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Posts Tagged ‘House Natural Resources Committee’

Offshore leasing bills introduced by members of the House Natural Resources Committee

Posted in Alaska, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on April 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »

These bills probably aren’t going anywhere at this time, but would help strengthen the integrity of the US offshore program. The bills are generally consistent with the views expressed by Senators Manchin (D-WV) and Kelly (D-AZ) in a letter to the President.

  • The Unleashing American Energy Act requires a minimum of two oil and gas lease sales to be held annually in available federal waters in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area, and in the Alaska Region of the Outer Continental Shelf.
  • The Securing American Energy and Investing in Resiliency Act requires the Department of the Interior to conduct all remaining offshore oil and gas lease sales in the current leasing plan and issue leases won as a result of Lease Sale 257.
  • The Strategy to Secure Offshore Energy Act requires the publications of the 2022-27 plan for offshore oil and gas lease sales by the time the current plan expires on June 30, 2022.

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Three offshore oil and gas bills clear House Natural Resources Committee

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

  • Require that a Central Gulf of Mexico (GoM) oil and gas lease sale be held within 4 months of enactment, and that a second sale for that area be held within 12 months.
  • Require that a Western GoM sale be held within 8 months of enactment.
  • Stipulate that prior environmental reviews would satisfy NEPA requirements for the GoM sales.
  • Require that a Virginia offshore sale be conducted within 1 year of enactment. [Comment: While I support a sale offshore Virginia, I do not believe this can be accomplished in one year.]

HR 1231 would:

  • Require that specified volumes of oil and gas (per estimates made by MMS in 2006) be made available for leasing.
  • Set offshore production goals.
  • Give credits (for use in paying lease bonuses) to companies for costs associated with pre-sale seismic surveys.   [Comment:  If the legislation provides reasonable assurance that lease sales will be held, why are the seismic survey credits needed? The seismic data will have a high commercial value. Collection of these data should not have to be subsidized by the Federal government.]

HR 1229 would:

  • Require that DOI act on drilling applications within 60 days.
  • Extend the term leases where the approval of drilling applications was delayed following the Macondo blowout.
  • Make the 5th Circuit Court the venue for any civil actions involving GoM energy projects.
  • [Comment: The important question is not the number of days that the regulator should be given to review applications, but whether a complex permit review and approval process is the optimal regulatory approach. A lesson learned from virtually every major accident, from Santa Barbara through the Ocean Ranger, Alexander Kielland, Piper Alpha, and Macondo, is that command and control regulation is not in the best interest of offshore safety. Industry should not rely on government to manage its operations and government should focus on safety achievement, not directing the day-to-day activities of offshore companies. Over the long-term, the US would be better served if regulatory resources were dedicated to risk assessment, data analysis, assessment of operator and contractor management systems, targeted inspections and audits, participation in standards development and research, and safety leadership.]

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Hearings of interest

Posted in drilling, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged , on March 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Secretary Salazar will appear before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday (2 March) at 10:00 am ET and the House Natural Resources on Thursday (3 March) at 10:00 am ET. Expect deepwater drilling and other offshore energy questions.  Both hearings will be streamed live at the respective websites.

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BOP Frustration on Capitol Hill

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 27, 2011| Leave a Comment »

While thunder-snow created a surreal setting outside, the scene was rather predictable inside as the National Commission co-chairs testified before the House Natural Resource Committee.  Members acknowledged the Commission’s service, questioned qualifications, expressed frustration with the “permitorium,” raised concerns about our economic and energy future, and disputed the conclusion that “systemic industry failures” contributed to the disaster.  Others suggested that Macondo safety issues had not been resolved, that the risks associated with offshore drilling were not being managed properly, and that everyone else in the world regulates offshore operations more effectively than the US (or at least their disasters have been less recent).

Putting all that aside, I was pleased by the interest of the members in the BOP failure. They seem to share our frustration with the delays in the BOP examination/testing/forensics/autopsy. Perhaps the Committee can determine the status of this very important aspect of the investigation, and provide a summary of what has happened since the stack was recovered and what work remains to be accomplished. That would seem to be a reasonable request.

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