Outlook for America's Offshore Energy Portfolio
Director Beaudreau's address was made at the Annual Meeting of the Oil and Gas Association, on 25th January 2012 in New Orleans.
He mentioned enhanced drilling safety and blowout preventer standards and introduced for the first time mandatory performance-based standards in the form of Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS) programmes. The way in which the worst case discharge potential for wells is calculated has been improved so it's possible to better understand and evaluate risk potential of individual reservoirs and this information is used to help define the spill response capacity and resources necessary in the unlikely event of a blowout.
Industry has devoted hundreds of millions of dollars to the development and staging of subsea containment systems including capping stacks, riser systems and support and capture vessels, that are now readily available in the event of another blowout in deepwater. These systems did not exist at the time of the Macondo blowout, but they have now been built and tested, and are part of the permitting process for deepwater drilling operations in U.S. waters. Industry deserves tremendous credit for investing in and building these systems.
A federal safety advisory committee, led by Dr. Tom Hunter and comprised of experts from government, industry, academia and environmental NGOs, has been active (including a series of meetings last week in Houston) in analysing and developing recommendations for further enhancements to offshore safety and emergency preparedness. This committee is designed to help government and industry keep pace, from a safety perspective, with rapid developments in technology and the challenges of drilling in new frontiers.
He memorised that the Gulf offers an unparalleled infrastructure and support to develop finds and bring resources to market efficiently. There currently are more drilling rigs working in the deepwater of the Gulf than there were at the time of the spill.
Even with the regulatory enhancements that have been introduced over the past year and a half, the Gulf is a stable and reliable environment in which to work.
Earlier this month, BOEM completed the SEIS for the Central Gulf, which obviously suffered most directly the effects of the Deepwater Horizon spill. We will announce additional details about a sale in the Central Gulf soon.
The organisation also is evaluating the oil and gas potential of areas where drilling has not occurred in the past. BOEM are moving forward with a strategy to evaluate the potential for oil and gas exploration off of the mid- and south- Atlantic. Although it is premature to schedule lease sales in those areas, the agency will be issuing a draft EIS relating to seismic activity in the mid- and south-Atlantic so that current, accurate data can be collected about the oil and gas potential in the region.
