The federal regulator charged with overseeing energy exploration in the Gulf of Mexico will issue new drilling rules in the coming weeks and also undergo a structural reorganization in the fall. This is in addition to a wide variety of safety enhancements the administration of President Barack Obama handed down in the wake of last year’s explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig. The requirements address everything from casing and cementing to incredibly detailed designs for blowout preventers and other equipment.
Oil and gas trade groups have complained that this first round of rule changes have made deepwater permits more difficult and costly to obtain; federal officials and environmental groups counter that safety is finally becoming a major theme in the permitting process. In June 2010, Obama likewise eliminated the U.S. Mineral Management Service and replaced it with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, or BOEMRE. Chiefly, this move separated the collections of royalty revenues from the agency in charge of permitting. Collections are now overseen by another branch of the Interior Department.
But even that’s about to change as well, BOEMRE Director Michael Bromwich said during a visit to New Orleans last week. “As of Oct. 1, BOEMRE will be no more,” he says. That’s when BOEMRE will be further divided into two autonomous entities: the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which will tackle the environmental safety matters; and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which will manage leases, permitting and other resource development issues. As for the next round of drilling rules that will soon surface as a federal notice, Bromwich is describing them as “broad.” They’re expected to further address the use of fail-safe blowout preventers, among other safety topics. For the rest of 10/12 Corridor Weekly, click here. — Jeremy Alford
