The NewsRoom
Release:
Date: May 27, 2010
Salazar Calls for New Safety Measures for Offshore Oil and Gas Operations; Orders Six Month Moratorium on Deepwater Drilling
Cancels Western Gulf and Virginia Lease Sales, Suspends Proposed Arctic Drilling
WASHINGTON
–
To improve the safety of oil and gas development in federal
waters, provide greater environmental protection and
substantially reduce the risk of catastrophic events such as the
BP Deepwater Horizon
oil spill, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today called
for aggressive new operating standards and requirements for
offshore energy companies and ordered a six-month moratorium on
deepwater drilling. He also canceled a pending lease sale in
the Gulf of Mexico and a proposed lease sale off the coast of
Virginia, and suspended proposed exploratory drilling in the
Arctic.
The recommendations in the
30-Day Safety Report
Salazar
sent President Obama include
a recertification of all Blowout Preventers (BOPs) for floating
drilling operations; stronger well control practices, blowout
prevention and intervention procedures; tougher inspections for
deepwater drilling operations; and expanded safety and training
programs for rig workers.
“As we marshal every resource in support of the massive response
effort for the BP oil spill, we must take appropriate action to
prevent such a disaster in the future,” Secretary Salazar said.
“We are taking a cautious approach to offshore oil and gas
development as we strengthen safety and oversight of offshore
oil and gas operations.”
Secretary Salazar is ordering a moratorium on drilling of new
deepwater wells until the Presidential Commission investigating
the BP oil spill has completed its six-month review. In
addition, permitted wells currently being drilled in the
deepwater (not counting the emergency relief wells being
drilled) in the
Gulf of Mexico will be required to halt drilling at the first
safe stopping point, and then take steps to secure the well.
Additional safety checks will be imposed on ongoing deepwater
drilling activities as they prepare to shut down their
operations. The Department of the Interior will be issuing
notices to lessees and other documentation necessary to
implement the moratorium.
Secretary Salazar said the Administration will continue to take
a
cautious approach in the
Arctic and, in light of the need for additional information
about spill risks and spill response capabilities, will postpone
consideration of Shell’s proposal to drill up to five
exploration wells in the Arctic this summer. In March,
Secretary Salazar
cancelled the remaining four lease sales in
the 2007-2012 program that the previous Administration had
scheduled for the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the Arctic, and
the President formally withdrew Alaska’s Bristol Bay from the
oil and gas leasing program. The Department will make decisions
about potential future lease sales in Alaska in the 2012-2017
OCS program based on public input, scientific analysis, and the
results of on-going investigations and reviews into the BP oil
spill. (For a link to a fact sheet on OCS policy,
click here.)
The Secretary today also cancelled a proposed 2012 lease sale
for offshore Virginia to allow additional consultations with the
Department of Defense on military training requirements in the
area, and canceled a lease sale for the Gulf of Mexico that was
scheduled for August 2010. The findings of the Presidential
Commission, environmental reviews, science-based analysis and
public input will inform the Secretary’s decisions about whether
to move forward with other leases sales in the Gulf of Mexico
that are currently scheduled for 2011 and 2012, along with
decisions about what areas in the Gulf of Mexico and the
Atlantic should be considered for inclusion in the 2012-2017 OCS
program.
“We must proceed with the utmost caution as we examine the many
questions that the BP oil spill raises,” Salazar said. “Prudence
dictates that we pause and examine our drilling systems
thoroughly so that we can ensure that this type of disaster does
not happen again.”
Interior’s expedited
Safety Report recommends
a number of specific measures that can be taken on both a short
and longer term basis to enhance the safety of offshore oil and
gas activities. The report focuses on the two primary failures
in the drilling process that may have led to the BP disaster:
the loss of well control, and the failure of the blowout
preventer (BOP) mechanism.
BOP equipment used on all OCS floating drilling rigs must be
re-inspected and receive independent recertification to ensure
that the devices
will operate as originally designed and that any modifications
or upgrades conducted after delivery have not compromised the
design or operation of the BOP. Operators must also provide
independent verification that the recertified BOP will operate
properly with the drilling rig equipment and is compatible with
the specific well location, borehole design and drilling plan.
Within a year, all operations will require two sets of blind
shear rams on BOPs to prevent system failure during an
emergency.
The BOPs contain mechanisms designed to shut off the flow of oil
and gas, either on command or automatically, when required or
when a wellhead is damaged or experiences a blowout.
Investigators are seeking to determine why the BOP atop the
Deepwater Horizon
well failed to activate as designed.
Well control design,
construction and flow intervention mechanisms and procedures
are being strengthened to require expert review and verification
and mechanical and physical flow barriers in the drill casings
and BOP equipment to prevent blowouts. Tougher requirements will
improve the installation and cementing of drill casings in the
wellbore to increase safety.
Some of Salazar’s recommendations can be carried out immediately
through Notices to Lessees, which will advise OCS lessees and
operators of the requirements and provide guidance for their
implementation. The Department will also immediately undertake
an evaluation and revision of the manner in which it conducts
drilling inspections on the OCS, and will issue a final rule
covering operator Safety and Environmental Management Systems.
Other measures, although identified, are more appropriate to
address initially through a formal rulemaking process. The
Department will issue an interim final rule within 120 days to
address these measures, and will provide a comment period to
elicit input that may lead to further adjustments to this final
rule.
Interior has identified a number of additional issues associated
with the safety of OCS drilling that will benefit from further
study and a wider discussion. The Department will therefore
immediately provide for the establishment of DOI working groups
to further develop measures and recommendations around these
issues, seeking input as appropriate from academia, industry,
and other technical experts and stakeholders. These issues
involve highly technical and complex evaluations that must be
undertaken with due care.
These working groups will present recommendations for further
safety and environmental protection measures within 6 months,
with implementation of the new recommendations through
appropriate process within one year. The recommendations from
these Departmental working groups may also inform the efforts of
the President’s new bipartisan National Commission.
On
April 30, 2010, President Obama directed Secretary Salazar to
prepare the expedited report evaluating additional offshore oil
and gas safety measures that could be put into action on an
interim basis, even before on-going investigations identify the
root cause of the BP oil spill disaster. Interior consulted
with a wide range of experts from industry, government, and
academia. Draft recommendations were reviewed by seven experts
identified by the National Academy of Engineering.
For a link to the 30-day safety report,
click here.
For a link to Secretary Salazar’s cover letter to the President,
click here.
For a link to a fact sheet on OCS policy,
click here.
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Last Updated:
05/28/2010,
01:02 PM
Central Time
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