the majority of response equipment remains pre-positioned in the region, and if it is supplemented over time with improved technology, the industry and federal agencies will be better situated than ever before to respond to a major spill in the Gulf.
http://www.bipartisanpolicy.org/sites/default/files/BPC%20Response%20to%20Oil%20Spill%20Commission_0.pdf
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August 11, 2010
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State of Texas Challenges Federal Government's Offshore Drilling Moratorium
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today filed a legal challenge to the Obama Administration's offshore drilling moratorium. The State's legal challenge charges the Administration with violating a federal law that requires the Secretary of Interior to consult with affected states before imposing an offshore drilling moratorium. Filed on behalf of the State of Texas, Governor Rick Perry and Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, today's legal action names the following defendants: the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI); DOI Secretary Kenneth Salazar; the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement – formerly known as the Minerals Management Service – and BOEM Director Michael Bromwich.
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=3445
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July 27, 2010
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Commission Requests Details on Resumption of Drilling Activities
The National Commission on the BP DW Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling requested that the Bipartisan Policy Center identify questions for the federal government to consider in determining which of the suspended activities could safely resume if the moratorium were lifted.
http://www.bipartisanpolicy.org/library/workshop-material/drilling-moratorium-working-group-report
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July 12, 2010
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Secretary Salazar Issues New Suspensions to Guide Safe Pause on Deepwater Drilling
Bromwich to Engage Public, Industry and Stakeholders in Deepwater Drilling Safety Reforms
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) to issue new suspensions of deepwater drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), saying a pause is needed to ensure that oil and gas companies first implement adequate safety measures to reduce the risks associated with deepwater drilling operations and are prepared for blowouts and oil spills.
Shallow water drilling activities that use different technologies do not present the same type or level of risks as deepwater drilling operations and can continue to move forward if operators are in compliance with all safety and environmental requirements, including new safety and environmental requirements implemented through recent Notices to Lessees. Production activities in federal waters of the Gulf are not affected by the deepwater drilling suspensions.
“More than eighty days into the BP oil spill, a pause on deepwater drilling is essential and appropriate to protect communities, coasts, and wildlife from the risks that deepwater drilling currently pose,” said Secretary Salazar. “I am basing my decision on evidence that grows every day of the industry's inability in the deepwater to contain a catastrophic blowout, respond to an oil spill, and to operate safely.”
Secretary Salazar's decision to impose new deepwater drilling suspensions is based on his authorities and responsibilities under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to ensure safe operations on the OCS. The new decision is supported by an extensive record of existing and new information indicating that allowing new deepwater drilling to commence would pose a threat of serious, irreparable, or immediate harm or damage to the marine, coastal, and human environment.
In a decision memorandum to BOEM Director Michael R. Bromwich, Salazar said that a temporary pause on deepwater drilling will provide time to implement recent safety reforms and for:
1. The submission of evidence by operators demonstrating that they have the ability to respond effectively to a potential oil spill in the Gulf, given the unprecedented commitment of available oil spill response resources that are now being dedicated to the BP oil spill;
2. The assessment of wild well intervention and blowout containment resources to determine the strategies and methods by which they can be made more readily available should another blowout occur; and
3. The collection and analysis of key evidence regarding the potential causes of the April 20, 2010 explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig, including information collected by the Presidential Commission and other investigations.
In this period, the Department and BOEM will also be issuing and implementing interim safety rules in accordance with recommendations in the 30-Day Safety Report that Secretary Salazar submitted to the President on May 27, 2010.
The suspensions ordered today will last until November 30, 2010, or until such earlier time that the Secretary determines that deepwater drilling operations can proceed safely.
To help inform decisions about deepwater drilling safety reforms Secretary Salazar today also asked Director Bromwich to engage in an active public outreach effort with industry, academic experts, the public and other interested parties, and to prepare a report with recommendations on deepwater drilling.
“I remain open to modifying the new deepwater drilling suspensions based on new information,” said Secretary Salazar, “but industry must raise the bar on its practices and answer fundamental questions about deepwater safety, blowout prevention and containment, and oil spill response.”
The new suspensions apply to drilling operations that use subsea blowout preventers (BOP) or surface BOPs on floating facilities.
Like the deepwater drilling moratorium lifted by the District Court on June 22, the deepwater drilling suspensions ordered today apply to most deepwater drilling activities and could last through November 30. The suspensions ordered today, however, are the product of a new decision by the Secretary and new evidence regarding safety concerns, blowout containment shortcomings within the industry, and spill response capabilities that are strained by the BP oil spill. Moreover, the new decision by the Secretary establishes a process through which BOEM will gather and analyze new information from the public, experts, stakeholders, and the industry on safety and response issues, which could potentially provide the basis for identifying conditions for resuming certain deepwater drilling activities. In addition, the May 28 moratorium proscribed drilling based on specific water depths; the new decision does not suspend activities based on water depth, but on the basis of the drilling configurations and technologies.
Secretary Salazar's decision memorandum on the new deepwater drilling suspensions is available here.
To view a Q and A document regarding the suspension decision, click here.
http://www.doi.gov/news/doinews/Secretary-Salazar-Issues-New-Suspensions-to-Guide-Safe-Pause-on-Deepwater-Drilling.cfm
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June 25, 2010
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Secretarial Memo to DOI employees prohibiting enforcement of Drilling Moratorium
On June 22, 2010, the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana ordered a preliminary injunction prohibiting Department of Interior (DOI) employees and the newly renamed Bureau of Ocean Energy from enforcing the Moratorium, entitled “Suspension of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Drilling of New Deepwater Wells,” dated May 28, 2010, and NTL No. 2010-N04 seeking implementation of the Moratorium, as applied to all drilling on the OCS in water at depths greater than 500 feet. To address this injunction, the Secretary of the Interior has circulated a memo to all DOI employees instructing them "not to take any action to enforce the Moratorium...or to enforce" the NTL until additional orders are received from the Secretary.
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June 21, 2010
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Judge Blocks Offshore Drilling Moratorium
A federal judge in New Orleans has blocked a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling projects that was imposed in response to the massive Gulf oil spill.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575322942341022322.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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May 30, 2010
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MMS NTL 2010-N04: Drilling Moratorium
The Six-Month Deepwater Moratorium as set forth in this Notice to Lessees and Operators (“Moratorium NTL”) directs you to cease drilling all new deepwater wells, including any wellbore sidetracks and bypasses; prohibits you from spudding any new deepwater wells; and puts you on notice that, except as provided herein, MMS will not consider for six months from the date of this Moratorium NTL drilling permits for deepwater wells and for related activities as set forth herein. For the purposes of this Moratorium NTL, “deepwater” means depths greater than 500 feet.
http://www.mms.gov/ntls/PDFs/MORATORIUM_NTL.pdf
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May 27, 2010
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Salazar Calls for New Safety Measures, Orders Six Month Moratorium on Deepwater Drilling
To improve the safety of oil and gas development in federal waters, provide greater environmental protection and substantially reduce the risk of catastrophic events such as the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today called for aggressive new operating standards and requirements for offshore energy companies and ordered a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling. He also canceled a pending lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico and a proposed lease sale off the coast of Virginia, and suspended proposed exploratory drilling in the Arctic.
http://www.mms.gov/ooc/press/2010/press0527.htm
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May 07, 2010
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Application for Permit to Drill Approvals
Interior Salazar announced that no applications for drilling permits will go forward for any new offshore drilling activity until the Department of the Interior completes the safety review process that President Obama has requested.
http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20100510/Briefing.Memo.oi.05.10.2010.pdf
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Oil Spill Response
November 09, 2011
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Coast Guard Approves Winding Down BP Spill Cleanup
BP will no longer be responsible for cleaning up oil that washes up on the Gulf Coast unless officials can prove it comes from the company's well that blew out in 2010, causing the worst offshore spill in U.S. history, according to a plan approved by the Coast Guard and obtained by The Associated Press.
The plan marks the near end of the cleanup phase of the oil spill, according to the Nov. 2 agreement obtained by the AP on Tuesday. Now, BP will turn its attention to restoring areas damaged by the spill that began on April 20, 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, killing 11 workers. About $1 billion has been set aside for those projects, an official says.
About 90 percent of the Gulf coast has been deemed clean, according to officials. The plan spells out protocol for when an area still needs to be cleaned and when BP's responsibility for that ends.
Louisiana officials wouldn't give their approval because they were concerned about what they perceived as a lack of long-term monitoring in the document. They also complained that the Coast Guard gave them only five days to review the plan, according to a letter sent to the agency by Garret Graves, a top aide to Gov. Bobby Jindal for coastal affairs.
That concern was echoed by Ralph Portier, an oil spill cleanup expert with Louisiana State University.
"If we have learned anything from Valdez and Ixtoc, there needs to be an awareness for long-term monitoring," Portier said.
He was referring to the Exxon-Valdez tanker spill in 1989 in Alaska and the 1979 Ixtoc oil rig spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He said the Coast Guard should have a plan to respond to problems that may arise.
On Florida's Panhandle, some people reacted with skepticism. Kenneth Collins, who rents fishing poles to tourists and spends his days with local fishermen at the Pensacola Beach pier, said he doesn't think the effects of the spill are over.
Despite the concerns, the Coast Guard said its finalized plan would apply to Louisiana and all the Gulf states.
http://www.chron.com/business/article/Coast-Guard-OKs-winding-down-BP-spill-cleanup-2259897.php
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September 09, 2011
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Marine Well Containment Company's First Non-Member Receives Permit Approval
Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) announced today that Petrobras America Inc. (PAI) is the first non-member to have cited MWCC's system to receive an approved drilling permit.
PAI contracts with MWCC for the right to cite the MWCC system in its permit application to the BOEMRE for a deepwater well in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
The agency approved the PAI application on September 2 to drill a development well at its Cascade field approximately 180 miles south of the Louisiana coast in water depth of 8,200 feet.
“MWCC is a not-for-profit, independent organization available to all deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico operators,” said Chief Executive Officer Marty Massey. “Even if an operator is not a member of MWCC, our system can be made available on a well by well basis and cited in respective applications for permits to drill.”
The MWCC member companies include Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Apache, Anadarko, BHP Billiton, Statoil and Hess. These 10 companies operated approximately 70 percent of deepwater wells drilled in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico between 2007 through 2009.
All MWCC members have equal ownership, with each paying a proportional share of the system development and operating costs. System equipment and services are available to members and can be made available to non-members for use in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
An expanded containment system is on track for delivery in 2012. In addition to operating in water depths up to 10,000 feet, the system will have the capacity to capture up to 100,000 barrels of fluid and handle up to 200 million cubic feet of gas per day.
More information about MWCC is available at http://www.marinewellcontainment.com.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110907006917/en/Marine-Containment-Company%E2%80%99s-Non-Member-Receives-Permit-Approval
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May 03, 2011
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Helix Adds Beefed-up Capping Stack
The Helix Well Containment Group (HWCG) has beefed up its oil spill response capabilities with the addition of a capping stack rated to 15,000 psi.
It is the second stack in the HWCG system. The first is rated to 10,000 psi.
The system is currently able to deploy on wells as deep as 8000 feet and the group plans to up that capability to 10,000 feet by this summer.
Weighing in at a hefty 156,000 pounds, the stack was engineered by Trendsetter Engineering in Houston.
The stack is unique in that it allows an operator to access the wellbore for intervention or repair while the cap remains in place, HWCG said.
“For the first time, the HWCG has technology on standby that can be used to flow back or intervene in wells that require up to 15,000 psi capability – this is a significant advancement in our well-containment system,” HWCG commercial director Roger Scheuermann said.
“HWCG's well-containment system is capable of controlling and containing the vast majority of the deep-water wells in the Gulf of Mexico.”
HWCG is made up of a more than 20 members including Gulf heavyweights Anadarko Petroleum, BHP Billiton and Apache
http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article254833.ece
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February 27, 2011
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Latecomer to Gulf Oil Spill Cleanup says it now has the Answer in any Future Disasters
More than a month after its Macondo well exploded last April and started the worst oil spill in U.S. history, BP hired Helix Energy Solutions Group, an independent oil producer, to lend a hand. But although the company was late to the game last summer, Helix says it now has an improved system that will be able to do the whole job in a couple of weeks if another major blowout happens.
Deepwater drilling has been on hold since the Macondo disaster, largely because federal regulators are not yet satisfied that the oil companies will be able to deal with a spill of similar magnitude. Helix's new system is one of two solutions that the big oil producers hope will ease those fears and speed a return to drilling.
Once it was all in place at Macondo, the Helix equipment was able to collect more than three-quarters of the estimated daily discharge. It also learned lessons about the capping stack BP used, so it followed up by developing its own shut-off device in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Helix now has a contract with Clean Gulf Associates, a nonprofit consortium that has provided spill response equipment since 1972, and has established agreements with third-party suppliers that will provide firefighting, pressure testing and chemical dispersants at the site of an accident.
The Helix system joins the Marine Well Containment Co., a similar effort by BP and the four largest Gulf of Mexico operators, as Gulf-wide spill response systems that exploration companies can list on their drilling permit applications as proof to government regulators that they'll be ready to quickly contain the next spill.
