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AOGCC sets offshore regulations hearing
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has set May 11 as the hearing date on whether changes or additions may be needed to its regulations governing drilling, rig workover and well control in offshore and ultra-extended reach wells in areas of the state under the commission’s jurisdiction.
The commission opened a docket in June following the April Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico and said it would hold a public hearing following issuance of the Report to the President from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.
The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. in the commission’s hearing room at its Anchorage office.
Written comments may also be submitted by May 16.
Notice of inquiry In its June 24 notice of inquiry, the commission said it was launching a “thorough review” of state regulations on blowout prevention equipment and other aspects of well safety.
Among the study topics is whether the state should require companies to drill a relief well concurrently with an offshore or ultra-extended reach well.
Commission Chairman Dan Seamount said when the review was launched that the commission does not think its current regulations are faulty, but wants to make sure Alaska regulations are free of loopholes or gaps in light of results of the Deepwater Horizon investigation.
The commission invited written comments on more than a dozen points of inquiry.
Details on the inquiry are available on the commission’s website at: http://doa.alaska.gov/ogc/.
—Petroleum News
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