The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will resume consideration of applications from six offshore geophysical contractors seeking permission to conduct geological and geophysical surveys along the US Atlantic Continental Shelf, the Department of the Interior announced.
The May 10 action, as part of President Donald Trump’s Apr. 28 offshore energy executive order, reverses instructions late in the Obama administration for BOEM to reject the applications since the area was removed from the 2017-22 OCS management plan (OGJ Online, Jan. 6, 2017). The six companies immediately appealed to the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) to have their applications reinstated.
“Seismic surveying helps a variety of federal and state partners better understand our nation’s offshore areas, including locating offshore hazards, siting of wind turbines, as well as offshore energy development,” said US Sec. of the Interior Ryan Zinke. “Allowing this scientific pursuit enables us to safely identify and evaluate resources that belong to the American people.”
Acting BOEM Director Walter D. Cruickshank asked IBLA to remand the appeals back to the agency so it can resume considering whether each will be approved or denied.
“BOEM’s mission is to manage the development of our nation’s offshore resources in an environmentally and economically responsible way,” Cruickshank said. “We will continue to keep the public informed as we renew our efforts to evaluate these permits.”
Offshore oil and gas associations welcomed the news. “Existing resource estimates for the Atlantic OCS are based on data collected from seismic surveys conducted more than 30 years ago,” National Ocean Industries Association Pres. Randall B. Luthi noted on May 10.
“As the Trump administration moves forward in developing a new 5-year OCS program, new surveys using modern technology are vital to providing an up-to-date and scientifically accurate picture of the offshore oil and gas resources off our Atlantic seaboard,” he said.
“Today’s action to correct the course for sound US energy policy demonstrates this administration’s commitment to science over politics and to lawful procedures over rhetoric,” International Association of Geophysical Contractor Pres. Nikki Martin said in Houston.
The Obama administration’s Jan. 6 rejection of the companies’ applications disregarded the rule of law and ignored BOEM’s own environmental impact analyses and conclusions, she maintained.
“IAGC and its six member companies whole-heartedly support today’s decision. We and our members look forward to the timely and lawful processing of these permits, some of which were filed as long as 9 years ago,” Martin said.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
