Ntl News

National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Erik Milito has said that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issue of a Notice to Lessees (NTL) with recommended restrictions on ongoing industry activities within the expanded Rice's Whale habitat area imposes “unwarranted restrictions on U.S. energy production at a time of continued inflation with prices rising at the pump for consumers.”With likely fewer than 100 individuals remaining, Rice's whales are one of the most endangered whales in the world.

BSEE is providing updated guidance for the current and future hurricane seasons through a Notice to Lessees (NTL) released July 27, 2015. NTL 2015-G02 clarifies reporting requirements related to personnel evacuation, production curtailment, and shut-in activity. These reports are received and processed within BSEE’s hurricane response team and is required to help mitigate risks associated with hurricanes and tropical storms on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Offshore oil and gas operators determine when to activate their severe weather plans for their drilling rigs and production platforms. Once activated, operators are required to report daily to BSEE’s hurricane response team.

Variable Bore Rams, Inc. (VBR), one of the largest original equipment manufacturer (OEM) ram and BOP component providers in the world, is celebrating its 35th year of providing exceptional support and service to blowout preventer operators. The company, founded in Lafayette, Louisiana, has grown from offering a single variable bore ram model to hosting one of the largest inventories of OEM blowout preventer rams and elastomers in the world. VBR’s 26,654 square foot state-of-the-art warehouse facility, recently constructed in Broussard, Louisiana, houses more than 1,600 different types and sizes of blowout preventer ram type products.

Steven Libert, president of the Great Lakes Exploration Group, announced he has located what is believed to be the remains of Le Griffon, the first European ship to have sailed the upper Great Lakes. The 45-ton barque carrying seven cannons was built by the legendary French explorer Rene-Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle who was attempting to establish a Northwest Passage through Canada. La Salle wanted to provide a faster way to connect France with its trading partners in the Far East and Le Griffon was to be a vital link in the route between Niagra and Illinois.

It has been over three years since the tragic accident occurred aboard the Deepwater Horizon on April 20, 2010. The industry and the relevant federal agencies have done much to put in place improved safeguards to prevent such an accident – which left 11 dead and 17 injured – from happening again. Congress, on the other hand, has done little to intervene to force new requirements on either the federal government or industry. Meanwhile, energy-related work in the Gulf of Mexico is rapidly increasing and forecasts are that it will remain busy for the next few years.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) issued three significant documents addressing response, enforcement, and safety issues related to offshore operations in August 2012. Specifically, BSEE issued (1) new guidance concerning regional Oil Spill Response Plans (“OSRPs”), (2) formalized policy addressing direct enforcement actions against contractors engaged in offshore activities, and (3) a Final Rule implementing new safety measures related to well control operations occurring on the outer continental shelf (“OCS”). The following is a summary of these new developments.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that it has launched a new Web-based tool that provides oil and gas industry users with the ability to submit online requests for company, qualification, merger and bonding information for review and approval. Before a company can bid on, hold, or operate an oil and gas lease, it must submit certain information and documents to BOEM to establish that it is qualified to be a lessee. The Technical Information Management System (TIMS) Company and Bonding applications are Web-based programs that will help expedite the process. The Company processes within the system are comprised of Qualification, Qualification Update, Change of Name, Business Conversion and Merger.

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Director James A. Watson delivered remarks today at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas. Director Watson discussed recent recruitment incentives, BSEE's offshore safety focus and regulatory priorities. Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s continued efforts to enhance safety offshore. This is my first time at OTC, and I have been extremely impressed by the scientific and technical know-how on display…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has issued guidance to oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) extending existing guidance on how to conduct archaeological resources surveys and prepare archaeological reports, and adding certain additional areas for examination based on new information about the likely location of historical resources. “There are more than 2,100 historic shipwrecks in the Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico…

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) today issued a Notice to Lessees (NTL) highlighting a recent decision by the Director of the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of the Interior concerning the rules governing the grant or denial of requests for Suspensions of Production. The OHA decision upheld the bureau’s requirement that lessees must demonstrate a commitment to produce in order to be eligible for a suspension. Suspensions can be granted to leaseholders to extend a lease past the primary term for oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) today issued a Notice to Lessees (NTL) that provides further guidance on the previously issued Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS) rule. The SEMS rule, also referred to as the Workplace Safety Rule, is designed to reduce the likelihood of accidents, injuries and spills that occur in connection with offshore oil and gas exploration and development activities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The NTL consolidates guidance and information to help operators comply with the requirements of the rule. Operators are required to implement a SEMS program by November 15, 2011.

