Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE)

Since it’s already Monday morning in Oz, our Australian bureau has returned to work and is eager to pass on some news:

• The sense in Australia seems to be that sensitive regulatory issues delayed the release of the Montara report until after the election (and perhaps much longer if another election is needed to resolve the stalemate).

We received this comment from an oil industry manager in Australia:

The Montara report damns the regulatory agency and there are many that think that is not appropriate.  That is the reason for the holdup.

Comment: I assume the report’s criticism is primarily directed at the Northern Territory regulator.  In defense of the regulators, the current division of responsibilities between the Federal government and the States is unworkable. You can’t have one agency responsible for well integrity and another responsible for rig and facility safety.  The US has similar issues with the division of safety authority among the Departments of Interior and Transportation (pipelines), and the Coast Guard.  If the regulatory responsibilities of the former MMS are not retained in a single bureau, but divided between the two new Interior bureaus, these problems could be exacerbated.  Most of the recommendations in my 11 May testimony before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources have received at least some attention.  One very important recommendation (no. 1) calling for a streamlined OCS regulatory regime, has not been addressed.