The U.S. Interior Department's offshore regulatory body, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, has already viewed demonstrations of both systems and seems ready to accept a drilling permit that lists either one as its spill containment capacity.
The thing that makes the Helix system different is its use of vessels that are already in action around the Gulf, with a trained crew and most of the key containment equipment already on board.
The company already provides production services for other Gulf operators. Rather than spending $650 million to set up a production platform in a lower-producing field, a production company can hire Helix's dynamic positioning vessels to come in for a daily fee and hook onto a well. Once there, Helix's vessels can suck up the crude through flexible tubes and send it back down through miles of pipes to a single central production facility.
That same concept is at play in the spill response system. Helix's key innovation is a buoy system that allows it to quickly disconnect from one of those jobs in case a winter storm or hurricane rolls in. That is crucial for the new spill response system because it will allow the Q4000 and Helix Producer to break away from a project when there's a blowout and head directly to the location.
Once at the site of a blowout, the Q4000 and Helix Producer will use robot submarines to assess the damage at the wellhead. During that time, another ship will speed the multi-piece capping stack from Corpus Christi. If the well pressure is too high to be shut in safely by the first cap, the Q4000 will be able to drop a riser pipe with various sizes of fittings to cover the leak and suck the oil and gas to the surface.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2011/02/latecomer_to_gulf_oil_spill_cl.html
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February 17, 2011
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Oil Companies Complete Spill Containment System
Marine Well Containment Co., a nonprofit group whose founders include Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips, said an initial response system for future oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico has been completed.
The status of potential containment systems has been a focus for regulators following a record offshore U.S. oil spill at BP Plc's Macondo well in the Gulf last April. The U.S. Interior Department said Jan. 25 that it was refusing to issue deep-water exploration permits because energy companies hadn't shown a capability to respond to a massive spill.
The system includes a subsea capping stack with the ability to shut in flowing oil or to send crude to surface vessels using flexible pipes and risers, Marine Well Containment said today in a statement. Other initial members of the group include Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
The achievement fulfills a plan to deliver a system within six months of starting the well containment project, Marty Massey, the organization's chief executive officer, said in today's statement.
The new system includes chemicals to break up oil below the surface and equipment for surface processing and storage. Marine Well Containment said it has consulted with the U.S. government to ensure the system is designed to meet requirements.
Interim System
Exploratory drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet was halted after BP's Macondo well erupted off the Louisiana coast in April, killing 11 rig workers and spewing more than 4 million barrels of oil into the sea.
Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar lifted the moratorium in October, with the caveat that energy companies would have to meet tougher rules to qualify for permits.
The containment system is designed to contain a spill of the magnitude of the Macondo leak, in even deep waters. The interim system is intended to operate in water depths of up to 8,000 feet, with storage and liquids processing capacity of up to 60,000 barrels per day, according to today's statement.
‘Significant Progress'
The need to show well control and containment capacity for deep-water drilling was made clear by the Macondo blowout, Melissa Schwartz, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, said today in an e-mail.
She said the bureau appreciates the “significant progress” in addressing the issue, “and we continue to encourage them to make their containment system available as quickly as possible to deep-water operators so that new, responsible oil and gas drilling in deep water can proceed.”
The more developed version of the system, able to operate in waters as deep as 10,000 feet, will be available next year, Vaughn said.
Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. is also working on a similar solution and expects to develop a containment system by the end of March, spokesman Cameron Wallace said by phone yesterday.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-17/marine-well-containment-completes-initial-containment-system.html
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February 09, 2011
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Interior Official Says Industry is Making Progress in Preparation for Oil Well Blowouts
The Interior Department's top offshore drilling regulator met with officials from major oil companies Tuesday and said he sees progress in their efforts to improve their capability to contain blown-out deepwater wells.
Interior is demanding improved capabilities before it resumes issuing permits for deepwater oil-and-gas drilling, which was halted after last year's BP oil spill.
Michael Bromwich, director of Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, said he met Tuesday with the Marine Well Containment Co., an Exxon-led consortium of major oil companies that also includes Shell, Chevron and ConocoPhillips and is developing enhanced systems that can be quickly deployed in the event of another blowout.
“I think they are making progress and they answered some of the questions we had, and we will continue to work with them,” Bromwich told reporters Wednesday.
Last Friday Bromwich sent letters to the consortium and the Helix Energy Solutions Group — another company developing containment systems — seeking details on their efforts.
“The most critical missing piece in the process of approving applications for permits to drill in deep water is the demonstration of well control and subsea containment capability,” Bromwich wrote in the letters to the companies Friday.
On Wednesday Bromwich said the meeting provided some of the answers he's seeking.
“I think we are getting closer. I think we needed to put the questions to the highest levels of those companies so we could get good and coherent responses. We got many of those yesterday, and we will have continuing discussions with them over the next several weeks,” he said Wednesday.
Bromwich last month said he expects permitting for deepwater projects to resume before mid-year. Asked Wednesday if that timeline remains effective, he replied, “Yes. I think it is.”
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/142989-interior-drilling-chief-sees-progress-on-well-containment-after-industry-meeting
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February 05, 2011
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Feds Want Plan for Collaring Oil Spills
Facing criticism about its failure to issue permits for new deepwater oil and gas wells, the Interior Department's regulatory agency fired back Friday, saying it can't grant approval to drill until the industry has a new spill-containment plan in place.
"The most critical missing piece in the process of approving applications for permits to drill in deepwater is the demonstration of well control and subsea containment capability. Therefore, I ask that you provide a detailed update as to when your proposed containment systems will be operational," Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, wrote in identical letters sent Friday to Helix Energy Solutions Group, a key provider of well-control equipment, and to the four industry giants that formed the Marine Well Containment Co. after last April's massive BP oil spill.
Bromwich's return volley came exactly six months after executives from the four companies -- ExxonMobil, Shell Oil Co., Chevron and ConocoPhillips -- sat in front of him at Tulane University and promised to unveil an interim containment process within six months as part of their $1 billion effort to create a larger, quicker spill-response system for all Gulf wells.
The cooperative issued a contract to Technip for front-end engineering and design of the containment equipment back in October, but hasn't made any announcements about its progress.
"The Marine Well Containment System is working to finalize the interim response system and agreements with prospective members," ExxonMobil spokeswoman Rachael L. Moore said on behalf of the Marine Well Containment Co.
Besides tacitly calling out the companies on their August promise, the larger implication of Bromwich's letter is that none of the operators wanting to drill new wells have been able to meet new safety rules requiring them to be capable of responding quickly to a blowout. The letter's subtext is that this is the main reason BOEMRE has been unwilling to approve any of the 12 offshore exploration plans submitted for drilling new wells.
At the August meeting, Sara Ortwein, vice president of engineering at ExxonMobil Development Co., said the system's full capabilities will be available for any Gulf of Mexico well within 18 months -- which is another year from now.
But Bromwich's letter suggests that permits for wells might move forward sooner if he gets responses to his requests for details about specific containment equipment, how it will be deployed to respond to an accident quickly and how long it will be before companies seeking permits to drill will be able to rely on the new system.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-16/1296891573127160.xml&coll=1
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February 03, 2011
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BP Joins Marine Well Containment Company
BP has joined Chevron, ConocoPhillips ExxonMobil and Shell as a member of the Marine Well Containment Company LLC (MWCC). BP brings its marine response experience and equipment to the MWCC.
"Last autumn we made an ongoing commitment to share what we've learned and the experience we gained during the Deepwater Horizon incident response with the world," said James Dupree, regional president for BP's U.S. Gulf of Mexico business. 'We have shared our insights with regulators, participated in public forums, worked directly with industry bodies and published our lessons learned. Joining the MWCC and bringing our capabilities and equipment to an interim response system is another important part of that commitment."
Among the equipment BP will bring to the MWCC are riser, manifold and containment systems deployed for use during the Deepwater Horizon response. In addition to the transfer of equipment, BP also will bring to MWCC the company's information and supporting records, drawings, permits, licenses and other technical information it developed throughout the spill response.
These items will be part of the MWCC interim response system aimed at enhancing deepwater safety and environmental protection in the Gulf of Mexico, which accounts for 30 percent of U.S. oil and gas production and supports more than 170,000 American jobs. MWCC companies are involved with the engineering, procurement and construction of equipment and vessels for the system.
BP is also actively involved in significant industry efforts to improve prevention, well intervention and spill response. This includes rig inspections and implementation of new requirements on blowout preventer certification and well design. The industry has proactively formed several multi-disciplinary task forces to further develop improved prevention, containment and recovery plans.
http://www.oilvoice.com/n/BP_Joins_Marine_Well_Containment_Company/077db2f95.aspx
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January 27, 2011
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Study Released on Fate Of Dispersants In Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
A new study released Wednesday finds that dispersants placed deep in the Gulf of Mexico in the aftermath of the BP oil spill seemed to keep some oil from contaminating the water's surface. However, the chemicals in the dispersant lingered underwater, adding to growing concerns about the long-term consequences for the region.
The study, which appears in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, was the first peer-reviewed research published on the fate of oil dispersants added to underwater ocean environments.
According to the report, key chemical components of the 770,000 gallons of oil dispersants pumped to the damaged well head a mile below the Gulf surface did mix with the spewing oil and gas, and remained deep in the ocean for two months or longer without degrading.
However, it was not possible to determine if the first deep ocean use of oil dispersants worked as intended in breaking up and dissipating the oil. The scientists also noted ongoing concern about the environmental fate of the 1.4 million gallons of dispersant applied to the ocean's surface.
Previous studies have shown that dispersants added to surface oil spills prevent them from coating and harming sensitive coastal environments. However, there have been no large-scale applications of dispersants in deep water prior to the BP spill, so no data exists on the environmental fate of dispersants in deep water.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1986080/fate_of_dispersants_in_deepwater_horizon_oil_spill/
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May 10, 2010
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MMS ITL: Handling Oiled Wildlife
As part of the response efforts to the Deepwater Horizon incident, the MMS forwarded information regarding handling of oiled wildlife on behalf of the Unified Command located in Houma, Louisiana. Procedures involve contacting the Oiled and Injured Wildlife Hotline (1-866-557-1401) and providing location and contact information and providing temporary care of the wildlife.
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/regulate/regs/itls/100510.pdf
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NEPA Process and Categorical Exclusions
April 26, 2011
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Environmental Groups File Suits to Rescind Permits
Environmentalists urged a New Orleans appellate court today to require U.S. offshore-drilling regulators to enforce safeguards for wildlife and water quality that they claim were routinely ignored before last year's BP Plc (BP/) oil spill.
Lawyers representing the Sierra Club, the Gulf Restoration Network, the Center for Biological Diversity and other activist groups asked the court to force the Interior Department to rescind several deep-water drilling permits regulators approved last April, just before and after the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
The activists claim that five drilling permits were awarded last April without completion of the full environmental-impact assessments required by law.
The activist groups sued Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar and his agency seeking multiple changes to U.S. drilling regulations following the Deepwater Horizon disaster last April.
The environmental groups challenged the agency's actions directly at the appeals court, which is permitted under U.S. law. Related offshore-drilling policy lawsuits filed by some of the activist groups in lower federal courts were subsequently consolidated into the appellate actions. A three-judge appellate panel heard arguments on the challenges in back-to-back sessions today.
Government lawyers today urged the appeals court not to interfere with agency decisions that regulators made according to rules that were in place at the time the permits were granted. Regulators notified oil companies in November 2010 that the agency would beef up existing environmental-impact assessment requirements “to consider the implications of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,” government lawyer Ignacia Moreno said in a court filing.
“The petitioners' attempt to have this court rule that the agency should have started that process within days of the Deepwater Horizon initial explosion should be rejected,” Moreno said in the filing.
Environmentalists told the judges the agency's practice of using of so-called categorical exclusions, which let regulators arbitrarily exempt companies from fulfilling certain permit requirements, violated the law.
The lead cases are Gulf Restoration Network v. Salazar, 10- 60411, and Center for Biological Diversity v. Salazar, 10-60417, both in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (New Orleans).
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-26/u-s-must-safeguard-environment-in-ocean-drills-activists-urge-court.html
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March 29, 2011
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BOEMRE to Aggressively Recruit Environmental Scientists
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The BOEMRE today launched a focused, nationwide recruitment campaign to fill current and new environmental science positions at the agency.
“As we work to elevate the role of science in our decision-making, we must attract top-flight environmental scientists to conduct scientific studies, complete legally-mandated environmental reviews, and fill important positions in environmental compliance,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “These aggressive recruitment efforts underscore our seriousness about environmental issues and reflect our emphasis on science in decision-making.”
BOEMRE will be hiring environmental scientists in the coming months to do work in fields ranging from environmental studies to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review to environmental compliance – all of which are critical to the balanced development of offshore resources. As part of the bureau's ongoing re-organization, the role of environmental review and analysis will be strengthened through the creation of a first-ever Chief Environmental Officer, who will be responsible for ensuring that environmental concerns are appropriately balanced in leasing and planning decisions and for helping set the scientific agenda relative to our oceans. In addition, an important part of the reorganization involves the creation for the first time of a new environmental compliance and enforcement function.
