Offshore regulator explains the new approach

The U.S. Bureau of Bureau ofSafety and Environmental Enforcement was created in the aftermath of 2010’ s Deep water Horizon explosion and oils pill to police offshore drilling rigs and their operators.

But since President Donald Trump took office in January, the agency has put a new priority on “economic development ,” Lars Herb st, Gulf of Mexico region director at B SEE, said in an interview last week.

“Our mission has not changed. I don’ t want folks to think we’ re just looking at the economiche said .“We always had a conservation mission as well, which was not very well understood, about the effective and efficient development of offshore resources. Thisadministration is looking at it as it’ s not ‘either/or, ’it’s ‘and.’”

The driver, Herb st said, is that oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico stands to go into decline over the next decade if investment in offshore fields does not increase quickly,

“Right now what may surprise some people is we’ re at a record level of oil production offshore ,” he said. “That’s only because of past investments companies have made .”

The agency is reviewing federal policies to increase offshore drilling, following an executive order from the White House in April. Among polices under scrutiny is the O ba ma administration’ s well control rule, which placed strict requirements on how oil companies drill offshore well sand the equipment they use in trying to prevent another Deep waterHorizon disaster, which killed 11 people and caused billions in environmental damage.

“We’re still working those recommendations,” Herb st said .“We’ re looking to what degree safety is improved versus the economic impact. The fact industry has already implemented some of the rule, we’ re probably not going back on those.”