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Director Michael R. Bromwich delivered remarks June 22 at the 5th annual World National Oil Companies Congress in London. The World National Oil Companies Congress brings together senior executives from national oil companies and government leaders from around the world to discuss global energy issues. Director Bromwich is attending this year's meeting to further the bureau’s efforts to expand bilateral and multilateral cooperation with regulatory counterparts around the globe, especially in light of the recommendations of the National Commission on the Deepwater…

As the 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season gets under way, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) issued its annual guidance to offshore operators on reporting tropical storm and hurricane effects on oil and gas operations, and the specific information to be included in the various reports required by BOEMRE. These requirements are explained in a Notice to Lessees, NTL No. “It is critical that oil and gas operators are fully prepared to address the threats posed by a hurricane,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. When a tropical storm or hurricane enters the Gulf of Mexico, offshore oil and gas operators…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today issued additional guidance summarizing and clarifying previously issued offshore deepwater drilling safety requirements. This guidance document also highlights BOEMRE’s process for reviewing subsea containment plans for deepwater operations. The guidance contains no additional regulatory requirements, but instead provides clarifying information to assist the oil and gas industry in complying with existing regulations and guidance. “Our goal remains the same as it has been from Day 1 – to ensure that offshore operations are conducted as safely as possible,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today approved a third  additional deepwater drilling permit that complies with all of the new safety standards, including demonstrated containment capacity, implemented in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. The approved permit is a revised permit to drill a new well for ATP Oil & Gas Corporation’s Well #4 in Mississippi Canyon Block 941, located approximately 90 miles south of Venice, La. “This permit approval demonstrates that deepwater drilling can and will continue in the Gulf of Mexico provided that operators have successfully demonstrated their ability to operate safely,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) will host a one-day workshop in New Orleans to discuss standards and requirements for exploration and development plans, with an emphasis on the new safety requirements that have been implemented over the past six months. “BOEMRE has participated in many meetings with oil and gas companies to explain new plan requirements, and we are continuing those outreach efforts through workshops such as this,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. The purpose of the workshop is to discuss various issues regarding plan requirements and to facilitate the ability of applicants to meet the new requirements in their plan submissions. -   Worst Case Discharge Calculations (NTL No. -   Spill Response and Containment (NTL No.

On Feb. 28, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) approved the first deepwater drilling permit since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. Noble Energy’s application for a permit to bypass is for Well #2 in Mississippi Canyon Block 519, approximately 70 miles south east of Venice, La. “This permit represents a significant milestone for us and for the offshore oil and gas industry, and is an important step towards safely developing deepwater energy supplies offshore,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “This permit was issued for one simple reason: the operator successfully demonstrated that it can drill its deepwater well safely and that it is capable of containing a subsea blowout if it were to occur.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) notified 13 companies whose deepwater drilling activities were suspended by last year’s deepwater drilling moratorium that they may be able to resume those previously-approved activities without the need to submit revised exploration or development plans for supplemental National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews. Before resuming those activities without additional NEPA review, however, the companies must comply with BOEMRE’s new policies and regulations. “Going forward, we are substantially enhancing our environmental reviews and analysis under NEPA,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) Director Michael R. Bromwich announced that the department will restrict its use of categorical exclusions for offshore oil and gas development to activities involving limited environmental risk, while it undertakes a comprehensive review of its National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) process and the use of categorical exclusions for exploration and drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. Director Bromwich and Secretary Salazar also announced that the Department of the Interior intends to conduct a new environmental analysis in the Gulf of Mexico that will help provide information to guide future leasing and development decisions.

Prior to start of the eighth and final Public Forum on Offshore Drilling in Lafayette, La., Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) Director Michael R. Bromwich met this morning with Louisiana Lt. Governor Scott Angelle and members of the shallow drilling coalition to discuss the status of approval of Applications for Permits to Drill (APDs). BOEM senior leadership has held several meetings (on a weekly basis for many weeks) with companies who are seeking to explore, develop and produce oil or gas in shallow water. The meetings and discussions have provided technical assistance to companies that must now comply with NTL-05 and NTL-06, which require additional technical and environmental information prior to permit approval.

Yesterday Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director Michael R. Bromwich announced a mandate – effective October 15, 2010 – that oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico will be required to set permanent plugs in nearly 3,500 nonproducing wells that are currently completed with a subsurface safety valve in place and dismantle about 650 oil and gas production platforms if they are no longer being used for exploration or production. While the move could cost well owners billions, it should also help to keep workers and vessel in the Gulf of Mexico – idled by the moratorium on drilling – at work.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today issued additional guidance regarding the steps required of operators to resume deepwater activity. This information contains no new or additional regulatory requirements, but instead provides additional information to assist the oil and gas industry in their efforts to comply with recently-issued rules and prior guidance. “As we continue to strengthen oversight and safety and environmental protections, we must ensure that the oil and gas industry has clear direction on what is expected,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “Following discussions with members of the oil and gas industry…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today issued additional guidance regarding the steps required of operators to resume deepwater activity. This information contains no new or additional regulatory requirements, but instead provides additional information to assist the oil and gas industry in their efforts to comply with recently-issued rules and prior guidance. “As we continue to strengthen oversight and safety and environmental protections, we must ensure that the oil and gas industry has clear direction on what is expected,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “Following discussions with members of the oil and gas industry…