OCS Scientific Committee
1999 Meeting Summary - Associate Director’s
Presentation
Ms. Carolita Kallaur, Associate Director for Offshore Minerals Management,
informed the Committee of the major offshore activities occurring in the MMS regional and
headquarters offices.
One particular area of interest that she addressed was a recent MMS publication that
presents the role of the OCS oil and natural gas program in meeting this Nation’s
sustainable development goals. She specifically addressed the three pillars of sustainable
development: environment, economics, and society. The report is posted on the MMS website
at http://www.mms.gov/sd/.
Another topic Ms. Kallaur discussed was the role of natural gas as the preferred fossil
fuel for the future because of its cleaner burning qualities. A key concern in this regard
is meeting this Nation’s natural gas needs which are projected to increase to 33
trillion cubic feet per year. Because it is not economical to import natural gas from
foreign nations, the United States must look to developing its domestic supplies,
including those on the outer continental shelf. Therefore, it’s important that the
MMS has a dialogue with industry and other stakeholders about what role the OCS may play
in the future.
Associate Director Kallaur discussed the international aspect of the offshore oil and
gas program. To date, much of the focus has been on safety issues; however, there is also
an environmental component to a lot of what’s going on internationally. It is felt
there should be standardized training requirements for people working on rigs recognizing
that these rigs are all often regionally different in terms of climate. It’s believed
that in terms of sustainable development, by having discussions with other regulators and
industry, a basis can be set where the MMS will be able to help some of the countries who
are new to offshore oil and gas activity. Over time, it can increase both environmental
and safety performance.
Associate Director Kallaur touched upon some of the activities taking place in the
regions:
Gulf of Mexico Region. Due to deepwater
drilling, a 279 percent increase in production over the past five years has been reported;
natural gas from deepwater gas production has risen 250 percent during the same period.
There are over 3,000 leases in water depths greater than 800 meters compared to last
November’s 29 deepwater rigs drilling in water depths greater than 300 meters.
Since there has been an increase in deepwater activity, the MMS has prepared an
environmental assessment report identifying certain deepwater drilling issues and these
issues may require the MMS to do extensive environmental analyses. The report was expected
to be released late in 1999.
The use of floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facilities is being
considered for the Gulf of Mexico OCS. Although FPSOs are in use around the world for
production and storage, the MMS has decided an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) needs
to be performed regarding using these vessels in U.S. waters. There are FPSOs being used
in Norway and in other parts of the world, and the MMS is exchanging dialogue with these
countries to learn from their experiences before they can be permitted in the Gulf.
Industry is also studying FPSOs and their uses and the MMS will use their findings to
determine the use of FPSOs in the Gulf.
An environmental assessment is also being conducted on seismic exploration to determine
whether or not further work is warranted on this subject.
Ms. Kallaur announced that the draft EIS has been completed on Destin Dome 56 which is
a natural gas project, and a sale in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, which is significant
because it will be the first sale in 12 years, is scheduled for 2001.
Pacific Region. Associate Director
Kallaur addressed the COOGER study which as been ongoing since 1995 to look at the onshore
effects of offshore oil and gas activity. This project was completed and a meeting is
going to be held the end of October 2000 to conclude this project.
Exxon recently has set a record for extended reach drilling in California. Since
California wants to avoid erecting a new facility, Exxon determined it would be easier to
drill at a long distance. The well is more than 18,600 feet in length and is being drilled
at a depth of 6,000 feet. This has allowed Exxon to tap into 71 million barrels of oil and
207 million cubic feet of natural gas.
The MMS announced recently that there has been a suspension of operation and production
for 36 leases in the Pacific Ocean. All of the facilities will undergo an EIS that are
planning to use mobile offshore drilling rigs and two of those facilities will undergo
environmental assessments. The plan is to bring one rig in to California and it would move
from facility to facility.
The MMS Pacific Region is also initiating an endangered species consultation and
essential fish habitat consultation.
Alaska Region. The environmental work has
been completed on the Northstar proposal which is a state project but a portion of the
land is in Federal waters. It is expected that there could be activity next year, although
a lawsuit has been filed by Greenpeace.
One issue in regards to the Northstar project is the question of laying pipeline in
subsea permafrost. This has not been done previously, and it is hoped that what is learned
from this process can be shared with others.
The Liberty project is a development and production plan being done in the Beaufort Sea
with BP/Amoco being the operator. A facilitator has been hired by BP/Amoco to try to work
through any issues which may arise with the different stakeholders.
A lease sale, Sale 176, is scheduled for 2002 in the Beaufort Sea in an area that will
be covered in the environmental impact statement.
A workshop was recently held in Alaska to identify monitoring needs in the areas around
Northstar and Liberty, as well as the areas that which may be leased in Sale 176.
Ms. Kallaur thanked the Artic Nearshore Impact Monitoring in Development Areas
subcommittee members and has appreciated the help that has been received in looking at
some of the monitoring needs in the areas around Northstar and Liberty, as well as areas
that may be included in Sale 176.
Headquarters. An Environmental Forum was
held in association with the Policy Committee. The purpose of the forum was to reach out
and have more dialogue with the environmental community. The main topic was sustainable
development; OCS sand for coastal protection and the potential for methane hydrates was
also discussed.
For more information, contact Julie Reynolds.
