The National Petroleum Council approved and submitted a supplemental assessment to its 2015 US Arctic Oil and Gas Potential Resources Report to Energy Sec. Rick Perry on May 2. It contains recommendations addressing enhanced safety and environmental stewardship, regulatory effectiveness and certainty, drilling season length, lease term competitiveness, and enabling infrastructure, the council noted.
In his August 2018 request, Perry asked the council to consider recent exploration experience and technological advancements in Arctic offshore oil and gas development that could inform government decision making. He also asked the NPC to provide views on whether the nation’s regulatory environment could be enhanced to improve reliability, safety, efficiency, and environmental stewardship, the council indicated.
Substantial Artic exploration drilling has taken place in the last 4 years, with 47 wells drilled, including 2 wells in the US Arctic, the supplemental assessment said. Substantial progress also has been made in demonstrating and advancing technology to prevent and respond to an oil spill in Arctic conditions, it added.
NPC is a federal advisory committee to the US Energy Secretary. Its sole purpose is to advise, inform, and make recommendations to the secretary, at his request, on matters relating to crude oil and natural gas, and the oil and gas industries. The council has roughly 200 members, representing all oil and gas industry segments, as well as a broad cross section of non-industry members.
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