Tag: BOEM

As part of the Obama Administration's ongoing efforts to ensure the safe and responsible production of domestic offshore energy resources, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has administratively increased the limit of liability for oil-spill related damages from $75 million to approximately $134 million for offshore oil and gas facilities. This is consistent with recommendations to increase the liability cap from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and other studies and represents the maximum increase allowable under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. “BOEM is taking an important step to better preserve the “polluter pays” principle of the Oil Pollution Act and further promote safe and environmentally responsible operations,” said Acting Director Walter Cruickshank. “This is the first administrative adjustment since the Oil Pollution Act was enacted in 1990 and is needed to keep pace with inflation, which has increased 78 percent since then.” The administrative adjustment to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 liability cap for offshore facilities is based on the significant increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) that has occurred since 1990. The liability cap is set by statute and may only be adjusted to address significant increases in the CPI. ...

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) recently released a revised environmental analysis of oil and gas activity in the Arctic Ocean. BOEM’s latest analysis leaves no doubt that development and production of the Chukchi Sea oil and gas leases could be devastating to the Arctic marine ecosystem. Perhaps most troubling, a statistical analysis used by BOEM indicates that there is a 75% chance of one or more large spills over the lifetime of Chukchi Sea development and production. BOEM admits that a very large oil spill could result in the death of large numbers of polar bears, bowhead whales, seals, and marine and coastal birds. This environmental analysis and opportunity to comment has been a long time in the making. Almost seven years ago, in February of 2008, the federal government auctioned oil and gas leases in the Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast of Alaska. The auction was known as Lease Sale 193, and it purported to give successful lessees—including Shell—the conditional right to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean. But there was a major problem. In 2010, a federal court found that the environmental analysis underpinning Lease Sale 193 was unlawful; the court required the government ...

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) partners announced the award of a broad Arctic study that will investigate the interrelationship among the physical, biological, chemical and social science components of the Beaufort Sea ecosystem from Barrow, Alaska, to the Mackenzie River delta in Canadian waters. The Marine Arctic Ecosystem Study (MARES) is an integrated ecosystem research initiative coordinated and planned by BOEM in conjunction with its federal and private sector partners: U.S. Arctic Research Commission, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System, Marine Mammal Commission, National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Naval Research, and Shell Oil Company. “BOEM is pleased to join our Federal and industry partners to undertake this forward-looking project,” said BOEM Acting Director Walter Cruickshank. “With widespread interest in the Arctic, including potential oil and gas leasing and development, we’re looking to significantly expand our knowledge of the Beaufort Sea ecosystem to inform our decision-making.” The MARES study is taking place under the NOPP, which brings together federal agencies, academia, industry, and non-governmental organizations to support ocean research. The award recipient, Stantec Consulting Services, Inc., will lead a team of U.S. and ...

In response to a federal court order, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for Chukchi Sea Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193. BOEM prepared the draft SEIS using the best available science, and working in close consultation with Alaska Native tribes, federal partner agencies, state and local governments, stakeholders and the public. “After a robust and thorough process, BOEM has prepared a Draft Supplemental EIS that addresses the issues identified by the court regarding the Chukchi Sea Lease Sale 193,”said BOEM Acting Director Walter Cruickshank. “In the analysis released, BOEM used a new exploration and development scenario to evaluate the potential environmental effects of oil and gas activities associated with Lease Sale 193. We look forward to receiving additional public input as we continue to take a balanced approach to the safe and responsible energy development in the region.” BOEM prepared the revised analysis in accordance with the April 24, 2014, remand order of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. The original EIS for Lease Sale 193 was published in 2007 and the sale was conducted in 2008. Subsequent legal challenges and federal court decisions ...

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 announced that the bureau will offer nearly 44 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). This sale builds on the first six sales in the current Five Year Program, which have offered more than 60 million acres and netted $2.4 billion for American taxpayers. “As one of the most productive basins in the world, the Gulf of Mexico is a cornerstone of our domestic energy portfolio, offering vital oil and gas resources that further economic growth and continue to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” said Cruickshank. “This lease sale is another important step in promoting responsible domestic energy production through the safe, environmentally sound ...

BSEE's Susan Dwarnick traveled to Whitehorse, Canada last week for a meeting of the Arctic Council's PAME working group and associated workshops

BOEM has published a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for proposed Gulf of Mexico Western Planning Area Lease Sales 246 and 248. BOEM is proposing to offer approximately 21 million acres for oil and gas leasing during these two sales. The sales are proposed to be held in 2015 and 2016. BOEM is asking for comments regarding the Draft Supplemental EIS and has scheduled public meetings as follows: Houston, Texas: Tuesday, September 23, 2014, Houston Airport Marriott at George Bush Intercontinental, 18700 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77032, beginning at 1:00 p.m. CDT; and New Orleans, Louisiana: Thursday, September 25, 2014, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123, beginning at 1:00 p.m. CDT. You can visit the Public Review page on the BOEM website for details on how to submit comments and to download or view the Draft Supplemental EIS. Source: BOEM  In the start, I was frank with you propecia before and after has changed my subsistence. It has become much more fun, and now I have to run. Just as it is fabulous to sit.

BOEM has published a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for proposed Gulf of Mexico Western Planning Area Lease Sales 246 and 248

BOEM announced that it is extending the public comment period for the RFI on the Preperation of the OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program

As part of its commitment to a regionally tailored approach to safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) 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. Issuing the Call is an early step in the bureau's targeted approach to leasing offshore Alaska, as established in the Department of the Interior's 2012-2017 Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Leasing Program. The Call does not indicate a final decision about any areas that may be offered for lease in the future. "There is significant oil and gas potential in the Beaufort Sea, but this part of the Arctic Ocean is also a unique and sensitive environment that is critically important to the subsistence needs of Alaska Native communities on the North Slope," ...