Director Bromwich will visit 12 schools throughout April and early May as part of an ongoing agency initiative to recruit students from the nation's top colleges and universities for careers in public service. The Director will address undergraduate and graduate students, as well as meet with faculty members engaged in environmental science disciplines and environmental policy programs. He will also meet with students, faculty and researchers affiliated with BOEMRE's environmental studies program, which funds approximately $30 million per year for scientific studies in the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Arctic.
School visits during the week of April 4 will include: University of Washington, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Stanford University, University of California at Davis, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of California at Los Angeles, University of San Diego and University of California at San Diego. The Director will also make trips to Tulane University, Louisiana State University and Columbia University. Senior BOEMRE personnel will visit additional schools throughout April.
For more information, go to: http://www.boemre.gov/jobs/index.htm.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0329.htm
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January 03, 2011
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BOEMRE Provides Additional Clarity for Certain Activities Suspended under the Deepwater Moratorium
WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today notified 13 companies whose deepwater drilling activities were suspended by last year's deepwater drilling moratorium that they may be able to resume those previously-approved activities without the need to submit revised exploration or development plans for supplemental National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews. Before resuming those activities without additional NEPA review, however, the companies must comply with BOEMRE's new policies and regulations.
“Going forward, we are substantially enhancing our environmental reviews and analysis under NEPA,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “But as we move forward, we are taking into account the special circumstances of those companies whose operations were interrupted by the moratorium and ensuring that they are able to resume previously-approved activities. For those companies that were in the midst of operations at the time of the deepwater suspensions, today's notification is a significant step toward resuming their permitted activity.”
Today's notice lays out the steps these companies must take for previously-approved operations to restart. This includes compliance with new regulations and information requirements in Notices to Lessees (NTL) N06 and N10, and the Interim Final Safety Rule.
These operators will not be required to revise a previously submitted Exploration Plan or Development Operations Coordination Document (DOCD) if the worst-case discharge estimated for the project, as calculated pursuant to NTL-N06, is less than the worst-case discharge estimate included by the company in its Oil Spill Response Plan. However, if the worst-case discharge exceeds the Oil Spill Response Plan, further reviews will be conducted.
As described in guidance issued by BOEMRE on December 13, 2010, new exploration and development drilling operations must be conducted under new or revised plans subject to appropriate NEPA analysis (http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2010/press1213.htm).
The 13 companies that received today's notice are: ATP Oil & Gas Corp., BHP Billiton Petroleum (GOM) Inc., Chevron USA Inc., Cobalt International Energy, ENI U.S. Operating Company Inc., Hess Corp., Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp., Marathon Oil Company, Murphy Exploration & Production Company – USA, Noble Energy Inc., Shell Offshore Inc., Statoil USA E & P Inc., and Walter Oil & Gas Corp.
For more information on the new regulations, go to: http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/homepg/offshore/safety/well_permits.html
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0103a.htm
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November 23, 2010
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Council on Environmental Quality Issues Guidance to Help Ensure Integrity of NEPA
In an effort to help Federal Agencies ensure the integrity of their environmental reviews, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) today released final guidance on “Establishing, Applying and Revising Categorical Exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act [NEPA].” The guidance recommends best practices for appropriate use of categorical exclusions and was developed as part of CEQ's effort to modernize and reinvigorate Federal agency implementation of NEPA. It was designed to ensure that agencies establish and use categorical exclusions appropriately and transparently. It also calls on agencies to review their existing categorical exclusions periodically to avoid the use of outdated NEPA procedures.
For the full press release, see: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/Press_Releases/November_23_2010
Hyperlinked website contains the actual guidance document.
http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/current_developments/docs/NEPA_Categorical_Exclusion_Guidance_FINAL.pdf
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November 10, 2010
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BOEMRE Releases NOI for Environmental Impact Statement for Lease Sales
This Notice of Intent (NOI) is published pursuant to the regulations (40 CFR 1501.7) implementing the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (1988)).
The BOEMRE is announcing its intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for Western Planning Area (WPA) Lease Sale 218 and Central Planning Area (CPA) Lease Sale 222 in the 2007-2012 5-Year OCS Program. The proposed sales are in the Gulf of Mexico's WPA off the States of Texas and Louisiana and in the CPA off the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The SEIS will update the multiple environmental and socioeconomic analyses in previous Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales. Lease Sales 218 and 222 are proposed to be held in late 2011 or early 2012, before the end of the 2007-2012 5-Year OCS Program.
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-28355.htm
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November 04, 2010
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BOEMRE Continues Environmental Reviews in Gulf of Mexico
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) announced today that it will begin work on a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the remaining oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico scheduled in the 2007-2012 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Five-Year Plan. Today's announcement is one of many steps being taken to gain public input as BOEMRE assesses the environmental impact post-Deepwater Horizon.
“This SEIS is a vehicle for BOEMRE, other government scientists and the public to gather and consider new information obtained and analyzed as a result of the Deepwater Horizon blowout and spill. This SEIS is an important step in that process. As we move forward, we will continue to perform research and analysis on these important issues,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “These continued assessments will allow us to make objective, science-based decisions about the activities involved in offshore energy exploration, development and production.”
Environmental analyses conducted by BOEMRE and other federal government scientists are major components of the offshore oil and gas leasing process and is included in reviews of both pre-lease and post-lease activities. The Notice of Intent to Prepare a SEIS also announces the public scoping process, which will assist BOEMRE in determining the significant issues that need to be analyzed in the SEIS as well as possible alternatives to consider.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2010/press1104.htm
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August 16, 2010
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Categorical Exclusions for Gulf Offshore Activity to be Limited While Interior Reviews NEPA Process and Develops Revised Policy
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) Director Michael R. Bromwich today announced that the department will restrict its use of categorical exclusions for offshore oil and gas development to activities involving limited environmental risk, while it undertakes a comprehensive review of its National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) process and the use of categorical exclusions for exploration and drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf.
Director Bromwich and Secretary Salazar also announced that the Department of the Interior intends to conduct a new environmental analysis in the Gulf of Mexico that will help provide information to guide future leasing and development decisions. In the coming days, BOEM will publish a notice in the Federal Register of its intent to complete a supplemental environmental impact statement for the Gulf.
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/whatsnew/newsreal/2010/100816.pdf
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August 16, 2010
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Report Regarding the MMS's NEPA Policies, Practices, and Procedures
In this report, CEQ offers several recommendations to promote robust and transparent implementation of NEPA practices, procedures, and policies. These recommendations will help ensure that appropriate analysis is undertaken, so that decision-makers and the public have a complete picture of the environmental consequences. CEQ firmly believes that this complete picture is needed to adequately inform agency decisions. The recommended reforms are designed to provide a consistent, rigorous, and transparent approach to NEPA reviews and other environmental analyses. They call for efficient preparation and utilization of broad programmatic reviews, fully integrated with site-specific assessments and mitigation approaches.
The BOEM has committed to using the following CEQ recommendations as guideposts as it continues its reform and reorganization activities:
Tiering and Site-Specific Analysis
- Perform careful and comprehensive NEPA review of individual deepwater exploration, operation, development, production, and decommissioning activities, including site-specific information where appropriate.
- Track and take into account all mitigation commitments made in NEPA and decision documents that are relied upon in determining the significance of environmental impacts, from the initial Programmatic EIS through site-specific NEPA analyses and decisions.
Transparency, Public Accountability, and Sound Decision-making
- Ensure that NEPA analyses fully inform and align with substantive decisions at all relevant decision points; that subsequent analyses accurately reflect and carry forward relevant underlying data; and that those analyses will be fully available to the public.
- Ensure that NEPA documents provide decision-makers with a robust analysis of reasonably foreseeable impacts, including an analysis of reasonably foreseeable impacts associated with low probability catastrophic spills for oil and gas activities on the OCS.
Categorical Exclusions
- Review the use of categorical exclusions for OCS oil and gas exploration and development in light of the increasing levels of complexity and risk—and the consequent potential environmental impacts—associated with deepwater drilling. Determine whether to revise these categorical exclusions.
- Continue to seek amendments to the OCS Lands Act to eliminate the 30-day decisional timeframe for approval of submitted Exploration Plans.
Changed Circumstances
- Consider supplementing existing NEPA practices, procedures, and analyses to reflect changed assumptions and environmental conditions, due to circumstances surrounding the BP Oil Spill.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ceq/20100816-ceq-mms-ocs-nepa.pdf
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May 17, 2010
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Federal Register Notice - Review of MMS NEPA Policies, Practices, and Procedures for OCS Oil and Gas Exploration and Development
On May 17, 2010, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) informed the Department of the Interior (DOI) that CEQ was conducting a 30 day review National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) policies, practices, and procedures for the MMS decisions for OCS oil and gas exploration and development.
This review of MMS NEPA policies, practices and procedures is being conducted as a result of the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon well and drilling rig. The purpose of this review is to ascertain how MMS applies NEPA in its management of OCS oil and gas exploration and development and make recommendations for revisions. The scope of the review is intended to be holistic, i.e. from leasing decisions to drilling and production.
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-13111.pdf
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May 11, 2010
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Exploration Plan Timeline
The Obama Administration, in the oil spill response legislation it is submitting to Congress, is proposing to eliminate a 30-day congressionally-mandated deadline for the Minerals Management Service (MMS) to act on exploration plans that oil and gas companies submit. Changing this 30-day mandatory deadline to a 90-day timeline that can be further extended to complete environmental and safety reviews, as needed, would provide MMS more time to conduct additional environmental analysis on an exploration plan.
http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Salazar-Names-Senior-Interior-Officials-to-Lead-Minerals-Management-Service-Restructuring.cfm
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BOEM Publications (Rules / NTLs / ITLs)
April 19, 2011
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BOEMRE Completes Draft Supplemental EIS for Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale
NEW ORLEANS - The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) announced today the completion of a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for proposed oil and gas Lease Sale 218 in the Western Planning Area in the Gulf of Mexico. This draft SEIS updates the findings in several previously published EISs covering the Gulf of Mexico, as well as new analyses using the latest available information following the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill.
The Notice of Availability for the draft SEIS is available today for review in Federal Register: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/public-inspection/index.html. Included in the notice is information on how to submit comments and the schedule of public hearings on the draft SEIS. Comments will be used to prepare the Final SEIS for Sale 218.
Two public meetings will be held to give all interested parties an opportunity to comment on the draft SEIS. The meetings are scheduled as follows:
Houston, Texas: Tuesday, May 17, 2011, Houston Airport Marriott at George Bush Intercontinental, 18700 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77032, beginning at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. CDT.
New Orleans, Louisiana: Thursday, May 19, 2011, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, 1201, Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123, beginning at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. CDT.
Federal, state and local government agencies, and other interested parties are requested to send their comments on the SEIS no later than June 6, 2011, by email to WPA Supplemental EIS@boemre.gov or by mail addressed, “Comments on the WPA Draft SEIS,” to Gary D. Goeke, Chief, Environmental Assessment Section, Leasing and Environment (MS 5410), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0419b.htm
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March 28, 2011
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BOEMRE Issues Guidance for Offshore Deepwater Drillers to Comply with Safety and Containment Requirements
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today issued additional guidance summarizing and clarifying previously issued offshore deepwater drilling safety requirements. This guidance document also highlights BOEMRE's process for reviewing subsea containment plans for deepwater operations. The guidance contains no additional regulatory requirements, but instead provides clarifying information to assist the oil and gas industry in complying with existing regulations and guidance.
Director Bromwich and BOEMRE personnel have met regularly with multiple oil and gas operators and industry representatives to answer questions about new regulations, Notices to Lessees (NTL), and how the agency will apply National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements with respect to deepwater drilling operations. The issues addressed in the information document include compliance issues relating to: the Drilling Safety Rule (or Interim Final Rule) and NTL-10, as well as further information on BOEMRE's process for evaluating subsea containment information submitted by operators along with their permit applications.
The information document is available at: http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/pdfs/DeepwaterGuidanceSupplement.pdf.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0328.htm
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December 13, 2010
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BOEMRE Issues Guidance for Deepwater Drillers to Comply with Strengthened Safety and Environmental Standards
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today issued additional guidance regarding the steps required of operators to resume deepwater activity. This information contains no new or additional regulatory requirements, but instead provides additional information to assist the oil and gas industry in their efforts to comply with recently-issued rules and prior guidance.
Since Interior Secretary Ken Salazar lifted the deepwater drilling moratorium on October 12, 2010, BOEMRE has met with multiple oil and gas operators and industry representatives to help clarify and provide additional guidance about new regulations, Notices to Lessees (NTL), and how the agency will apply National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) requirements with respect to deepwater drilling operations. Today's guidance presents a clear path to move forward with the resumption of work in deepwater.
