Amid loud celebrations of US onshore oil and gas potential from tight shale formations, National Ocean Industries Association Pres. Randall B. Luthi works hard to remind policymakers that what's waiting to be discovered and produced offshore still matters.
He received some help when the National Petroleum Council said in its Mar. 31 Arctic Potential report that the US has large offshore oil potential up there-similar to Russia and larger than Canada and Norway-which could enhance national, economic, and energy security.
Luthi lauded the study, noting that the lack of a sufficient US Coast Guard presence and oil and gas industry spill response capacity up north is readily apparent.
That's why Alaska and federal government regulators need to start working with producers to address this problem, he told OGJ on Apr. 3.
Right now, it's a chicken-or-egg question, he said, adding that a broad public-private partnership might be one solution. It helps that Alaska's senior US senator, Lisa Murkowski (R), chairs both the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Appropriations Committee's Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, Luthi added.
He said a more immediate question, as NOIA members prepare to visit Washington for its annual meeting Apr. 15-17, is how to respond to the US Department of the Interior's draft proposed 2017-22 federal Outer Continental Shelf management program.
Luthi noted that in some respects, the Obama administration's outlook toward offshore oil and gas has improved in the president's second term.
I think they're more comfortable, he told OGJ. There are more leaders who are managers now, and not as many who are concerned with political goals.
A policy dichotomy
Luthi continued, They're also concerned about their legacy. In this case, it's a dichotomy: On one hand, they don't want to be remembered as an administration which tried to put a lid on domestic oil and gas production. On the other, they're very concerned about possible climate impacts.
Consequently, in the 2017-22 draft OCS proposals, DOI proposed a new Mid-Atlantic lease sale, but it didn't make things easy, NOIA's president said.
If a sale occurs, any leases would have to be at least 50 miles offshore which would make exploration and development much more expensive. The draft proposed program also did not consider a lease sale in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, Luthi said.
It should have included one should Congress decide to lift the moratorium there before 2022, he said.
Top officials from federal agencies which regulate NOIA member companies' operations are due to speak at the annual meeting.
Twenty executives will be in a day early for visits to personally state their cases, Luthi told OGJ.
