New US Drilling Regulatory Head on Platts Energy Week: Slowdown in Permitting 'Inevitable'
Washington - October 18, 2010
Also on the program: EIA’s Winter Fuels Outlook, U.S. Nuclear Renaissance and E15 Gasoline Approval
The new director of the agency regulating U.S. offshore drilling said he hopes that a recently released regulatory regime doesn't slow the permitting process "very much," but said some slowing is inevitable.
Michael Bromwich, the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), said on Platts Energy Week that "the landscape has changed."
"In terms of the number of rules and requirements that each applicant must satisfy, as well as the extent of the environmental analysis that we are going to do to make those judgments, we will slow down the pace of permitting," he said on the all-energy TV program.
In an interview with Platts’ senior writer Gary Gentile, Bromwich added that he said he hoped the permitting process would not slow much, "and I think if we get resources (from Congress) that it may not slow very much at all."
"But now, given the resources, it's inevitable there will be some slowing."
In the interview, Bromwich touched on several issues that indicated he had taken stock of a few practices at the BOEM, the successor agency to the much-criticized Minerals Management Service (MMS). BOEM was launched in reaction to the BP Macondo spill and the perception that MMS failed its regulatory role, helping to lead to the disaster.
For example, he said the MMS had an "ethos" that rewarded employees for the sheer number of drilling permits granted. "I don't think it's appropriate for an agency to have numerical goals for granting permits," he said in the interview. "We're not in a race to grant permits. We will grant permits and we hope to grant a lot of permits. But the permit applications have to fully satisfy all the regulatory requirements that exist."
He added that in the past, the agency "didn't always do that."
Asked in the interview about his earlier criticism of the government's heavy use of existing American Petroleum Institute (API) standards, Bromwich conceded that the BOEM does not have all the expertise that the API does. "In a better-resourced agency, we would have the capability and the confidence to develop our own standards and rules, and I hope we get to that point in the not-too-distant future," he said. "But right now, we're not there, and we can't not do anything, so the alternative is to take industry standards and do our best to incorporate them and modify them in a way that is reasonable."
Other highlights of this week's show include a follow-up talk with Gary Gentile on the BOEM offshore drilling regulation, an interview with Energy Information Administration (EIA) chief Richard Newell on the EIA's Winter Fuels Outlook and a chat with RW Baird senior analyst Christine Tezak on the impact of a canceled new nuclear plant and the future of the so-called nuclear renaissance in the U.S.
This week’s Market Spotlight focused on the Obama administration’s approved fuel increase to 15 percent ethanol, or E15 gasoline, to be used in new cars.
Platts Energy Week
airs weekly at 8 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday mornings on W*USA 9 TV in Washington, D.C. and is available online at www.plattsenergyweektv.com shortly thereafter. The program follows an interview format featuring guests from the Obama administration, Congress, government agencies, think tanks, the investment community and the energy industry. Host Bill Loveless, long-time chief editor of Platts’ Inside Energy, brings nearly three decades of energy journalism experience to the anchor chair.
Program information, special news features, advertising contacts and more can be found at www.plattsenergyweektv.com. Guest booking and related inquiries should be addressed to this email box: plattsenergyweektv@platts.com.
Platts Energy Week is produced by Platts, the world’s leading source of information and intelligence on energy and related commodities and a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies [NYSE: MHP], and W*USA 9TV, the Washington, D.C., CBS affiliate and flagship television station of Gannett Co. [NYSE: GCI]. While the program is U.S. focused and produced in Washington, it reflects the global vantage point of Platts, whose correspondents are stationed in such major capitals as London, Dubai, Singapore, Tokyo and Moscow.
Additional information about Platts and the energy sector can be found at the Platts website at www.platts.com. For more on W*USA 9 News Now, visit the W*USA website at www.wusa9.com.
# # #
About Platts: Platts, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is a leading global provider of energy and commodities information. With a century of business experience, Platts serves customers across more than 150 countries. An independent provider, Platts serves the oil, natural gas, electricity, emissions, nuclear power, coal, petrochemicals, shipping, and metals markets from 17 offices worldwide. Platts' real-time news, pricing, analytical services and conferences help markets operate with transparency and efficiency.
About The McGraw-Hill Companies: Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts, Capital IQ, J.D. Power and Associates, McGraw-Hill Construction and Aviation Week. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2008 were $6.4 billion. Additional information is available at www.mcgraw-hill.com.
About W*USA:
W*USA is owned by the Gannett Company Inc. (NYSE: GCI). Gannett is an international news and information company operating on multiple platforms including the Internet, mobile, newspapers, magazines and TV stations. Gannett is an Internet leader with hundreds of newspaper and TV Web sites; CareerBuilder.com, the nation’s top employment site; USATODAY.com; and more than 80 local MomsLikeMe.com sites. Gannett publishes 84 daily U.S. newspapers, including USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper, and more than 700 magazines and other non-dailies including USA WEEKEND. Gannett also operates 23 television stations in 19 U.S. markets. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom’s second largest regional newspaper company with 17 daily paid-for titles, more than 200 weekly newspapers, magazines and trade publications, and a network of Web sites. Gannett TV stations are: WATL-TV, Atlanta, WXIA-TV, Atlanta, WLBZ-TV, Bangor, Maine, WGRZ-TV, Buffalo, N.Y.WKYC-TV, Cleveland, Ohio, WLTX-TV, Columbia, S.C., KTVD-TV, Denver, Colo. KUSA-TV, Denver, Colo. KNAZ-TV, Flagstaff, Ariz. WZZM-TV, Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Mich., WFMY-TV, Greensboro, N.C., WTLV-TV, Jacksonville, Fla., WJXX-TV, Jacksonville, Fla., WBIR-TV, Knoxville, Tenn., KTHV-TV, Little Rock, Ark., WMAZ-TV, Macon, Ga., KARE-TV, Minneapolis-St. Paul, KPNX-TV, Phoenix, Ariz., WCSH-TV, Portland, Maine, KXTV-TV, Sacramento, Calif., KSDK-TV, St. Louis, Mo., WTSP-TV, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla. WUSA-TV, Washington, D.C.
Media Contacts:
Kathleen Tanzy, Director of Strategic Industry Communications
Platts, 212-904-2860, kathleen_tanzy@platts.com
Steve Houk, Director of Marketing and Promotion
W*USA, 202-895-5970, shouk@wusa9.com