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The
NewsRoom
Release: #3307
Date: July 19, 2005
MMS Amends Federal Rule on Offshore Platforms
and Structures
The U. S. Department of
the Interior’s Minerals Management Service today issued a
final
rule that streamlines the permitting process for floating platforms,
and incorporates by reference into MMS regulations, industry standards
pertaining to floating production systems (FPSs). Until this
rulemaking, MMS regulations have not specifically addressed floating
facilities separately from fixed platforms.
The rule amends the
current subpart I of 30 CFR part 250, Platforms and Structures, to
include coverage of floating offshore oil and gas production
platforms. The amendments address the rapid increase in deepwater
exploration and development, and industry’s increasing reliance on
floating facilities for those activities.
Incorporating the
industry standards into MMS regulations will save the public the costs
of developing separate, and possibly duplicative, government
standards, and will streamline procedures for reviewing and approving
new offshore floating platforms.
The rule will become
effective August 18, 2005. Limited changes were also made to current
subpart A, General; subpart H, Oil and Gas Production Safety Systems;
and to subpart J, Pipelines and Pipeline Rights–of–Way.
The remarkable increase
in oil and gas exploration, development, and production in deepwater
is due to the development of new technologies that enable drilling and
production in deeper waters while reducing operational costs and
risks. In 1993, deepwater areas of the OCS (water depths greater than
1,000 feet, or 305 meters) accounted for approximately 12 percent of
the oil and 2 percent of the gas produced offshore. Discovery and
development of deepwater fields began accelerating in 1994. By the
end of 2004, deepwater areas accounted for about 62 percent of the oil
and 32 percent of the gas produced offshore.
MMS, part of the U.S.
Department of the Interior, oversees 1.76 billion acres of the Outer
Continental Shelf, managing offshore energy and minerals while
protecting the human, marine, and coastal environments through
advanced science and technology research. The OCS provides 30 percent
of oil and 21 percent of natural gas produced domestically, and sand
used for coastal restoration. MMS collects, accounts for, and
disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian lands,
with Fiscal Year 2004 disbursements of approximately $8 billion and
more than $143 billion since 1982. The Land and Water Conservation
Fund, which pays for cooperative conservation, grants to states, and
Federal land acquisition, gets nearly $1 billion a year.
Relevant Web Sites:
Media Contacts:
Nicolette Nye (703)
787-1011
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department of the Interior
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