The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Mexico’s Agency for Safety, Energy, and Environment (ASEA) signed a letter of intent to strengthen cooperation, coordination, and information sharing on environmental matters related to Gulf of Mexico offshore hydrocarbon activities.
BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper and ASEA’s Executive Director Carlos de Regules signed the agreement on Oct. 5 at BOEM’s Washington, DC, headquarters. “It is critical that we work together to ensure the highest levels of environmental protection on both sides of the US-Mexico border, treating our shared Gulf of Mexico as one ecosystem,” Hopper said.
De Regules said formal cooperation between the two countries’ agencies was an important step toward creating a regulatory framework in the gulf, which is critical to Mexico’s successful implementation of its energy policy reforms.
The letter of intent outlines ways the two agencies may coordinate, including:
• Cooperation related to shared environmental objectives, including joint studies and research.
• Application of science and management practices related to environmental protection.
• Periodic information exchanges.
• Staff member training.
• Participation as observers in activities related to each country’s respective authorities.
• Organization of bilateral events and visits.
Mexico and the US have a long history of mutually beneficial cooperation on conservation, management, and sustainable development of natural resources, the officials said. Cooperation between BOEM and ASEA is in keeping with broader bilateral environmental and hydrocarbons cooperation efforts between the two countries, they said.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
