Reforms in response to US President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 13771 have resulted in $2.5 billion of regulatory relief for oil and gas producers during the fiscal year 2018, the Department of the Interior indicated on Oct. 17. “The Trump Administration is doing exactly what was promised and making smart decisions to reform and reduce the regulatory burden on the American people and economy, and it’s producing big results,” Sec. Ryan Zinke said.
Interior’s announcement specifically mentioned two actions:
• The US Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to revise a 2016 venting and flaring rule after a review found that it underestimated its impact on operators and overlapped with existing state and federal regulations (OGJ Online Feb. 13, 2018).
• The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s proposed changes in offshore well control and blowout preventer rules put in place following the 2010 Macondo deepwater well blowout and subsequent crude oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico (OGJ Online, Apr. 27, 2018).
“On President Trump’s first day in office, the total US oil production was 8.8 million b/d. Today, we’re the largest oil and gas producer on the face of the planet, producing 11.2 million b/d, and we’re on our way to 14 million b/d,” Zinke said.
Interior is finalizing other regulatory actions that include updating the use of critical habitat designations and strengthening scientific standards used to list and delist species under the Endangered Species Act, Zinke noted.
Two national oil and gas associations responded to Interior’s announcement. “The US needs smart, cost-effective regulations that balance environmental protection, health, and safety with the oil and gas production that Americans rely on,” an American Petroleum Institute spokesman said. “The administration is taking important steps in this direction, and API hopes this will continue.”
Independent Petroleum Association of America Executive Vice-Pres. Dan Naatz noted that as environmental stewards and businessmen and women who live in the communities where they work, IPAA member companies try to explore for and produce as much oil and gas as possible while staying mindful of the need to protect public lands and the environment.
“The Trump administration’s rules recognize this fact and acknowledges the cost burden placed on companies which work and explore on federal lands,” he told OGJ. “This includes BLM’s recent action on the highly flawed, Obama-era venting and flaring rule. Recent DOI regulatory reform has allowed our members to invest more back into their businesses and help ensure that product remains at the record highs we’re currently seeing.”
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].