Study: Gulf drilling permits speed up, still below pre-spill rate

The Interior Department has accelerated the pace of deepwater drilling permits, but the approval rate remains well below levels that industry enjoyed before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of April 2010, according to a new report by energy industry consulting firm IHS-CERA. The study states Gulf of Mexico permit approvals increased “significantly” in the six months through mid-October—the one-year anniversary of the end of a deepwater drilling moratorium imposed shortly after oil spill—but notes even the three months ending in mid-October were just 56% of the historical average. “On aggregate, in the 12 months following the lifting of the moratorium, the 51 permits approved result in an annual rate of approval that was 32% of the historical average (151 permits),” the study says. The study was commissioned by the Gulf Economic Survival Team, a group that pushes for faster drilling permit approvals. Michael Bromwich, who recently ended his tenure atop the Interior Department’s overhauled offshore drilling branch, has warned tougher safety standards and more in-depth reviews mean that the rate of approvals isn’t going to return to the more laissez-faire pace before the spill. But he has also bashed industry claims about the rate of permit approvals, alleging critics are skewing the data. The department also argues that critics focusing on approval of permits for new wells aren’t capturing the whole permitting picture compared to the pre-spill period, noting permits for wells that were halted after the spill and others. As of this week, the department’s offshore branch says it has approved 216 permits for 60 separate wells since permitting restarted in February.