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Obama budget seeks more funding for BOEM, BSEE Budget proposes increases for both agencies to manage OCS oil and gas; also wants increase for BLM onshore oil and gas program Alan Bailey Petroleum News
President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for financial year 2015, announced March 4, includes increased funding for oil and gas exploration and development oversight by agencies responsible for the management of energy-related activities on federal lands.
BOEM The president wants to increase the funding for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, by $2.9 million to $169.8 million — BOEM oversees oil and gas leasing and other energy-related offshore activities on the outer continental shelf. The funding covers implementation of BOEM’s outer continental shelf oil and gas leasing program, including the planning of lease sales and conducting post-sale reviews of companies’ exploration and development plans. BOEM says that $2.5 million of the funding will pay for a programmatic environmental impact statement for the 2017-22 five-year lease sale program, the program that will follow the current 2012-17 program.
“BOEM’s priorities fully support the administration’s vision for creating growth and opportunities as we pursue our mission,” said BOEM Director Tommy Beaudreau in response to the budget announcement. “Our modest increase in the president’s request reflects careful analysis of the resources needed to advance renewable and conventional energy, manage non-energy OCS mineral resources and invest in what’s needed to grow the economy.”
BSEE The president’s budget also proposes increasing the funding for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, or BSEE, by $2 million to $204 million. BSEE, established in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, provides safety and regulatory oversight of outer continental shelf oil and gas activities. BSEE says that the development of robust scientific information, coupled with the timely and robust review of permits for exploration and development activities, are critical to the agency’s role. The proposed funding will enable to agency to continue to bolster its expertise and research efforts, the agency says.
“The president’s 2015 request lays a strong foundation for a sustainable regulatory program and provides the infrastructure necessary to ensure offshore oil and gas activities are conducted safely and in an environmentally responsible manner,” said BSEE Director Brian Salerno. “The president’s request will enhance our ability to keep pace with a dynamic industry as operators continue to pursue new and emerging technologies that enable them to develop our nation’s energy resources in deeper water and frontier areas.”
Technology evaluation The budget includes an increase of $905,000 in funding for the review of emerging technologies and will increase the funding available for the validation and economic feasibility analysis of technologies and test protocols.
Anticipated revenues of $123 million from the collection of BSEE fees will offset the president’s request for federal funds, BSEE says.
The agency says that it anticipates working with the offshore industry to better understand its safety processes, to enable risk mitigation and the reduced probability of safety or environmental incidents. The agency says it will improve its data analysis through incident reporting, near-miss reporting and real-time monitoring.
And BSEE says that it will continue the development of the Ocean Energy Safety Institute, an organization established as a center of expertise in technologies for offshore oil and gas exploration, development and production.
BLM The president’s proposed $1.1 billion budget for the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, covers a wide range of activities associated with the management of federal lands onshore, including $233 million for BLM’s oil and gas management program. That represents an increase of $20 million in support of oil and gas management — the increase will allow the agency to fill vacancies, expand staff in key locations and continue to implement leasing reforms instituted in 2010, BLM says. The budget, potentially bolstered and offset by new agency fees such as inspection fees, will strengthen BLM’s inspection and oversight capabilities, the agency says.
Oil and gas management comes as part of a larger BLM program, termed “Powering our Future,” which includes support for renewable energy development. Requested renewable energy funding of $29 million is about the same as the 2014 funding level.
The budget also includes $19 million to fund the continuing conveyancing of selected federal land in Alaska to state ownership.
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