Us Department Of The Interior News

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Tuesday finalized two wind energy areas (WEAs) in the offshore Oregon region, aligning with government goals to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power along U.S. coastlines this decade to fight climate change.The two WEAs, Coos Bay WEA and Brookings WEA, are spread across 195,012 acres (78,919 hectares) and "the department continues to take steps to evolve its approach to offshore wind to drive towards union-built projects and a domestic-based supply chain," said the agency, which is part of the U.S.

The U.S. Department of the Interior on Thursday approved the Empire Wind offshore project, owned by Equinor and BP, the sixth commercial-scale wind farm to be greenlit under President Joe Biden's administration.Empire Wind is among several offshore wind projects facing construction and financing cost blowouts that the troubled industry says would not be covered by existing power sales contracts, but it could be helped by a new auction planned by New York state.Along with Danish counterpart Orsted, Equinor and BP have taken a combined $5 billion of writedowns on U.S.

A U.S. judge has rejected challenges to federal environmental permits and construction approvals for a $4 billion offshore wind farm near Massachusetts, which commercial fishing groups have claimed will harm whales and impair their businesses.U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston last Thursday tossed the final two federal district court lawsuits directly challenging the Vineyard Wind project roughly 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, which would be the first commercial…

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Tuesday approved the construction of a 704-megawatt (MW) wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, the fourth major offshore wind project the agency has greenlit as the Biden administration tries to meet a goal of bringing 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power online by 2030.The Revolution Wind project about 15 nautical miles southeast of Point Judith, R.I. is being developed by Eversource and Ørsted as Rhode Island and Connecticut's first utility-scale offshore wind farm…

German energy company RWE announced it has hired Amanda Lefton as Vice President of Offshore Development, U.S. East.Lefton was previously Director of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) during a period of sigificant growth for the U.S. offshore wind industry under direction from the Biden Administration. Lefton resigned from here position at BOEM effective January 19, 2023.RWE is one of the world's largest producers of offshore wind energy, with projects in Asia, Europe and the United States.

The U.S. Department of the Interior said Monday that President Biden would take action to designate about 2.8 million acres in the Arctic Ocean nearshore the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) as indefinitely off-limits for future oil and gas leasing. This action will complete protections for the entire Beaufort Sea Planning Area, building upon President Obama’s 2016 withdrawal under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect the Chukchi Sea Planning Area and the majority of the Beaufort Sea…

Most of the media coverage of offshore wind development in the United States focuses on the leases of the offshore areas where the wind turbines will be located. However, equally important is the landside dimension of these projects, including the manufacture, installation, maintenance and operation of the turbines. Several awards made in the last two rounds of funding under the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) show how offshore wind now offers an additional direction of port development for which funding is available.

The U.S. Department of the Interior will reform its regulations for the development of wind energy facilities on the country's outer continental shelf to help meet crucial climate goals, it said in a statement on Thursday.The proposed rule changes would save developers a projected $1 billion over a 20-year period by streamlining burdensome processes, clarifying ambiguous provisions, and lowering compliance costs, the statement said. "Updating these regulations will facilitate the safe and efficient development of offshore wind energy resources…

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced next steps to bring offshore wind energy to the Gulf of Maine. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has made available a Request for Interest (RFI) and Request for Competitive Interest (RFCI) in the Federal Register for public comment.“President Biden has set ambitious goals to address the climate crisis, and in response the Interior Department is taking historic steps to develop a robust and sustainable clean energy future,” said Secretary Deb Haaland.

The U.S. Department of the Interior said Monday that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) would conduct an environmental review of the first proposed wind energy project offshore Maryland, in line with the country's goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.The Department will this week publish a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted by US Wind, LLC (US Wind).

Erik Milito, president of the U.S. National Ocean Industries Association, said this week that the U.S. government's decision not to hold offshore oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet was expected, but also "devastating to Americans.""This decision is not surprising at all. As early as March 2020, then-candidate Biden made it clear that he would stop federal oil and gas development if elected. This was followed by additional formal campaign declarations…

The U.S. will hold a wind energy auction for two lease areas offshore the Carolinas on May 11, the U.S. Department of the Interior said Friday, as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has completed its environmental review.The lease areas cover 110,091 acres in the Carolina Long Bay area that, if developed, could result in at least 1.3 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, enough to power nearly 500,000 homes, the Department of the Interior said."The Biden-Harris administration is committed to supporting a robust clean energy economy…

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has granted Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for the South Fork Wind, New York’s first offshore wind farm, Ørsted confirmed Thursday. This is the final decision needed from the agency to move the project toward the start of construction. The approximately 130 MW South Fork Wind project, owned by the Danish firm Orsted AS and U.S. company Eversource Energy, will be located about 19 miles (30.58 km) southeast of Block Island…