The issues addressed in the information document include compliance issues relating to: the Drilling Safety Rule (or Interim Final Rule), NTL-6 (including Worst Case Discharge calculations), and NTL-10, as well as further information on BOEMRE's inspections of BOP testing, Oil Spill Response Plans (OSRP), and the manner in which environmental assessments will be conducted for deepwater drilling plans.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/PDFs/DeepwaterDrillingComplianceInfo.pdf
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November 08, 2010
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Statement of Compliance with Applicable Regulations and Evaluation of Information Demonstrating Adequate Spill Response and Well Containment Resources
This NTL is issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 and applied only to operators conducting operations using subsea blowout preventers (BOPs) or surface BOPs on floating facilities. The NTL informs lessees and operators that a statement, signed by an authorized company official stating that the operator will conduct all authorized activities in compliance with all applicable regulations, including the Increased Safety Measures regulations (75 FR 63346), must be submitted with each application for a well permit. This NTL also informs lessees and operators that the BOEMRE will be evaluating whether each operator has submitted adequate information demonstrating that it has access to and can deploy containment resources that would be adequate to promptly respond to a blow-out or other loss of well control. This NTL clarifies, supplements, and provides more detail about existing regulations, including 30 CFR 250.101, 254.2 (b), 254.23, 254.24, 254.25, and 254.26(d). This NTL may be followed by a rulemaking setting forth additional requirements; however BOEMRE intends to process applications under existing regulations in the interim, as interpreted through this NTL.
http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/homepg/regulate/regs/ntls/2010NTLs/10-n10.pdf
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October 19, 2010
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Deep-Water Safety Rules Thrown Out by Federal Judge
Story By Margaret Cronin Fisk and Allen Johnson Jr. from Bloomberg news service; Link to the ruling by District Judge Martin Feldman is included at the bottom
The federal judge who overturned a moratorium on deep-water drilling threw out regulations issued after the BP Plc oil spill, saying the government failed to give proper notice for its rulemaking.
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans said today that the government was obliged to offer notice and accept comments on 10 new safety measures imposed on deep-water oil and gas operators in May. Feldman didn't address Interior Department rules, known collectively as NTL-05, when he struck down the moratorium in June.
“NTL-05 imposes additional duties on operators and lessees,” Feldman said. “Notice and comment were required by law. The government did not comply and the NTL-05 is of no lawful force or effect.”
The Obama Administration first banned deep-water drilling in May and issued new rules in July after Feldman threw out the original moratorium as too broad. Regulators lifted the second ban last week, while retaining the safety rules imposed in May.
Feldman issued today's ruling in a lawsuit challenging the second moratorium from July. The U.S. on Oct. 12 asked Feldman to dismiss this lawsuit, calling it irrelevant given the new policy. Feldman said he'd rule on the question after a Nov. 3 hearing.
The government is studying Feldman's ruling and has no immediate comment on it Wyn Hornbuckle, a Justice Department spokesman, said in a telephone interview today.
The case is Ensco Offshore Co. v. Salazar, 2:10-cv-01941, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans).
--With assistance from Laurel Brubaker Calkins in Houston. Editors: Fred Strasser, Stephen Farr
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-19/u-s-deep-water-safety-rules-on-oil-drilling-thrown-out-by-federal-judge.html
http://www.jccteam.com/Files/Feldman.pdf
http://www.jccteam.com/Files/Feldman.pdf
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October 15, 2010
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Oil and Gas and Sulphur Operations in the Outer Continental Shelf-Safety and Environmental Management Systems; Final Rule
This final rule establishes a new subpart under the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) regulations to require operators to develop and implement Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) for oil and gas and sulphur operations in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This rulemaking will incorporate in its entirety and make mandatory the American Petroleum Institute's Recommended Practice 75, Development of a Safety and Environmental Management Program for Offshore Operations and Facilities, with respect to operations and activities under the jurisdiction of BOEMRE. This final rule will apply to all OCS oil and gas and sulphur operations and the facilities under BOEMRE jurisdiction including drilling, production, construction, well workover, well completion, well servicing, and DOI pipeline activities. The importance of this final rule is highlighted by the Deepwater Horizon event on April 20, 2010. Although the cause of the event is presently under investigation, it further illustrates the importance of ensuring safe operations on the OCS. BOEMRE believes that requiring operators to implement SEMS will reduce the risk and number of accidents, injuries, and spills during OCS activities.
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-25665.htm
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October 14, 2010
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Oil and Gas and Sulphur Operations in the Outer Continental Shelf-Increased Safety Measures for Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf; Final Rule
This interim final rule implements certain safety measures recommended in the report entitled, "Increased Safety Measures for Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf'' (Safety Measures Report), dated May 27, 2010. The President directed the Department of the Interior to develop the Safety Measures Report to identify measures necessary to improve the safety of oil and gas exploration and development on the Outer Continental Shelf in light of the Deepwater Horizon event on April 20, 2010, and resulting oil spill. To implement the practices recommended in the Safety Measures Report, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement is amending drilling regulations related to well control, including: subsea and surface blowout preventers, well casing and cementing, secondary intervention, unplanned disconnects, recordkeeping, well completion, and well plugging.
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-25256.htm
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September 15, 2010
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Publicly Available API Exploratory & Production Safety Standards
To make Exploration and Production safety standards more readily available to the oil and gas producing sector to assist in improving safety performance, API has made the following documents available for free download:
- API HF1, Hydraulic Fracturing Operations-Well Construction and Integrity Guidelines, First Edition/October 2009
- API HF2, Water Management Associated with Hydraulic Fracturing, First Edition/June 2010
- RP 49, Recommended Practice for Drilling and Well Servicing Operations Involving Hydrogen Sulfide, 2nd Edition/May 2001/Reaffirmed, March 2007
- RP 51R, Environmental Protection for Onshore Oil and Gas Production Operations and Leases, First Edition/July 2009
- RP 54, Occupational Safety for Oil and Gas Well Drilling and Servicing Operations, 3rd Edition/August 1999/Reaffirmed, March 2007
- RP 55, Conducting Oil and Gas Producing and Gas Processing Plant Operations Involving Hydrogen Sulfide, 2nd Edition/February 15, 1995/Reaffirmed, March 2007
- RP 65-2, Isolating Potential Flow Zones During Well Construction, First Edition/May 2010
- RP 67, Recommended Practice for Oilfield Explosives Safety, 2nd Edition/May 2007
- RP 74, Occupational Safety for Onshore Oil and Gas Production Operations, 1st Edition/October 2001/Reaffirmed, March 2007
- RP 75, Development of a Safety and Environmental Management Program for Offshore Operations and Facilities, Third Edition/May 2004
- Bull 75L, Guidance Document for the Development of a Safety and Environmental Management System for Onshore Oil and Natural Gas Production Operations and Associated Activities, First Edition / November 2007
- RP 76, Contractor Safety Management for Oil and Gas Drilling and Production Operations, Second Edition / November 2007
For further information on these documents and to download, please see the website listed.
http://www.api.org/Standards/epstandards/index.cfm
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September 03, 2010
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Worst-Case Discharge Workshop
The document “Guidance for Complying with BOEM NTL No. 2010-N06 on Worst Case Discharge for Offshore Wells” was completed by the SPE Worst Case Discharge Committee and posted on the SPE website at http://www.spe.org/notes/2010/08/spe-develops-offshore-guidelines-on-worst-case-discharge/ for comment until September 3.
The presentations from the Aug. 26 meeting were an important contribution to the success of the Workshop. The available presentations are posted at http://otrc.tamu.edu/Report%20Downlads.html for downloading through September 8.
If you have any difficulties please contact Debbie Oakes at joakes@otrc.tamu.edu .
Attached are notes from the Bridging session held Thursday (8/26) morning.
http://otrc.tamu.edu/Report%20Downlads.html
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September 03, 2010
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NTL N05 Checklist
This Excel Spreadsheet contains three checklists being used by BOEM to review compliance with NTL 2010-N05. Please do not send this checklist with your permit, it should only be used as your internal checklist.
http://www.jccteam.com/Files/NTL_2010-N05_Checklist_Aug2010.xls
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July 21, 2010
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BOEMRE Issues Additional Updates to FAQ for NTL 2010-N06
The BOEMRE has added another page of questions and answers to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for NTL No. 2010-N06. Originally issued on June 26, 2010 this list was updated previously on July 15, 2010. Additional topics in this revision include inclusion of additional factors that support worst case discharge determinations (discussed in 30 CFR 254.47), a definition of "producible reservoir", examples of geologic evidence that might be submitted to support worst-case discharge scenarios, and additional details to be included regarding drilling a relief well.
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/regulate/regs/ntls/2010NTLs/10-n06-FAQs.pdf
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July 15, 2010
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BOEMRE Issues Updated FAQs for NTL No. 2010-N06
The BOEMRE has added 2 1/2 pages of questions and answers to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for NTL No. 2010-N06, originally issued on June 26, 2010. Additional topics include instructions for calculating daily discharge rates and further guidelines regarding the submittal of assumptions made and calculations used to determine WCD volume. This FAQ also addresses the presence of restrictions in the wellbore, consideration of the BOP and gives further instructions for submittal of data required by NTL 2010-N06.
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/regulate/regs/ntls/2010NTLs/10-n06-FAQs.pdf
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July 09, 2010
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BOEMRE Issues Updated FAQ Regarding NTL 2010-N05
On June 18, 2010, the Notice to Lessees (NTL) 2010-N05 was issued. In an effort to answer questions concerning this NTL, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement has developed and posted an updated list with more “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).” The FAQs information sheet can be found at the following link:
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/regulate/regs/ntls/ntl_lst.html
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June 26, 2010
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BOEMRE ITL: FAQ Regarding NTL 2010-N06
On June 18, 2010, the Notice to Lessees (NTL) 2010-N06 was issued. In an effort to answer questions concerning this NTL, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement has developed and posted answers to a list of “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).” The FAQs information sheet can be found at the following link:
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/regulate/regs/ntls/ntl_lst.html
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June 26, 2010
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BOEMRE ITL: FAQ Regarding NTL 2010-N05
On June 8, 2010, the Notice to Lessees (NTL) 2010-N05 was issued. In an effort to answer questions concerning this NTL, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement has developed and posted answers to a list of “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).” The FAQs information sheet can be found at the following link:
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/regulate/regs/ntls/ntl_lst.html
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June 18, 2010
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MMS NTL 2010-N06: Additional Information Requirements for EPs, DPPs and DOCDs
The purpose of this NTL is to rescind the limitations set forth in NTL 2008-G04 regarding a blowout scenario and worst case discharge scenario and to provide national guidance to Lessees and Operators regarding the content of the information the MMS requires in your blowout scenario and worst case discharge scenario descriptions.
This NTL does not apply to your plan if the only activity you wish to conduct under your plan is under an APD that was approved by MMS prior to the date hereof, except that deepwater activities under an approved APD that are subject to the suspensions ordered to implement the drilling moratorium imposed on May 29, 2010 are also subject to the information requirements in this NTL.
Pursuant to this NTL, you must submit the following information with your new EP, DPP or DOCD, or as a supplement to your previously submitted plan:
- A blowout scenario as required by 30 CFR 250.213(g) and 250.243(h). Provide a scenario for the potential blowout of the proposed well in your plan or document that you expect will have the highest volume of liquid hydrocarbons. Include the estimated flow rate, total volume, and maximum duration of the potential blowout. Discuss the potential for the well to bridge over, the likelihood for surface intervention to stop the blowout, the availability of a rig to drill a relief well and rig package constraints. Specify as accurately as possible the time it would take to contract for a rig, move it onsite, and drill a relief well, including the possibility of drilling a relief well from a neighboring platform or an onshore location.
- Describe the assumptions and calculations that used to determine the volume (daily discharge rate) of your worst case discharge scenario required by 30 CFR 250.219(a)(2)(iv) (for EPs) or 30 CFR 250.250(a)(2)(iv) (for DPPs and DOCDs). Provide all assumptions you made concerning the well design, reservoir characteristics, fluid characteristics and pressure volume temperature (PVT) characteristics; any analog reservoirs you considered in making those assumptions; an explanation of your reasons for using those analog reservoirs and the supporting calculations and models you used to determine the daily discharge rate possible from the uncontrolled blowout portion of you worst case discharge scenario for both your proposed or approved EP, DPP or DOCD worst-case discharge scenario and your proposed or approved regional Oil Spill Response Plan (OSRP) worst-case discharge scenario used in your comparison.
- Describe the measures you propose that would enhance your ability to prevent a blowout, to reduce the likelihood of a blowout, and conduct effective and early intervention in the event of a blowout, including your arrangements for drilling relief wells, and any other measures you propose.
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/regulate/regs/ntls/2010NTLs/10-n06.pdf
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June 08, 2010
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MMS NTL 2010-N05: New Safety Rules
A new NTL issued today by the MMS implements certain safety measures outlined in the report entitled "Increased Safety Measures for Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf", dated May 27, 2010. The President requested that the Department of the Interior develop this report as a result of the Deepwater Horizon incident.
On June 2, 2010, the Secretary of the Interior directed the MMS Director to adopt the recommendations contained in the Safety Measures Report and to implement them as soon as possible.
