Walter Cruickshank News

The Trump Administration has proposed a $189m fiscal year 2021 budget for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), designating just under $27m for offshore wind.The FY 2021 budget includes approximately $26.5 million to advance offshore renewable energy development.In recognition of the role renewable energy can play in securing the Nation’s energy independence and supporting economic growth, BOEM continues to advance renewable energy through its leasing program and streamlining its permitting and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes.In addition, the proposed budget increases BOEM’s capacity to undertake research activities and foster stakeholder engagement.According to a press note from BOEM…

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…

A new web-based interactive tool for ocean mapping and planning created by NOAA and the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, will give everyone from ocean industries to coastal managers, students, as well as the general public the opportunity to be an ocean explorer from their own computer.U.S. ocean waters comprise nearly four million square miles and is one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) in the world. Now, when users outline any area in the U.S. EEZ using the OceanReports tool, they can get detailed information about habitats and species, industries in the area, potential hazards such as undersea cables or shipwrecks…

NOAA Fisheries, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) signed a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).According to an official release, the MoU brings local and regional fishing interests together with federal regulators to collaborate on the science and process of offshore wind energy development on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf.Safe, reliable, and affordable domestic energy production powers the U.S. economy, promotes jobs and is critical to our nation’s security. Offshore wind is an abundant, domestic energy resource that is located close to major coastal load centers…

A U.S. government auction for three wind leases off the coast of Massachusetts ended on Friday with record-setting bids totaling more than $400 million from European energy giants including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Equinor ASA.The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the sale's three winners - Equinor Wind US LLC, Mayflower Wind Energy LLC, and Vineyard Wind LLC, at the conclusion of the two-day sale that attracted 11 bidders and lasted 32 rounds.Mayflower is a joint venture owned by Shell and EDP Renewables, a division of Portugal's EDP.

In support of the President's America-First Offshore Energy Strategy, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted by Vineyard Wind LLC that would allow it to construct and operate an 800-megawatt (MW) wind energy facility offshore Massachusetts. The publication of the NOI opens a 30-day public comment period. During this time, BOEM will conduct five public scoping meetings and accept comments. The input received via this process will be used to inform preparation of the EIS. "The offshore wind industry continues to advance at a rapid rate…

Eni US will become the first energy company allowed to explore for oil in federal waters off Alaska since 2015 after the Trump administration this week approved a drilling plan on leases the company has been sitting on for 10 years. The approval is conditional on Eni getting other state and federal permits, which in past cases are generally granted once BOEM gives the green light. "We know there are vast oil and gas resources under the Beaufort Sea, and we look forward to working with Eni in their efforts to tap into this energy potential," said BOEM's acting Director Walter Cruickshank.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced it will offer approximately 1.09 million acres off Alaska’s southcentral coast in a lease sale scheduled for June 21. Cook Inlet Oil & Gas Lease Sale 244 will offer 224 blocks toward the northern part of the federal Cook Inlet Planning Area for leasing. The blocks stretch roughly from Kalgin Island in the north to Augustine Island in the south. “We conducted a robust environmental analysis and look forward to holding Alaska’s first OCS lease sale since 2008,” said Dr. Walter Cruickshank, BOEM’s acting director. Livestreaming a lease sale enables BOEM to deliver pertinent bid information immediately to a broad national and international audiences, making it unnecessary to attend the lease sale in person.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced it plans to offer approximately 1.09 million acres in Cook Inlet off Alaska’s southcentral coast in a proposed lease sale this year. Cook Inlet Oil & Gas Lease Sale 244, scheduled to take place in June 2017, would offer 224 blocks toward the northern part of the Cook Inlet Planning Area for leasing. The blocks stretch roughly from Kalgin Island in the north to Augustine Island in the south. “Following a robust environmental analysis, we are moving forward with the Lease Sale 244 process,” said Walter Cruickshank, BOEM’s acting director. The Proposed Notice of Sale is available now at www.boem.gov/ak244. A Notice of Availability will be published Monday, Feb. 27 in the Federal Register Reading Room, and on Tuesday, Feb.

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today named Abigail Ross Hopper as the Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which manages the development of our nation’s conventional and renewable energy and marine mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf. Hopper currently serves as the Director of the Maryland Energy Administration and will assume her new position on January 5, 2015, as the second director in BOEM's history. Hopper will take the helm from Acting Director Dr. Walter Cruickshank, who has been serving since former Director Tommy Beaudreau became Chief of Staff to Secretary Jewell in May 2014. “Abigail Hopper’s knowledge of the energy sector…

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Acting Director Walter Cruickshank today announced that the bureau will offer 40 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama for oil and gas exploration and development in a sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. Proposed Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 235, scheduled to take place in New Orleans, Louisiana, in March of 2015, will be the seventh offshore sale under the Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program).

NOAA, NASA and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) have joined together to support three demonstration projects that will lay the foundation for the first national network to monitor marine biodiversity at scales ranging from microbes to whales. The projects, to be funded at approximately $17 million over the next five years, subject to the availability of funds, will demonstrate how a national operational marine biodiversity observation network could be developed. Such a network would serve as a marine resource management tool to conserve existing biodiversity and enhance U.S. biosecurity against threats such as invasive species and infectious agents.

As a part of President Obama’s continuing commitment to help coastal communities recover from Hurricane Sandy and promote resilient coastal systems, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources signed a two-year cooperative agreement totaling $200,000 to evaluate sand resources for coastal resilience and restoration planning. The cooperative effort will enable BOEM and South Carolina to conduct research that will assist coastal communities recovering from storms like Hurricane Sandy. Under this agreement, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources will evaluate and consolidate existing geological and geophysical data offshore South Carolina.

As part of its commitment to a regionally tailored approach to safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today issued a Call for Information and Nominations for potential Oil and Gas Lease Sale 242, proposed for the Beaufort Sea Planning Area off Alaska in 2017. The 45-day Call seeks to gather information about specific areas within the Beaufort Sea Planning Area that have the most promising oil and gas resource potential, while also increasing the agency’s understanding about environmentally sensitive habitats and important social and cultural uses – including vital Alaska Native subsistence activities – that also exist within the area.

The Obama administration on Friday approved a plan that would allow companies to assess oil resources off the Atlantic Coast, angering environmental groups that worried the plan will harm marine life and open the door to offshore drilling. First outlined by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in February, the plan lays out the mitigation measures companies would be required to undertake before conducting seismic testing to gauge the oil reserves in the Atlantic Ocean. "We are taking every step we think is reasonable to take to try and put those protections in place, while still allowing surveys to occur," Acting BOEM Director Walter Cruickshank said on a press call.

As part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to create American jobs, cut carbon pollution and develop domestic energy sources, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced today it has taken an important step toward issuing a research lease for a facility to test utility-scale wave energy devices in federal waters off Oregon. The non-competitive lease would be for the offshore area where the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center at Oregon State University (Center) would site the hydrokinetic energy research project.

As a part of President Obama's continuing commitment to help coastal communities recover from Hurricane Sandy and promote resilient coastal systems, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the State of New Jersey signed a two-year cooperative agreement totaling $400,000 to identify sand resources for coastal resilience and restoration planning. The agreement will help BOEM and New Jersey conduct research that will help coastal communities recover from Hurricane Sandy, restore habitat, increase our knowledge of sand resources offshore, and contribute to long-term coastal resilience planning efforts. Under this agreement…