DOD report suggests limits to oil, gas activity in eastern gulf

May 21, 2018
The US Department of Defense considers the eastern Gulf of Mexico an irreplaceable national asset for developing and maintaining combat force readiness where sufficient surface limits and activity restrictions would need to be developed if oil and gas exploration and production was to be allowed there, DOD said.

The US Department of Defense considers the eastern Gulf of Mexico an irreplaceable national asset for developing and maintaining combat force readiness where sufficient surface limits and/or activity restrictions would need to be developed if oil and gas exploration and production was to be allowed there, DOD said in a May 9 report to leaders of two US House committees.

“The unique capabilities and infrastructure present in the region have been developed over decades through the investment of billions of taxpayer dollars and countless hours and countless hours of effort by federal, state, and private organizations and local citizens,” Undersecretary of Defense Michael D. Griffin told the Armed Services and Natural Resources committees’ chairmen and ranking minority members.

“No other area in the world provides the US military with ready access to a highly instrumented, network-connected, surrogate environment for military operations in the Northern Arabian Gulf and Indo-Pacific Theater,” he observed.

But if oil and gas operations were to extend east of the Military Mission Line without sufficient surface limitations and/or oil and gas activity restrictions on which the US Departments of Defense and the Interior mutually agreed, “military flexibility in the region would be lost and training activities would be severely affected,” Griffin warned.

A less capable and less prepared military force result, an outcome which would directly conflict with National Defense Strategy goals, he indicated. The report arrived as the Armed Services Committee prepared to mark up the Fiscal 2019 Defense Authorization, which it eventually passed in a 60-1 vote.

A template and starting point

The National Ocean Industries Association said on May 10 that the report provides not only a template for future negotiations between DOD and DOI, but also a starting point for a cooperative and productive relationship between DOD and NOIA and its member companies.

“The report shows there is a lot of ocean out there and while there will be devils in the details, the overall message from the Pentagon should be interpreted as cooperation and coordination,” suggested NOIA Pres. Randall B. Luthi. “In addition, as companies are allowed to explore and evaluate oil and gas plays, it is likely that areas of high potential will be more clearly defined and thus allow for additional military operations.”

He said that the report identifies areas in the gulf where oil and gas activities can occur and, more significantly, very limited place where DOD believes they cannot.

“Military operations and energy development have co-existed and thrived in many areas in the Gulf of Mexico for decades under a 1983 Memorandum of Agreement between DOD and DOI, as evidenced by the roughly one-third of current gulf leases including military training stipulations and restrictions,” Luthi said.

“The report concludes that, with similar stipulations and restrictions mutually agreed on by DOD and DOI, critical military operations and essential energy development can co-exist and thrive in the eastern Gulf of Mexico as well,” he maintained.