Tag: BOEM

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the launch of the Marine Minerals Information System (MMIS), a tool to assist decision-makers in managing coastal recovery and planning coastal resilience projects.

The BSEE issued an investigation report on the fire onboard a Petrobras drillship during pipe handling operations in December 2017, which resulted in one fatality. The report identified poor compliance with procedures and lack of understanding for the drill floor zone areas during operations as key causes of the accident. 

US  Senate Democrats are questioning the legality of the Trump administration’s plan to continue work on its five-year offshore drilling plan during the partial federal government shutdown, according to Reuters. The Senators sent a letter to David Bernhardt, the Department of Interior’s acting secretary, and Walter Cruickshank, acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) asking why the latter updated its plan to enable 40 employees to work on the offshore leasing program.

A federal court judge issued, on January 18, that the federal government can not process seismic testing permits for offshore drilling during the ongoing government shutdown, according to Reuters. The decision was ruled in response to motion filed by a range of conversation and business groups that are opposed to the administration’s efforts to expand U.S. offshore drilling.

A group of House Democrats introduced a suite of eight bills, on December 8, aimed at blocking President Trump’s proposal to expand offshore oil and natural gas drilling around the country. The bills occurred as Trump administration is to release the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) Proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, that will define the administration's vision of drilling procedures.

Norwegian oil major Equinor has been the provisional winner of one of the three leases offered in the US government’s wind lease sale for an area offshore the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and east of New York. This new lease is part of the company's commitment to taking a leadership position in renewable energy development in the US.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will conduct a public seminar in Sterling, Virginia, on April 26, 2018. The seminar will regard the Proposed Sale Notice for a Wind Energy Area offshore Massachusetts. The US Department of the Interior had announced the Proposed Sale Notice for a Wind Energy Area offshore Massachusetts totaling nearly 390,000 acres. 

Under the establishment of a US energy policy, BOEM announced it is conducting a high-level assessment of all waters offshore the US Atlantic Coast for potential future offshore wind lease locations. As part of its commitment to renewable energy and offshore wind, BOEM has awarded to date 13 commercial offshore wind leases.

In support of the “America First Energy Plan,” the US BOEM published draft guidelines for the use of a “Design Envelope” approach in Construction and Operations Plans for offshore wind energy facilities in the US.

The proposal, announced by Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, covers an area of 76,967,935 acres, which is about the size of New Mexico, and is scheduled for March 2018, including all available unleased areas on the Gulf’s Outer Continental Shelf.