Shallow-Water Permits Are Being Issued, Bromwich Says
Shallow-water drillers in the Gulf of Mexico are receiving permits more slowly than in years past because of new environmental rules, the head of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement said.
The bureau has approved five of 13 drilling applications received since a June 8 announcement that safety and environmental rules would be tightened, Director Michael Bromwich said today in a statement. A group for shallow-water drillers today said it’s at an impasse with regulators.
Companies that explore in shallow waters have said permits have been held up by the rules imposed after the BP Plc oil spill in April even though they aren’t covered by the Obama administration’s current moratorium on deep-water operations.
“I understand the frustration that people feel because we are not able to review and approve applications as expeditiously as we have in the past,” Bromwich said. “It has taken time to submit and verify the additional required information.”
Bromwich issued the statement after meeting in Lafayette, Louisiana, with state Lieutenant Governor Scott Angelle and executives from shallow-water drilling companies. The regulator held a hearing in the city on safety and oil-spill cleanups.
Apache Corp. on July 16 got the first permit after the rules changed. An industry coalition said today in a statement that 15 of 46 available shallow-water rigs are idle without permits.
Regulators haven’t recognized the “distinct differences” in the risk presented by shallow-water operations compared with rigs at depths greater than 500 feet (152 meters), said Jim Noe, executive director of the Shallow Water Energy Security Coalition. Shallow-water wells are drilled using simple techniques in predictable and mature reservoirs, he said.
“We are clearly at an impasse with the regulators,” Noe said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jeff Plungis in Washington at jplungis@bloomberg.net;
Rate this Page