Nick Snow
Washington Editor
As the US offshore oil and gas industry tried to adjust to new federal regulations in the wake of the Macondo well accident and crude oil spill, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement's director signaled that more reforms are ahead.
"While we have already put in place significant pieces of our comprehensive reform agenda, our work is far from complete," Michael R. Bromwich told the First International Oil & Gas Law Conference in New Orleans on Dec. 8.
He said that BOEMRE soon will move through the standard rulemaking process to implement further safety measures, including establishing additional requirements for blowout preventers and remotely operated vehicles. The agency that formerly was the US Minerals Management Service also will consider additional workplace safety rules that will include requirements for independent third-party verifications of operators' programs, he indicated.
Bromwich said that since BOEMRE announced its new rules at the end of September, "we have heard from countless companies, trade associations, and members of Congress of the significant anxiety that currently exists in the industry that we will soon change the rules of the permitting process significantly, thereby creating further uncertainty about what is required to conduct business on the OCS.
"This is not the case," he continued. "Barring significant, unanticipated revelations from the ongoing investigations into the root causes of the [Macondo well] incident, I do not anticipate further emergency rulemakings.
'Must keep pace'
"But at the same time, we can no longer accept the view that the appropriate response to a rapidly evolving, developing, and changing industry [that] employs increasingly sophisticated technologies is for the regulatory framework and the applicable rules to remain frozen. Over time, the regulatory framework and the specific requirements must keep pace," Bromwich said.
He said that BOEMRE will continue to analyze information that becomes available, including findings and recommendations of the ongoing investigations into the causes of the Apr. 20 accident and subsequent spill. It also will implement reforms to provide stronger worker and environmental protection offshore, he maintained.
"In developing these reforms, we will balance the need for regulatory certainty against the need to act on new insights and adapt to changing technology. And, importantly, the processing of drilling permit applications and proposed drilling plans will not be delayed while these additional reforms are developed," he declared.
Bromwich said that industry groups sometimes have reflexively opposed new rules in the past.
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