Archives for December 2010

For Immediate Release:                                                 Contact:  Nicolette Nye

Tuesday, December 28, 2010                                           (202) 347-6900          

 

NOIA Praises Movement on Wind Development Offshore Massachusetts

Urges Similar Effort on Offshore Oil and Gas Permits

 

WASHINGTON, DC – NOIA President Randall Luthi today issued the following statement regarding the publication by the Department of the Interior of a Request for Interest (RFI) for renewable leasing offshore Massachusetts, and the availability of the commercial lease for the Cape Wind offshore wind project. 

 

“I applaud Secretary Salazar’s forward movement today on offshore renewable energy.  It is gratifying to see the publication of the commercial lease for the Cape Wind project, which has undergone extensive studies, reviews and litigation this past decade.  We also see today’s Request for Interest for areas offshore Massachusetts as a positive indicator that there will indeed be more such leases to come. 

 

“Offshore renewables will be an integral part of the all-of-the-above energy solution for America, which NOIA promotes. We commend the Secretary’s “Smart from the Start” Initiative, but since it is projected to be decades before offshore renewables make a real dent in domestic energy demand, we encourage the Secretary to commit himself equally, if not more so, to the efficient and timely permitting for offshore oil and gas projects that will produce energy now and provide more jobs today.”   

 

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NOIA is the only national trade association representing all segments of the offshore industry with an interest in the exploration and production of both traditional and renewable energy resources on the nation’s outer continental shelf.  The NOIA membership comprises more than 270 companies engaged in business activities ranging from producing to drilling, engineering to marine and air transport, offshore construction to equipment manufacture and supply, telecommunications to finance and insurance.

 

           

For Immediate Release:                                                      Contact:  Michael Kearns

Wednesday, December 13, 2010                                          (202) 347-6900          

 

 

NOIA Welcomes Drilling Guidelines, Hopes for Prompt Permit Approvals

 

Today, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) issued additional guidance regarding the steps required of operators to resume deepwater activity.

 

NOIA President Randall Luthi offered the following observations on the release:

 

“We in the industry are all pleased to receive further clarification from the folks at BOEMRE. Before today, many permit applications were unable to be finished and submitted for review as different companies got different informal feedback about what information would be required under new and evolving regulations. The uncertainty, confusion and lack of consistency have been the principal problems.”

 

“It is our hope that today’s document will provide additional information for companies to be able to finish and submit their applications for permits to drill (APD’s).“

 

“We also hope that BOEMRE will continue to work on providing additional clarity on other issues, such as developing a comprehensive list of which activities will require the completion of environmental assessments, whether categorical exclusions will be considered for use again in the future, and what subsea containment capacities must be in place to allow drilling activity to resume. More questions like these are certain to arise in the coming days as our member companies begin to evaluate these new guidelines in detail, we will see whether these are practicable and achievable requirements. As they say, the devil is in the details.”

 

“We also hope that the issuance of these guidelines indicates a commitment from BOEMRE to turn around and approve those APD’s in a timely manner. With tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in capital on the line, the offshore energy industry is anxious to get back to work. We hope today marks an important step in that direction.”

 

 

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NOIA is the only national trade association representing all segments of the offshore industry with an interest in the exploration and production of both traditional and renewable energy resources on the nation’s outer continental shelf.  The NOIA membership comprises more than 270 companies engaged in business activities ranging from producing to drilling, engineering to marine and air transport, offshore construction to equipment manufacture and supply, telecommunications to finance and insurance.

 

 

For Immediate Release:                                            Contact:  Nicolette Nye

Wednesday, December 1, 2010                                        (202) 347-6900          

 

NOIA Relieved by Movement on Offshore Leasing, Disappointed by More Delays and Exclusion of Hundreds of Millions of Acres  

 

WASHINGTON, DC – NOIA President Randall Luthi today issued the following statement in response to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s announcement on offshore leasing:

 

“We are both relieved and disappointed by today’s announcement.

 

On one hand, we’ve been pressing Secretary Salazar to move on the 2012-2017 offshore leasing plan. Time is simply running out to get the necessary planning work accomplished.  The announcement is a relief in that it shows forward movement toward future offshore lease sales.  This is important, since energy production from the OCS accounts for about 27 percent of the oil and about 14 percent of the natural gas produced in this country.

 

Without question, we are disappointed that scheduled 2011 lease sales will be delayed or possibly cancelled and that new areas will not be considered, particularly offshore Virginia, where bi-partisan interest and  support exists among the Governor, both U.S. Senators, and a majority of the Congressional delegation and in the Eastern Gulf where there is great promise for deepwater resources. Safety measures currently being finalized by industry will be in place in the next weeks and months, and to essentially put in place a moratorium for 7 more years in the eastern GOM and other offshore areas, goes too far.

 

The delay of at least two years of scheduled lease sales shows a lack of understanding of oil and gas production.  A lease sale is only one step in the process and doesn’t necessarily mean production will occur.  Likewise the argument that there are 29 million acres available for development shows a lack of understanding that oil and gas reserves are not located everywhere nor uniformly located under all 29 million acres.

 

Limiting the areas for the EIS scoping process automatically removes them from potential development until after 2017.  Today’s decision, coupled with the slow permit approval in the Gulf of Mexico, will cripple our Nation’s ability to produce home grown energy and high quality jobs for the next generation.  It is estimated that energy exploration and production offshore Virginia alone, for example, would create thousands of new, well-paying jobs and generate millions of dollars in revenue.

 

Getting the time-tested planning process moving again is a good step in the right direction because lease sales are as important to future energy security for the nation as restarting permitting on shallow-water and deepwater wells.

 

What would be more valuable to the nation’s economic and energy future would be the recognition that valuable energy resources lie in those areas that have been kept off-limits to even exploration for decades, and will now apparently continue to be locked away.”

 

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NOIA is the only national trade association representing all segments of the offshore industry with an interest in the exploration and production of both traditional and renewable energy resources on the nation’s outer continental shelf.  The NOIA membership comprises more than 270 companies engaged in business activities ranging from producing to drilling, engineering to marine and air transport, offshore construction to equipment manufacture and supply, telecommunications to finance and insurance.