The Biden administration has announced ambitious plans to scale up leasing for offshore wind energy projects along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts. In an announcement released on Oct. 13, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Interior stated that it will “use the best available science as well as knowledge from ocean users and other stakeholders to minimize conflict with existing uses and marine life.” University of Massachusetts Boston public policy scholar David W. Cash, who worked at senior levels in state government for a decade…

The Biden administration on Friday said it was seeking buyers for offshore wind energy leases in the shallow waters between Long Island and New Jersey as part of its effort to ramp up the share of offshore wind generation over the next decade.In a statement, the U.S. Department of the Interior said the proposed sale for offshore wind development on the Outer Continental shelf in the New York Bight has "the potential to unlock over 7 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, powering…

The US should define the Gulf of Mexico Shallow Water Province as a distinct entity to avoid stranding more than $20 billion of its oil and gas resource, said a new research.According to a research from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) the GOM Shallow Water Province, comprised of water less than 200 meters deep, is a historically energy-rich area which now produces natural gas, accounting for 33% of the gulf’s gas production and just over 10% of its oil production.Production and infrastructure investment used to be substantially higher in the Shallow Water Province…

Thursby Software Systems, provider of two-factor authenticated browsing and email on mobile devices, announced integration with Route1, a technology solutions innovator dedicated to delivering secure data protection technologies and mobility solutions for government, industrial and the enterprise sector.The days of carrying around a laptop to do work while traveling are over. Mobile devices are now able to access emails and crucial websites, which is typically enough to satisfy the needs of even frequent travelers. There are times, however, where access to the local desktop is critical. By partnering together, Thursby Software Systems, Inc.

A federal FASTLANE grant has been approved for S.S. Badger Ports & Harbor project impacting Manitowoc, Wis. and Ludington, Mich. A primer on how things get done. This is a story about two communities on the shores of Lake Michigan and the unique car ferry that connects them. The SS Badger provides a nautical “highway” across one of our nation’s major waterways, carrying passengers, oversized loads and trucks of nearly every kind. Essentially, the ferry provides a vital lifeline of commerce, tourism and economic growth between the cities of Manitowoc, Wis. and Ludington, Mich.

About 14.6 percent of U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil production is offline ahead of Tropical Storm Nate, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Thursday.   Nate is forecast to enter the Gulf and strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall early on Sunday in Louisiana, near several major refineries. Several producers have started evacuating staff from Gulf platforms ahead of the storm, with production equaling 254,607 barrels of oil per day already offline, according to BSEE.   About 6.4 percent of Gulf natural gas production remains offline, BSEE said.   Reporting by Ernest Scheyder

Tropical Storm Nate killed at least 22 people in Central America on Thursday as it pummeled the region with heavy rain while heading toward Mexico's Caribbean resorts and the U.S. Gulf Coast, where it could strike as a hurricane this weekend. In Nicaragua, at least 11 people died, seven others were reported missing and thousands had to evacuate homes because of flooding, said the country's vice president Rosario Murillo. Emergency officials in Costa Rica reported that at least eight people were killed due to the lashing rain, including two children. Another 17 people were missing, while more than 7,000 had to take refuge from Nate in shelters, authorities said.

About 71 percent of U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil production is offline ahead of Tropical Storm Nate, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Friday.   Nate is forecast to enter the Gulf and strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall late Saturday in Louisiana, near several major refineries.   Oil companies have evacuated staff from Gulf platforms and curtailed output ahead of the storm, with production equaling 1.24 million barrels of crude per day already offline, according to BSEE.   About 53.2 percent of Gulf natural gas production remains offline, BSEE said.   Reporting by Ernest Scheyder

About 13 percent of U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil production remains offline in the aftermath of Hurricane Nate, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Friday.   That equals about 220,000 barrels per day in production that is offline, according to BSEE. Oil companies evacuated staff from Gulf platforms and curtailed output ahead of the storm, which hit the region last weekend.   About 7 percent of U.S. Gulf natural gas production remains offline, BSEE said. (Reporting by Rod Nickel in Houston; Editing by James Dalgleish)

National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) president Randall Luthi comments on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) 2019-2024 National Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program, which seeks to open nearly all U.S. offshore waters to oil and gas drilling. With 94 percent of our nation’s outer continental shelf (OCS) currently and unnecessarily off limits to oil and gas leasing and exploration, NOIA welcomes the bold and broad offshore leasing proposal released January 4 by the Department of the Interior.