What Is the Law’s Role in Offshore Drilling Safety?
As the OTC gets underway to record numbers here in Houston, one oft repeated phrase from industry and government is that safety should come first. James Watson, head of BSEE, also announced that the government plans to speed up its rulemaking on safety requirements by skipping the “notice of proposed rulemaking” stage and going straight [...] More »
Obama spill panel members to press for safety progress
The seven members of President Obama’s commission on the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill they have formed a group to monitor federal and industry progress on putting in place their safety recommendations, an environmental group said Wednesday. More »
Shell seeks to prevent late challenge to Chukchi spill plan
Shell Oil Co. has requested a legal review of its own oil-spill response plan for drilling in the Chukchi Sea, an unconventional move the company said is aimed at preventing a last-minute challenge from environmental groups that could once again delay its ambitions. More »
U.S., Mexico, reach accord on drilling below maritime border
The U.S. and Mexican governments agreed Monday to cooperate on oil and gas development in waters along the nations’ maritime border in the Gulf of Mexico. More »
Shell moves one step closer to drilling in the Chukchi Sea
The Interior Department said this morning it has approved Shell Oil’s plan to respond to potential oil spills in the Chukchi Sea, bringing the company one step closer to drilling in waters off the northern coast of Alaska. More »
Obama budget would boost renewables, nix oil and gas tax breaks
President Barack Obama called today for boosting funding for pipeline safety and renewable energy while again proposing to roll back several tax breaks for the oil and gas industry. More »
Lawmakers ask feds to consider new waters in offshore plan
A group of 182 lawmakers, almost all Republican, asked Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (pictured) on Tuesday to consider opening new offshore waters for oil-and-gas drilling in its five-year offshore leasing plan More »
Gulf Coast business still suffering from offshore drilling slowdown
The group found that federal regulators have approved about three deepwater drilling permits per month since the moratorium ended, down from six permit approvals per month prior to the spill. More »
Mid-Atlantic offshore wind clears environmental hurdle
Offshore wind-energy development cleared a major hurdle on Thursday as the Interior Department said it had determined that no major environmental or socioeconomic impacts would occur from leasing offshore areas off the mid-Atlantic coast. More »
Shell president says federal permitting may have turned the corner
Shell Oil president Marvin Odum said he believes the pace of federal permitting for deep-water oil and natural gas drilling “may have turned a corner,” according to The New Orleans Times-Picayune. More »
Feds propose first central Gulf lease sale since Deepwater Horizon
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management proposed today an oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, the second there since the 2010 oil spill and the first since then in the Central Gulf region where the disaster occurred. More »
BSEE names new deputy director
Margaret N. Schneider will serve as the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement deputy director, James A. Watson announced today. More »
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