This NTL addresses recommendations of the Safety Measures Report that warrant immediate implementation, identifying specific recommendations from the Report and providing guidance to lessees and operators on the requirements they must meet. These recommendations apply to all activities on the OCS, including deepwater activity suspended under the Notice to Lessees to Implement the Presidential Directive to Impose a Moratorium on all New Deepwater Wells (NTL No. 2010-N04 - Moratorium NTL), and shallow water operations (under 500 feet in depth).
http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=34536
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May 30, 2010
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MMS NTL 2010-N04: Drilling Moratorium
The Six-Month Deepwater Moratorium as set forth in this Notice to Lessees and Operators (“Moratorium NTL”) directs you to cease drilling all new deepwater wells, including any wellbore sidetracks and bypasses; prohibits you from spudding any new deepwater wells; and puts you on notice that, except as provided herein, MMS will not consider for six months from the date of this Moratorium NTL drilling permits for deepwater wells and for related activities as set forth herein. For the purposes of this Moratorium NTL, “deepwater” means depths greater than 500 feet.
http://www.mms.gov/ntls/PDFs/MORATORIUM_NTL.pdf
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May 10, 2010
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MMS ITL: Handling Oiled Wildlife
As part of the response efforts to the Deepwater Horizon incident, the MMS forwarded information regarding handling of oiled wildlife on behalf of the Unified Command located in Houma, Louisiana. Procedures involve contacting the Oiled and Injured Wildlife Hotline (1-866-557-1401) and providing location and contact information and providing temporary care of the wildlife.
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/regulate/regs/itls/100510.pdf
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April 30, 2010
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MMS ITL: Reporting Evacuations and Shut-Ins
As part of the response efforts to the Deepwater Horizon incident, the MMS forwarded information regarding reporting requirements for evacuated production or drilling activities and curtailed production and/or resumed production due to the Deepwater Horizon incident.
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/regulate/regs/itls/ITL_evacuation_and_shut_in_information.pdf
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April 30, 2010
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Safety Alert on the Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Fire Resulting in Multiple Fatalities and Release of Oil
On April 20, 2010, a loss of well control occurred and resulted in an explosion and fire on the Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Deepwater Horizon. Eleven lives were lost in this incident and the MODU subsequently sank. As of the date of this safety alert the well has not been secured, and the resulting release of oil has been declared a spill of national significance with oil threatening sensitive coastlines and resources in the Gulf of Mexico.
At the time of the accident, the Deepwater Horizon was operating 52 miles from shore in 4,992 feet of water with a subsea BOP stack. After the Deepwater Horizon sank, ROV's confirmed that the riser was bent over and still attached to the BOP and that oil is flowing from leaks in the riser above the BOP. Numerous attempts to actuate the BOP have failed.
While the exact causes of this event are now under investigation, the tragic nature of this accident compels operators and drilling contractors to inspect their drilling equipment and review their procedures to ensure the safety of personnel and protection of the environment.
Therefore, MMS and the USCG issue the following safety recommendations to operators and drilling contractors:
1. Examine all well control equipment (both surface and subsea) currently being used to ensure that it has been properly maintained and is capable of shutting in the well during emergency operations. Ensure that the ROV hot-stabs are function-tested and are capable of actuating the BOP.
2. Review all rig drilling/casing/completion practices to ensure that well control contingencies are not compromised at any point while the BOP is installed on the wellhead.
3. Review all emergency shutdown and dynamic positioning procedures that interface with emergency well control operations.
4. Inspect lifesaving and firefighting equipment for compliance with federal requirements.
5. Ensure that all crew members are familiar with emergency/firefighting equipment, as well as participate in an abandon ship drill. Operators are reminded that the review of emergency equipment and drills should be conducted after each crew change out.
6. Exercise emergency power equipment to ensure proper operation.
7. Ensure that all personnel involved in well operations are properly trained and capable of performing their tasks under both normal drilling and emergency well control operations.
Both MMS and the USCG are conducting a joint investigation of the Deepwater Horizon accident. The findings and lessons learned will be documented in a report that will be made public as soon as possible.
For additional information contact Ms. Melinda Mayes (MMS – 703-787-1063) or Mr. Eric Christensen (USCG – 202-372-1210). For other Safety Alerts issued for OCS oil and gas activities, go to the MMS web site at http://www.mms.gov/safetyalerts/
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BOEM Restructuring
September 13, 2011
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BOEMRE Director Delivers Final Speech Before Agency Reorganization
BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich delivered remarks today at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Energy and National Security Program.
Director Bromwich detailed the reorganization of the former Minerals Management Service and the creation of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement on October 1, 2011. Director Bromwich discussed the tremendous work of the bureau to reform the federal offshore energy regulatory structure while at the same time continuing to fulfill its responsibility to oversee the safe and environmentally responsible development of the nation's offshore energy resources.
Director Bromwich's remarks, as prepared for delivery, are available via the website listed above.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0913.htm
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August 22, 2011
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Technical Workshop Regarding BOEMRE Reorganization
As you know, during the past fourteen months we have implemented necessary and urgent reforms in the offshore oil and gas regulatory system. Now, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) is poised to complete the structural reorganization of the former Minerals Management Service (MMS). On October 1, 2011, BOEMRE will be replaced by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).
BOEM will be responsible for managing the exploration and development of the nation's offshore resources in a way that appropriately balances economic development, energy independence and environmental protection. BSEE will be responsible for the enforcement of federal safety and environmental regulations pertaining to offshore energy development.
Throughout the reorganization process, our goal has been to effectively separate the multiple missions of the former MMS with minimal disruption to operations. We also want to make the transition to these two new bureaus as seamless and transparent as possible. It is with this goal in mind that I invite you to send a technical expert to participate in a workshop in New Orleans on September 19, in which our staff will discuss the new organizational structure and functions, as well as the steps we have taken to ensure a continuity of operations. We will also offer breakout discussions to walk through the details of how BOEM and BSEE will handle processes that involve both bureaus, including exploration and development plans and permits, enforcement and inspections, and environmental review, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.
Because space is limited, we ask that only technical staff attend this closed-press event.
Details regarding our September 19 meeting follow. Please RSVP to frances.shepherd@boemre.gov no later than Friday, September 9 with the name, email address, and title of your organization's technical expert who wishes to attend. Note: Attendees have the option to attend two breakout sessions during the workshop. Please indicate which two topic areas your representative prefers with your RSVP. We will confirm workshop assignments by Friday, September 16.
Very truly yours,
Michael R. Bromwich
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July 25, 2011
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Republican Unveils Offshore Drilling Oversight Plan
A leading House Republican today unveiled his plans for reorganizing the federal agencies that oversee offshore energy operations and beefing up the credentials of the government inspectors that police them.
The proposal, by Rep. Doc Hastings, the head of the House Natural Resources Committee, dovetails with changes the Obama administration launched in the wake of last year's Gulf oil spill.
Hastings said the spill made clear “that changes need to be made to the organization and structure of the federal government's offshore energy agencies.”
“Reforms must increase accountability, improve efficiency, promote safety and ensure the highest ethical standards of employees,” said Hastings, R-Wash.
Many of the changes that Hastings proposes are happening already, according to an administration official. And the core of Hastings' plan mirrors the overhaul the Obama administration is set to complete on Oct. 1, by dividing the former Minerals Management Service into three separate agencies.
Administration officials have asked Congress to pass legislation that would write the still-ongoing overhaul into federal law. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee debated legislation last week that would formalize the now-administrative organizational changes.
Hastings said it is important for Congress to put its stamp on the overhaul.
“The Department of the Interior has already taken steps to restructure its organization overseeing offshore energy,” Hastings acknowledged. “While the department has made progress, I believe Congress should pass legislation building on their reforms and write into law the structure of these agencies.”
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/07/25/republican-unveils-offshore-drilling-oversight-plan/
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May 06, 2011
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BOEMRE Seeking Senior Executives for New Bureaus
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today announced it is seeking to fill five senior executive positions for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), the two new bureaus that will replace the former Minerals Management Service (MMS).
The positions will be filled over the next several months, so that the executive leadership teams for both BOEM and BSEE will be in place to ensure a smooth transition when the bureaus commence separate operations on Oct. 1, 2011.
The positions announced today are:
- Chief Environmental Officer, BOEM, Headquarters
- Strategic Resources Chief, BOEM, Headquarters
- Regulatory Programs Chief, BSEE, Headquarters
- Deputy Director, BSEE, Headquarters
- Regional Director, BOEM, Gulf of Mexico Region
BOEM will be responsible for managing the development of the nation's offshore resources in an environmentally and economically responsible manner. The functions of BOEM will include leasing, environmental science, environmental analysis and assessment, resource evaluation, economic analysis, renewable energy, and plan administration.
BSEE will be responsible for regulatory, safety, environmental and conservation compliance for the development of the nation's offshore oil and gas and renewable energy resources. The functions of BSEE will include regulation, enforcement, permitting, inspections, safety management, environmental compliance and enforcement, and oil spill response.
To find out how to apply for these positions and to learn more about other career opportunities, please visit:
http://www.boemre.gov/jobs.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0506.htm
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May 02, 2011
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BOEMRE Director Discusses Future of U.S. Offshore Oil and Gas Development at OTC
Houston, Texas- BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich delivered remarks today at the 2011 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas.
OTC is an international event, bringing together experts from around the world focusing on the development of offshore resources in the fields of drilling, exploration, production and environmental protection.
Director Bromwich discussed the path forward for United States (U.S.) regulation of offshore oil and gas development, outlining the new offshore organizational and regulatory framework.
Director Bromwich's remarks, as prepared for delivery, are available via the link included within this posting.
In his speech, Bromwich discussed the work BOEMRE has done in the past year to re-shape regulation of offshore oil and gas development for the future. He also identified two new major developments relating to the way BOEMRE provides information to and regulates entities that operate offshore:
- In the coming weeks, BOEMRE will be issuing recommended procedures for submitting Applications for Permits to Drill (APDs), which can be adopted by operators on a voluntary basis and will be designed to assist them in complying with new regulations and to assist BOEMRE in processing APDs more rapidly. The guiding principles will be greater clarity, transparency and consistency in the permitting process.
- Second, BOEMRE has concluded that it has broad legal authority over all activities relating to offshore leases, whether it engaged in by lessees, operators, or contractors. The agency can exercise such authority as it deems appropriate to fully preserve the principle of holding operators fully responsible -- and in most cases solely responsible -- without sacrificing the ability to pursue regulatory actions against contractors for serious violations of agency rules and regulations.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0502a.htm
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May 02, 2011
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Offshore Regulators Will Extend Their Reach: Service Providers, Others Fall Under Federal Oversight
The federal agency that polices offshore drilling historically has focused on oil and gas companies, but it will begin extending its regulatory reach to services firms, drilling rig suppliers and other contractors, an Obama administration official said Monday in Houston.
The change could mean fines and other penalties for contractors that engage in "egregious" behavior as part of their work on projects in federal waters leased for oil and gas development, said Michael Bromwich, the head of the BOEMRE.
He spoke on opening day of the Offshore Technology Conference at Reliant Park.
Bromwich stressed the move wouldn't upset the longstanding principle that oil and gas companies are "fully liable for things that go wrong" offshore.
"There is a virtue in the clarity that we've had historically in being able to go directly against the operators even when it relates to contractors, but there are at least a small number of cases where we want to be able to go against contractors," Bromwich said.
"Certainly in at least some cases, where the behavior of non-operators — that is, contractors - is egregious enough, we need to have the ability to move directly to enforcement actions, through the assessment of civil fines and through the other regulatory tools that we have."
Bromwich said an internal review of current laws concluded that the agency already has "broad legal authority over all activities relating to offshore leases, whether it is engaged in by lessees, operators or contractors."
Oil and gas industry leaders said Bromwich's remarks left questions unanswered.
Randall Luthi, the head of the National Offshore Industries Association, said it's unclear how the ocean energy bureau will assert its authority - especially given that its resources are already strained.
"Once you shift from just regulating the operators to the contractors, the universe could be huge," Luthi said. "We've got an agency that - according to every report we've read in the last year - is chronically underfunded and doesn't have the personnel to do what they were designed to do. And just as funding starts to come in, there is what looks like a push to do more."
Lee Hunt, president of the International Association of Drilling Contractors, said it also isn't clear how the ocean energy bureau will coordinate its work with existing offshore regulation by other federal agencies.
For instance, the Coast Guard oversees mobile drilling rigs and ships that operate in U.S. waters. And the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has authority over some platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
Industry representatives also voiced concern the bureau's expanded reach could mean more red tape for offshore drilling.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7547612.html
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April 27, 2011
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BOEMRE to Hire Regional Leadership for New Bureau
WASHINGTON - The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today announced its search to fill two senior leadership positions for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), one of the two new bureaus being created as part of the reorganization of the former Minerals Management Service.
The positions to be filled are the Regional Directors for the Pacific Region and Alaska Region offices, located in Camarillo, Calif., and Anchorage, Alaska, respectively.
"The people occupying these senior positions will have the responsibility for managing and directing all regulatory and enforcement programs related to safe and environmentally sound offshore energy development," said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. "We are looking for capable leaders and experienced managers who are committed to ensuring the highest level of safety and environmental standards."
