By TONI ELLINGTON
On April 13, 2015, approximately five years after the disastrous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama Administration announced new steps to tighten regulations for offshore oil rigs. The proposed regulations are designed to help prevent oil well blowouts and minimize environmental damages from future leaks and spills. According to the Department of Interior, the new requirements for offshore rigs are based on investigations after-the-fact into the Deepwater Horizon spill.
Many of the proposed technical requirements address systems and technical implements such as blowout preventers and the testing of blowout preventers to ensure against failures. The new regulations would require third-party reviews of repair and maintenance records for all blowout preventers, and would also require real-time monitoring of blowout preventers both onboard the rigs and onshore. In addition, the regulations would require safety inspections for every well in the Gulf of Mexico every two weeks.
The Department of Interior estimates that the new standards would result in a total cost of $883 million to 90 oil and gas companies over the next ten years. The proposed requirements incorporate technical recommendations from the petroleum industry. The American Petroleum Institute is reviewing the proposed requirements in light of voluntary safety measures already established after the spill.
The Department of Interior announcement and regulations can be found at www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases. The 60-day public comment period on the proposed regulations began on April 15, 2015.
For more information, call (504) 599-8500.
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