New Burdens Placed on Shallow-Water Drilling Industry

Government regulators have taken steps to improve shallow-water drilling. These new requirements were created following the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico and have been met with some opposition.

According to the article published in the Wall Street Journal, “Regulator Rebuffs Shallow-Water Drillers Over Permits,” shallow-water drillers are not happy with the new burdens placed on the industry, which apparently already has a decent safety record. The requirements make drillers submit extensive paperwork showing compliance with safety standards. For example, shallow-water drillers have to certify that they have performed numerous reviews of their operations and that they are ready to respond to emergency operations, if necessary.

Recently, government regulators said that they would not approve new shallow-water drilling permits until the companies comply with the new safety requirements. Not surprisingly, this action has created uproar in the industry.

“That will not make everyone happy, but it is the right way to proceed,” Michael Bromwich, the head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, said. Bromwich did admit that these new safety rules would lengthen the application review process.

These requirements are part of the government’s attempt to ensure that another disaster like the Deepwater Horizon spill doesn’t occur. The recent Mariner Energy platform fire has also fueled regulators’ concerns. Fortunately, no one was killed in that Gulf of Mexico accident.

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