The individuals selected will be responsible for the overall safety and environmental enforcement programs for the Pacific and Alaska regions as well as overseeing the work of BSEE employees assigned to their region.
The process of filling senior positions is being launched now to ensure a smooth transition from BOEMRE to the two new bureaus, BSEE and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The new bureaus will begin operations at the beginning of the next fiscal year, Oct.1.
To find out how to apply for these positions and to learn more about other career opportunities in BOEMRE, go to: http://www.boemre.gov/jobs.
To find additional information on the transition of BOEMRE to BSEE and BOEM, go to: http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=119590.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0427.htm
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April 19, 2011
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BOEMRE Director Discusses Future of Offshore Oil and Gas Development at Gulf Oil Spill Series
WASHINGTON – Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Director Michael R. Bromwich delivered remarks today at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Gulf Oil Spill Series in Washington, D.C.
Director Bromwich discussed lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill, ongoing regulatory reform efforts, and the reorganization of the former Minerals Management Service.
Director Bromwich's remarks, as prepared for delivery, are available from the website listed.
Bromwich identified nine key elements of his vision for the future of offshore oil and gas development. These are as follows:
- First, a well-funded and resourced offshore safety regulator that closely evaluates the relevant risks associated with offshore drilling and other energy development activities in designing its regulations and compliance and enforcement programs. This includes the development of more sophisticated metrics for measuring risk, and designing programs for evaluating those risks and assessing whether industry is managing those risks appropriately.
- Second, industry performance standards, particularly for the highest risk operations in deepwater and challenging areas such as the Arctic, that cause operators to engage in rigorous and deeply self-critical evaluation of the hazards posed by their operations and the measures implemented to address those hazards.
- Third, a regulatory agency that has the tools and the resources – both technological and human – to hold all players involved in drilling and production activity in the nation's oceans to high standards and, if there are safety or environmental violations, or an accident, holds all responsible parties accountable. This includes not only those companies that operate leases, the traditional subjects of agency regulation and enforcement, but their contractors and service providers such as the owners of drilling rigs as well.
- Fourth, enduring institutions that spur continued government and industry focus on and innovation in the areas of risk assessment, technological advances in safety equipment, and emergency response equipment, and further improvements in the effectiveness and availability of subsea containment resources, and oil spill response systems and coordination.
- Fifth, a resource management agency that develops and takes advantage of all available scientific information and analysis to support balanced decision making with respect to the environmental risks and economic benefits of offshore resource development.
- Sixth, a regulatory system that is effective in striking appropriate balances and ensuring energy development is conducted safely and in an environmentally responsible manner, and is also more efficient, transparent and responsive.
- Seventh, a leasing and revenue generation system that encourages the active development of the nation's natural resources made available to industry to provide for the country's energy needs.
- Eighth, a set of common principles and standards by which companies drilling and producing in the oceans govern their conduct, regardless of where in the world they are operating.
- And finally, an ocean energy program that includes not only the development of oil and gas resources, but also the aggressive and responsible development of renewable energy sources. The long-term solution to meeting the nation's energy needs must include power derived from clean and renewable sources such as offshore wind.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0419.htm
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April 12, 2011
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Ocean Energy Bureau Gets Rare Spending Boost in Budget Deal
Although Congress agreed to cut nearly $40 billion from non-defense spending on the federal government through the end of September, one agency was spared any slashing: the bureau that oversees offshore drilling.
According to the just-released legislation that would keep the government running through Sept. 30, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement is slated to get $42 million more in the current fiscal year than it did in fiscal 2010. That includes an additional $5 million for oil spill research and related issues, as well as a $10 million boost the agency secured earlier.
The increased spending — about half of the extra money the agency had sought for this fiscal year — comes as administration officials have warned that the bureau was already strained before last year's spill and is now further taxed in vetting offshore drilling applications that must meet an array of new safety and environmental mandates imposed after the disaster.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Bureau Director Michael Bromwich also have stressed that they need more permitting personnel to speed up the process of reviewing drilling applications.
“If we don't get the horsepower to be able to process permits under what is now a greater degree of scrutiny, we may never return to the pre-Macondo rate of permitting,” Salazar told reporters earlier this year. “If we get resources and can move forward with the robustness of this agency there is a lot of work to be done.”
The presidential commission that investigated the Deepwater Horizon disaster described the agency as chronically starved for resources and insisted that it needs more money to conduct necessary inspections and stay on top of quickly evolving and advancing offshore technology.
“There are additional capacity questions that need to be filled at the Interior Department,” said Frances Beinecke, the president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, and a member of the presidential spill panel. “They have to have the people and the resources to provide the oversight. They are still starved, and Congress hasn't acted.”
The new spending boost lasts until Sept. 30, when fiscal 2011 ends. A bigger congressional battle looms over government spending for fiscal 2012, which begins on Oct. 1.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/04/12/ocean-energy-bureau-gets-rare-spending-boost-in-budget-deal/
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March 29, 2011
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BOEMRE to Aggressively Recruit Environmental Scientists
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The BOEMRE today launched a focused, nationwide recruitment campaign to fill current and new environmental science positions at the agency.
“As we work to elevate the role of science in our decision-making, we must attract top-flight environmental scientists to conduct scientific studies, complete legally-mandated environmental reviews, and fill important positions in environmental compliance,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “These aggressive recruitment efforts underscore our seriousness about environmental issues and reflect our emphasis on science in decision-making.”
BOEMRE will be hiring environmental scientists in the coming months to do work in fields ranging from environmental studies to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review to environmental compliance – all of which are critical to the balanced development of offshore resources. As part of the bureau's ongoing re-organization, the role of environmental review and analysis will be strengthened through the creation of a first-ever Chief Environmental Officer, who will be responsible for ensuring that environmental concerns are appropriately balanced in leasing and planning decisions and for helping set the scientific agenda relative to our oceans. In addition, an important part of the reorganization involves the creation for the first time of a new environmental compliance and enforcement function.
Director Bromwich will visit 12 schools throughout April and early May as part of an ongoing agency initiative to recruit students from the nation's top colleges and universities for careers in public service. The Director will address undergraduate and graduate students, as well as meet with faculty members engaged in environmental science disciplines and environmental policy programs. He will also meet with students, faculty and researchers affiliated with BOEMRE's environmental studies program, which funds approximately $30 million per year for scientific studies in the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Arctic.
School visits during the week of April 4 will include: University of Washington, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Stanford University, University of California at Davis, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of California at Los Angeles, University of San Diego and University of California at San Diego. The Director will also make trips to Tulane University, Louisiana State University and Columbia University. Senior BOEMRE personnel will visit additional schools throughout April.
For more information, go to: http://www.boemre.gov/jobs/index.htm.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0329.htm
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February 14, 2011
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President's FY 2012 Budget Includes $358.4 Million for BOEMRE Reorganization, Reforms and New Fees for Drillers
WASHINGTON, DC – President Barack Obama today announced his request for $358.4 million to fund the BOEMRE in fiscal year 2012. This represents a $119.3 million, or 50 percent, increase above the 2010 enacted level, after adjusting for funding transferred to the Office of the Secretary as part of the ongoing reorganization of the former MMS. The budget is designed to implement critical organizational and regulatory reforms in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, so that domestic offshore energy resources are developed in a safe and responsible manner.
The additional resources requested would be used to complete the reorganization of BOEMRE, separating the offshore resource management and enforcement programs; hire new oil and gas inspectors, engineers, scientists and other key staff to oversee industry operations; conduct detailed engineering reviews of offshore drilling and production safety systems, and develop new risk-based inspections and safety oversight strategies, including the establishment of real-time monitoring of key drilling activities; and implement more aggressive reviews of company oil spill response plans. Additional resources will also facilitate the timely review of offshore oil and gas permits.
Funding increases would be partially offset by $65 million in inspection fees charged to industry, an increase of $55 million over 2010 enacted levels. The fees will also apply to offshore drilling rigs for the first time. The President's Commission specifically recommended the use of industry fees in its final report so that “[r]egulation of the oil and gas industry would no longer be funded by taxpayers but instead by the industry that is being permitted to have access to a publicly-owned resource.”
The request includes a total of $23.1 million for the renewable energy program. The request will advance development of the nation's abundant renewable energy resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This part of the request underscores the Administration's commitment to transitioning toward clean energy sources and reducing the nation's dependence upon fossil fuels.
The President's request will also ensure a smooth transition with minimal disruption to ongoing operations as the BOEMRE reorganization proceeds. MMS was renamed BOEMRE in June 2010 to more accurately describe the scope of the organization's oversight responsibilities. Pursuant to a Secretarial Order, the functions of the former MMS are being split among three separate, independent entities. On October 1, 2010, the revenue management function of the former MMS became the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR). Funding for ONRR is now reflected in the budget request for the Office of the Secretary. The request assumes that $122.1 million in base funding from BOEMRE is transferred to the Office of the Secretary for ONRR revenue management activities.
In 2011, the remaining BOEMRE functions will be split into two bureaus: the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which will handle the leasing and environmental management functions of BOEMRE, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which will be responsible for the safety and enforcement functions of BOEMRE. This reorganization will be implemented on October 1, 2011, and will separate the inherently conflicting missions of resource development and enforcement. These reforms will lead to enhanced regulatory oversight and greater effectiveness in the management of the nation's offshore energy resources.
In FY 2012, the Coastal Impact Assistance Program will be transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service, enabling BOEM and BSEE to focus on programs more directly aligned with their missions.
For details on the re-organization, go to: http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=119590
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0214.htm
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January 19, 2011
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Salazar, Bromwich Announce Next Steps in Overhaul of Offshore Energy Oversight and Management
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Director Michael R. Bromwich today announced the structures and responsibilities of two new, independent agencies that will carry out the offshore energy management and enforcement functions once assigned to the former Minerals Management Service (MMS).
Salazar and Bromwich also announced that they are establishing a permanent advisory body through which the nation's leading scientific, engineering, and technical experts will provide input on improving offshore drilling safety, well containment, and spill response. Secretary Salazar has asked former Sandia National Laboratory Director Tom Hunter to lead the body, which will be called the Offshore Energy Safety Advisory Committee (Safety Committee).
Secretary Salazar and Director Bromwich today detailed the structure of the two bureaus that will separately house: 1) the resource development and energy management functions of BOEMRE, and 2) the safety and enforcement functions of BOEMRE.
The new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will be responsible for managing development of the nation's offshore resources in an environmentally and economically responsible way. Functions will include: Leasing, Plan Administration, Environmental Studies, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Analysis, Resource Evaluation, Economic Analysis and the Renewable Energy Program.
The new Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) will enforce safety and environmental regulations. Functions will include: All field operations including Permitting and Research, Inspections, Offshore Regulatory Programs, Oil Spill Response, and newly formed Training and Environmental Compliance functions.
Secretary Salazar and Director Bromwich said that the reforms announced today strengthen the role of environmental review and analysis in both BSEE and BOEM through various structural and organizational mechanisms, including:
•The creation of a first-ever Chief Environmental Officer in BOEM;
•Separating Environmental reviews from Leasing in the regions in BOEM;
•The development of a new Environmental Compliance and enforcement function in BSEE; and
•More prominent Oil Spill Response Plan review and enforcement in BSEE.
The Department plans to have the re-organization fully implemented by October 1, 2011.
See the following link for Salazar's speech from the National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Salazar's speech
http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Salazar-Bromwich-Announce-Next-Steps-In-Overhaul-of-Offshore-Energy-Oversight-and-Management.cfm
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January 13, 2011
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BOEMRE Director Discusses Strengthened Oversight at Gulf Oil Spill Series
WASHINGTON —Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director Michael R. Bromwich delivered remarks today at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Gulf Oil Spill Series in Washington, D.C.
Director Bromwich discussed lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon blowout and spill, ongoing regulatory reform efforts, and the reorganization of the former Minerals Management Service.
Director Bromwich's remarks, as prepared for delivery, can be found at the following website: http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0113.htm
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0113.htm
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December 08, 2010
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BOEMRE Director Makes Case for Regulatory Reform at Oil and Gas Law Conference
Today, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director Michael R. Bromwich delivered the keynote address at the First International Offshore Oil & Gas Law Conference in New Orleans, La.
Director Bromwich discussed lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon blowout and spill, ongoing regulatory reform efforts, the reorganization of the former Minerals Management Service and the guidance document that is being prepared which is intended to be a comprehensive description of the “way forward” for permitting in deepwater.
For a full read out of Director Bromwich's remarks, please see the link provided.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2010/press1208.htm
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December 07, 2010
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Salazar: IG Report Affirms Direction, Urgency of Interior's Offshore Energy Oversight Reform Agenda
A report delivered today by the Department of the Interior's Inspector General (IG) elaborates on the review and analysis of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Safety Oversight Board and identifies many of the issues that lie at the center of ongoing offshore oil and gas oversight reforms already being carried out by Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Director Michael R. Bromwich, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said today.
In a memo to Secretary Salazar accompanying today's IG report, Acting Inspector General Mary Kendall writes that: “this report does not raise any new issues; rather it expounds upon those issues identified in summary fashion in the Safety Oversight Board report.”
In her memo, Acting IG Kendall also notes that the findings contained in the report are based on information gathered before August, 2010 and that the IG “recognize(s) that many of the recommendations contained in this report are already being addressed by BOEMRE; we commend BOEMRE for the seriousness with which it took the recommendations and the dispatch with which it is acting upon them.”
http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/IG-Report-Affirms-Direction-Urgency-of-Interiors-Offshore-Energy-Oversight-Agenda.cfm
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November 09, 2010
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BOEMRE Director Testifies Before the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Washington, DC – Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Director Michael R. Bromwich testified today for the third time before the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. Today's testimony focused on the efforts currently underway by BOEMRE to improve existing programs and correct historical deficiencies in the regulation of offshore oil and gas drilling. Director Bromwich's Statement for the Record is available at the following web address: http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2010/press1109.htm
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2010/press1109.htm
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November 03, 2010
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Bromwich Blog: Criticizing the Inspectors
The following blog entry from Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director Michael R. Bromwich, was posted at http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/11/03/criticizing-inspectors.
The federal employees responsible for conducting inspections on offshore rigs, platforms and other facilities associated with offshore drilling have been subjected to waves of criticism over the past several months. Some of that criticism has been fair, as when it focused on the selfish and corrupt acts of a few inspectors; but much of it has been misguided and unfair because it has been based on flawed assumptions and incomplete or inaccurate facts.
Regrettably, this second type of criticism has recently found its way to mainstream media outlets whose coverage has previously generally been reasonable and balanced. In an editorial dated October 28, the New Orleans Time-Picayune made the sweeping assertions that "government inspectors know little or nothing about crucial rig operations," that "inspectors likely were unable to identify problems because they did not understand how some important drilling processes worked," and that this was a farcical case of "the hens not even knowing how to recognize an egg."
These statements substituted rhetoric for factual accuracy and provided an extremely misleading picture of the roles of offshore drilling inspectors and more generally of the process by which our agency monitors and regulates offshore drilling. The coverage suggested that the inspectors are ignorant about rigs, derelict in their duties, and failed to perform their jobs. That is both wrong and unfair.
Director Michael R. Bromwich continues with the facts surrounding inspectors. Please see the link provided for the entire blog entry including these facts.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2010/press1103.htm
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September 08, 2010
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Salazar: OCS Safety Board Report a “Blueprint” for Next Steps on Internal Reforms of Offshore Energy Oversight
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that a team led by senior officials in the Department of the Interior, including Interior's Inspector General, have completed a review of offshore oil and gas oversight and regulation and have delivered a set of recommendations that reinforce and expand on ongoing reforms being carried out by Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Director Michael R. Bromwich.
The report of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Safety Oversight Board, which Secretary Salazar established immediately following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig, provides recommendations to strengthen permitting, inspections, enforcement and environmental stewardship. Director Bromwich announced today that BOEMRE has developed an implementation plan for the recommendations, many of which are already underway or planned.
The OCS Safety Oversight Board Report is online at http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=43677
The BOEM Implementation Plan is online at http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=43676 and http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=43879
http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Salazar-OCS-Safety-Board-Report-a-Blueprint-for-Next-Steps-on-Internal-Reforms-of-Offshore-Energy-Oversight.cfm
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August 24, 2010
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BOEM Points of Contact for Shallow Water Permitting and Plans
In a recent email to industry, Lars Herbst, BOEM Regional Director for Gulf of Mexico Region, announced a change in the format for communications on permit status and answering compliance questions related to NTL N05, NTL N06, specific questions related to Worst Case Discharge calculations, and Oil Spill Response Plans.
In lieu of the previous weekly conference calls, BOEM has established points of contact for the major areas of review. Many questions have been answered through the issuance of FAQs on the BOEM website and the Regional Director stated his intent to continue those general responses but also host individual company questions through established points of contact. The agency is also meeting with individual companies on specific plan and permit issues.
The purpose of the email is to ensure that industry has the appropriate points of contact for issues related to shallow water permitting and has the proper link for plan/permit status. The Regional Director encourages industry to pass this information on to others that may benefit from the information.
Points of contact:
- NTL N05 - Jane Powers: (504) 736-2558
- NTL N06 Plans - Mike Tolbert: (504) 736- 2867
- Plan EA/CER - Tommy (TJ) Broussard: (504) 736- 3245
- Worst Case Discharge - Pete Harrison: (504) 736-2918
- Oil Spill Response Plans - Nick Wetzel: (504) 736-2845
The web link for Plan/Permit status is:
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/offshore/safety/well_permits.html
For additional assistance, contact the Regional Director's office at (504) 736-2589.
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/offshore/safety/well_permits.html
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August 18, 2010
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BOEM Announces Misconduct Reporting Hotline
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) Director Michael R. Bromwich today announced the creation of a new online and telephone hotline for reporting misconduct and unethical behavior involving BOEM personnel, and misconduct by persons and companies who interact with BOEM personnel.
In one of his first steps in reforming the bureau, Director Bromwich established an Investigations and Review Unit (IRU), a team of prosecutors, FBI agents, and enforcement officials whose mission is to: promptly and credibly respond to allegations or evidence of misconduct and unethical behavior by bureau employees; pursue allegations of misconduct by oil and gas companies involved in offshore energy projects; and assure the Bureau's ability to respond swiftly to emerging issues and crises. The IRU will evaluate all information submitted through the hotline and will, where appropriate, investigate allegations of misconduct.
“The creation of the IRU and the launch of this hotline are critical steps in our work to reform this agency. We will take reported actions of misconduct, either within BOEM or by industry, very seriously and will investigate these allegations promptly and aggressively,” said Director Bromwich.
Allegations of misconduct or unethical behavior involving BOEM personnel or persons who interact with BOEM personnel can be reported online by going to www.boemre.gov/iru or by calling 877-440-0173 or 202-208-5646. The Department of the Interior's Office of the Inspector General may also, as appropriate, investigate such allegations.
The new hotline and the IRU are integral to BOEM's ongoing efforts to revise and reform its enforcement and ethics policies. Use of the hotline by anyone with relevant information will enhance BOEM's ability to detect and, where necessary, move swiftly to address misconduct and unethical behavior.
http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2010/press0818.htm
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June 24, 2010
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Investigative / Compliance Team Launched for Bureau of Ocean Energy
Michael R. Bromwich, the former Department of Justice Inspector General who now leads Interior Department reform initiatives to strengthen oversight and policing of offshore oil and gas development, today announced that he will establish an investigations and review unit that will help to expedite his oversight, enforcement and re-organization mandates.
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/whatsnew/newsreal/2010/100623.pdf
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June 15, 2010
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Secretary Salazar Appoints Michael R. Bromwich to Lead Reforms at MMS
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today named former Justice Department Inspector General Michael R. Bromwich to lead reforms at the Minerals Management Service as the agency is restructured, the Department of the Interior strengthens oversight and policing of offshore oil and gas development, and the nation builds a clean energy future.
"Michael Bromwich has vast experience improving the way organizations work, both within the government and in the private sector,” Salazar said. “He is an ideal choice to change how the agency does business, to lead the reforms that will raise the bar for offshore oil and gas operations, and to help our nation transition to a clean energy future."
Since May 28, Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey has been serving as Interim Acting Director of the Minerals Management Service. Abbey will return to serving as full-time director of the BLM.
Over the last several weeks, Secretary Salazar has continued his agenda to change how the Department of the Interior does business, including launching several reforms to the management and oversight of offshore energy operations.
http://doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Secretary-Salazar-Appoints-Michael-R-Bromwich-to-Lead-Reforms-to-Oil-and-Gas-Industry-Oversight-and-Regulation.cfm
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May 28, 2010
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BLM Director to Serve as Acting Director of the MMS
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey will serve as acting director of the Minerals Management Service (MMS).
Abbey will begin the process of managing the reorganization of MMS into three separate agencies. He will remain BLM director during this period but will turn over his daily management duties to deputy director Mike Poole.
http://www.mms.gov/ooc/press/2010/press0528.htm
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May 19, 2010
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DOI Secretarial Order for Restructuring and MMS Oversight
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today signed a Secretarial Order that will lead to the fundamental restructuring of the Minerals Management Service and the division of its three conflicting missions into separate entities with independent missions to strengthen oversight of offshore energy operations, improve the structure for revenue and royalty collections on behalf of the American people, and help the country build a clean energy future.
http://www.mms.gov/ooc/pdfs/DOI_pressrelease/SecretaryOrder3299.pdf
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May 13, 2010
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Restructure of MMS
Secretary Salazar announced that he intends to restructure the Minerals Management Service (MMS) in order to establish a separate and independent safety and environmental enforcement entity. Salazar said the MMS's inspection, investigation, and enforcement operations will be separate and independent from the agency's leasing, revenue collection, and permitting functions.
http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Salazar-Names-Senior-Interior-Officials-to-Lead-Minerals-Management-Service-Restructuring.cfm
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May 11, 2010
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Additional Resources for Federal Inspectors
Salazar announced that the Administration submitted to Congress a proposal to provide an additional $29 million for inspections, enforcement, studies and other activities.
- $20 million for increased inspections of other platforms, engineering studies, and enforcement of safety regulations for other offshore platforms
- $7 million for more comprehensive evaluations of policies, procedures and actions that may be needed in light of the Deepwater Horizon incident
- $2 million for the Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey or others to conduct general environmental studies
http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Salazar-Launches-Safety-and-Environmental-Protection-Reforms-to-Toughen-Oversight-of-Offshore-Oil-and-Gas-Operations.cfm
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Deepwater Horizon Investigations
October 12, 2011
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Feds Kick Off Oil Spill Sanctions Against BP, Transocean & Halliburton
The federal government today kicked off the process of fining BP, Transocean and Halliburton for violating offshore drilling rules tied to the 2011 oil spill.
The companies could be forced to pay as much as $45.7 million for 15 separate violations of those rules, which range from failing to keep BP's Macondo well under control to working unsafely at the site.
The Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement launched the process by sending the three firms formal “incidents of non-compliance.” The documents lay out the violations but do not specify how long they occurred — a major factor in calculating the final penalty.
The foundation for the fines was built in September, when a Coast Guard and Interior Department investigation concluded that failures by all three companies led to the blowout of the Macondo well, killing 11 workers and unleashing the nation's worst oil spill.
The bureau's sanctions are separate from fines and other penalties that are expected to be imposed under the Clean Water Act, which could reach to $21 billion for BP, based on estimates that the Macondo well gushed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
The government is accusing BP of violating seven regulations governing work on the outer continental shelf. Transocean, which owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, and Halliburton, which performed cementing work at the site, are each charged with four violations.
The violations carry a penalty of up to $35,000 per day per incident. In the case of the oil spill, violations may have covered 87 days — the time crude was gushing into the Gulf — creating a maximum potential tab per incident of $3.05 million. But some infractions may cover just one day, with a total cost of just $35,000.
The action marks the first time the government has moved to sanction contractors for violating offshore regulations. Traditionally, the government agencies that oversee offshore drilling have focused on oil and gas companies operating in coastal waters, and not the contractors and service companies that may collaborate on projects.
But under Bromwich, the agency has concluded that its regulatory reach extends to drilling rig owners, service firms and other contractors that work for the operators. Bromwich said that determination was affirmed by a legal interpretation made by Interior Department's solicitor.
BP said the Obama administration's decision to seek penalties against Transocean and Halliburton “makes clear that contractors, like operators, are responsible for properly conducting their deep-water drilling activities and are accountable to the U.S. government and the American public for their conduct.”
Executives from all three companies are set to testify before the House Natural Resources Committee on Thursday. It will be the first time the firms have testified on Capitol Hill since the Coast Guard and Interior Department's report on the Deepwater Horizon disaster was issued last month.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/10/12/feds-kick-off-oil-spill-sanctions-against-bp-transocean-halliburton/
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September 14, 2011
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Deepwater Horizon Joint Investigation Team Releases Final Report
The BOEMRE/U.S. Coast Guard Joint Investigation Team (JIT) today released its final investigative report on the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon explosion, loss of life, and resulting oil spill.
The report is comprised of Volume I, covering the areas of investigation under the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard; Volume II, covering the areas of the investigation under BOEMRE jurisdiction; and a supplement to Volume I – the Final Action Memo from Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Bob Papp.
The JIT was formed on April 27, 2010, by a convening order of the Departments of the Interior and Homeland Security to investigate the causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, loss of life, and resulting oil spill, and to make recommendations for safe operations of future oil and gas activities on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The JIT held seven sessions of public hearings, received testimony from more than 80 witnesses and experts, and reviewed a large number of documents and exhibits pertaining to all aspects of the investigation.
Volume I, released April 22, 2011, includes findings on five aspects of the disaster under Coast Guard jurisdiction – including the explosions on the Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) Deepwater Horizon; the resulting fire; evacuations; the flooding and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon; and the safety systems of the MODU and its owner, Transocean. The Coast Guard's Final Action Memo details actions directed by Adm. Papp, as a result of the JIT's work, reflecting the Coast Guard's commitment to all of those affected by this tragic yet historic event and underscoring its commitment to the stewardship of our maritime environment.
Volume II includes findings on the causes, both direct and contributing, of the Macondo blowout and the resulting explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon. In Volume II, the JIT details evidence developed during the investigation and concludes that BP, Transocean and Halliburton's conduct in connection with the Deepwater Horizon disaster violated a number of federal offshore safety regulations under BOEMRE's jurisdiction. Volume II also includes recommendations for the continued improvement of the safety of offshore operations.
In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy, BOEMRE launched the most aggressive and comprehensive reforms to offshore oil and gas regulation and oversight in U.S. history. The reforms strengthen requirements for everything from well design and workplace safety to corporate accountability. An additional rule, which will be made available for public comment in the coming weeks, will incorporate additional safety requirements that are related to the findings of the investigation. For more information on BOEMRE's new heightened safety standards, go to: http://www.boemre.gov/Reforms.htm.
Please see the website listed above to download each section of the report.
http://www.deepwaterinvestigation.com/go/doc/3043/1193483/
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September 09, 2011
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New Offshore Drilling Rules Hinge on Deepwater Horizon Probe
The government is about to kick-start a long process for setting new offshore drilling safety standards — but only after a joint federal investigation into the Deepwater Horizon disaster is complete, a top Obama administration official told the Houston Chronicle.
At issue is the joint Coast Guard and Interior Department probe of the oil spill. Although the joint investigation team held its final public hearings in April, the panel has not yet issued its conclusions about the root causes of the disaster.
That final report is set to be released “in the very near future,” said Michael Bromwich, the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.
The document is expected to identify failures at BP's doomed Macondo well that may have contributed to its lethal blowout on April 20 last year and the resulting oil spill.
The panel's report may provide the foundation for bolstering mandates on the blowout preventers used as a last line of defense against unexpected surges of oil and gas at wells. The joint investigation team's conclusions about well design also could spur regulatory changes.
“Even though it is going to be a very broad rulemaking process and there will be plenty of time to get input, we thought we would be better served by seeing where the JIT came out on a variety of issues before we (began),” Bromwich said. “We have quite explicitly been waiting for the conclusion of the JIT process and the release of the JIT report before we go out with the advanced notice of proposed rulemaking.”
That advanced notice will kick off a long process of creating the new drilling safety regulation. Bromwich has stressed that the slower timetable will allow more people to weigh in on the measure's content.
Although the ocean energy bureau director declined to give a specific time frame, he said he anticipated the rulemaking would begin “reasonably soon after the issuance of the report.”
Bromwich has previously said the rule will be “focused on all dimensions of drilling safety.”
It almost certainly will include proposed new standards for blowout preventers, the design of offshore wells and cement barriers at the sites.
The measure also is likely to make adjustments to a drilling safety rule that was imposed last October. The ocean energy bureau has clarified some requirements of that rule already, in response to oil and gas companies that complained it set some confusing and conflicting standards.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/09/09/new-offshore-drilling-rules-hinge-on-deepwater-horizon-probe/
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August 17, 2011
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Gulf Spill Report by Marshall Islands Steers Clear of Blame
The crew of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig failed to react to “multiple indications” of problems with BP's Macondo well before it blew out, but divergence from industry standards and plans approved by regulators also played a role in the accident, according to a new investigation report.
The report, by the Republic of the Marshall Islands, under whose flag the Deepwater Horizon sailed, also recommends changes to procedures for activating emergency well-disconnecting systems and maintaining giant well-sealing blowout preventers on the sea floor.
But, unlike previous investigation reports, it does not attempt to assign blame to BP or other companies involved in the accident.
“We were just trying to go through the findings of fact,” Bill Gallagher, senior deputy commissioner of maritime affairs for the Republic of the Marshall Islands, said in an interview Tuesday ahead of the release of the 216-page report today. “We're not into getting into naming and blaming at this point in time.”
The Deepwater Horizon, owned by Switzerland-based Transocean, which has large offices in Houston, is one of many deep water drilling rigs that carry the flag of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. As such, the island nation in the Pacific Ocean was responsible for overseeing the safety and integrity of the vessel.
U.S. Interior Department regulators had separate oversight of drilling equipment aboard the rig.
An April investigation report by a joint Coast Guard-Interior Department panel blasted the Marshall Islands for “ineffective oversight” of the Deepwater Horizon because it delegated rig inspection activities to third parties.
But Gallagher said lax oversight, either by the Marshall Islands or U.S. regulators, was not a factor.
“You've had a lot of regulators on board giving the actual thumbs up as far as the rig was concerned with no deficiencies pointed out,” he said.
In an executive summary of the report, obtained by the Chronicle on Tuesday, the Marshall Islands identifies just three direct causes of the accident — the crew's failure to detect well control problems; deviation from standards of well control engineering; and deviation from well abandonment plans approved by the former Minerals Management Service.
The summary also cites “non-causal” factors including confusion about the chain of command aboard the vessel, especially regarding who had decision-making authority at the time of the accident.
And it called for better communication between the flag state and the regulatory bodies in the country where the rig operates.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/08/17/gulf-spill-report-steers-clear-of-blame/
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August 15, 2011
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108,000 Oil-Spill Plaintiffs Get a Trial Date With BP
Trial for the Deepwater Horizon explosion will begin Feb. 27, 2012 and will be broken into three phases, the judge overseeing the consolidated oil-spill litigation said. There are 108,000 plaintiffs in the litigation so far.
During the monthly status conference Friday, U.S. Judge Carl J. Barbier said he has not yet issued a formal trial plan, but it "is essentially going to be the proposed trial plan that Anadarko submitted a while back," which breaks the trial into three phases.
The "incident phase" of the trial will begin Feb. 27, and will deal with the conduct of various parties relating to control of the Macondo well, and the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform.
Followed by a break, phase two will deal with issues of source control and quantification of discharge.
Phase three will address all other issues, including containment, skimming, dispersants and boom.
As the "responsible party," the way BP handles its claims process is governed by the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), which was created after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill off Alaska.
The Oil Pollution Act states that a claimant must first present to the claims facility established by the responsible party and that 90 days must pass without word from the responsible party or the claim must be rejected before a claimant may litigate.
BP attorneys told the court in May that every litigant who did not first present to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) would be disqualified from the litigation.
The next status hearing is set for Sept. 16.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/08/15/38980.htm
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August 01, 2011
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WHOI Study Reports Microbes Consumed Oil in Gulf Slick at Unexpected Rates
In the first published study to explain the role of microbes in breaking down the oil slick on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon spill, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers have come up with answers that represent both good news and a mystery.
The WHOI team studied samples from the surface oil slick and surrounding Gulf waters. They found that bacterial microbes inside the slick degraded the oil at a rate five times faster than microbes outside the slick—accounting in large part for the disappearance of the slick some three weeks after Deepwater Horizon's Macondo well was shut off.
At the same time, the researchers observed no increase in the number of microbes inside the slick—something that would be expected as a byproduct of increased consumption, or respiration, of the oil. In this process, respiration combines food (oil in this case) and oxygen to create carbon dioxide and energy.
“What did they do with the energy they gained from this increased respiration?” asked WHOI chemist Benjamin Van Mooy, senior author of the study. “They didn't use it to multiply. It's a real mystery,” he said.
Van Mooy and his team were nearly equally taken aback by the ability of the microbes to chow down on the oil in the first place. Going into the study, he said, “We thought microbe respiration was going to be minimal.” This was because nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus—usually essential to enable microbes to grow and make new cells—were scarce in the water and oil in the slick. “We thought the microbes would not be able to respond,” Van Mooy said.
But the WHOI researchers found, to the contrary, that the bacteria not only responded, but did so at a very high rate. They discovered this by using a special sensor called an oxygen optode to track the changing oxygen levels in water samples taken from the slick. If the microbes were respiring slowly, then oxygen levels would decrease slowly; if they respired quickly, the oxygen would decrease quickly.
Follow-up studies already “are in place,” Van Mooy says, to address the “mysterious” finding that the oil-gorging microbes do not appear to manufacture new cells. Van Mooy, Edwards, and their colleagues hypothesize that they may convert the energy to some other molecule, like sugars or fats. They plan to use “state-of-the-art methods” under development in their laboratory to look for bacterial fat molecules, a focus of Van Mooy's previous work. The results, he says, “could show where the energy went.”
Edwards added that the results suggest “that microbes had the metabolic potential to break down a large portion of hydrocarbons and keep up with the flow rate from the wellhead.”
http://gcaptain.com/happened-gulf-whoi-answers-study?28668
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June 22, 2011
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Transocean Ltd. Announces Release of Internal Investigation Report on Causes of Macondo Well Incident
Transocean Ltd. has announced the release of an internal investigation report on the causes of the April 20, 2010, Macondo well incident in the Gulf of Mexico.
Following the incident, Transocean created an internal investigation team comprised of experts from relevant technical fields and specialists in accident investigation to gather, review and analyze the facts and information surrounding the incident to determine its causes.
The report concludes that the Macondo incident was the result of a succession of interrelated well design, construction, and temporary abandonment decisions that compromised the integrity of the well and compounded the likelihood of its failure. The decisions in the two weeks leading up to the incident, were driven by BP's knowledge that the geological window for safe drilling was becoming increasingly narrow. Specifically, BP was concerned that downhole pressure,whether exerted by heavy drilling mud used to maintain well control or by pumping cement to seal the well, would exceed the fracture gradient and result in fluid losses to the formation, costing money and jeopardizing future production of oil.
The Transocean investigation team traced the causes of the Macondo incident to four issues; Risk Management and Communication, Well Design and Construction, Risk Assessment and Process Safety and Operations.
The loss of evidence with the rig and the unavailability of certain witnesses limited the investigation and analysis in some areas. The team used its years of experience but did not speculate in the absence of evidence. The report of the team does not represent the legal position of Transocean, nor does it attempt to assign legal responsibility or fault.
Please see the below links for the full report:
href="http://www.deepwater.com/_filelib/FileCabinet/pdfs/00_TRANSOCEAN_Vol_1.pdf
http://www.deepwater.com/_filelib/FileCabinet/pdfs/12_TRANSOCEAN_Vol_2.pdf
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June 13, 2011
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The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) Issues Assessement and Recommendations From the Deepwater Horizon Incident
The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) established an internal multidisciplinary project team in May 2010 to follow up the work being done in the wake of the DwH accident and to develop the best possible basis for the authority's supervision and other measures which could improve health, safety and the environment (HSE) on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). The PSA's report builds on the investigation reports published so far, as well as a number of assessments of the accident by various professional bodies and various national and international processes.
To view the full report please see the link included.
http://www.ptil.no/getfile.php/PDF/DwH_PSA_summary.pdf
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May 31, 2011
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IADC Comments on Volume 1 (Coast Guard) of the Joint Investigation Team's Deepwater Horizon Report
The International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) has drafted a letter to provide comments on the Recommendations contained in Volume 1 of the Joint Investigation Team's "Report of Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Explosion, Fire, Sinking and Loss of Eleven Crew Members aboard the Mobile Offshore Drilling DEEPWATER HORIZON in the Gulf of Mexico, April 20-22, 2010" (the Report).
http://www.iadc.org/committees/offshore/Documents/20110531%20USCG%20on%20DHW%20Investigation.pdf
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May 02, 2011
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JIT Publishes Addendum to Det Norske Veritas BOP Report
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) investigating the Deepwater Horizon incident has published an addendum to the Det Norske Veritas BOP investigation report. The addendum is available at the link provided in this posting.
The JIT was charged with investigating the explosion, loss of life, and blowout associated with the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig failure. As a part of this overall investigation, Det Norske Veritas (DNV) was retained to undertake a forensic examination, investigation, testing and scientific evaluation of the blowout preventer stack (BOP), its components and associated equipment used by the Deepwater Horizon drilling operation.
Forensic testing was completed on March 4, 2011. A final forensic investigation report titled “Forensic Examination of Deepwater Horizon Blowout Preventer - Volume I Final Report” [Report No. EP030842] was issued on March 20, 2011. As a follow on to the Final Report, this addendum provides:
• Corrections to text
• Clarifications requested by BOEMRE
• Fault Tree Analysis
• Alternative theories
• Cutting (or not) of Upper VBR hoses via ROV
• Support for elastic buckling theory
• An update of the off-center drill pipe finite element analysis (FEA) model
• Revised figures and updated text for DNV Forensic Report starting at Page 156 directly following Figure 133
http://www.deepwaterinvestigation.com/external/content/document/3043/1077835/1/Addendum%20to%20DNV%20Report%20EP030842.pdf
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April 26, 2011
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Transcripts Available from Joint Investigation of DWH BOP
The Deepwater Horizon Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has posted the transcripts from the latest BOP hearings online for public review. The transcripts cover hearings from April 4, 6, 7 and 8 where investigators heard testimony regarding the failure of the BOP on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig during the Macondo event.
The transcripts are available at the link displayed within this announcement.
http://www.deepwaterinvestigation.com/go/site/3043/
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