Beaudreau to leave BOEM following promotion to Interior Department

Tommy Beaudreau is to leave his position as director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, to become chief of staff to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, BOEM spokesman John Callahan confirmed in a March 21 email. Interior has not yet announced a date for the transfer.

Beaudreau, who was brought up in Alaska and attended Anchorage’s Service High School, has headed BOEM since the agency was formed in 2011, following the breakup of the U.S. Minerals Management Service in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. During Beaudreau’s time at the helm of BOEM the agency has dealt with such issues as the development of BOEM’s next five-year outer continental shelf oil and gas leasing program; approval of Shell’s Arctic offshore drilling plans; the aftermath of Shell’s 2012 Arctic drilling season; and the development of new Arctic offshore drilling regulations.

Beaudreau has also co-chaired the federal Interagency Working Group for coordinating the permitting of oil and gas projects in Arctic Alaska.

In a March 20 press release U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, praised Beaudreau for his work at BOEM.

“Tommy Beaudreau has deep Alaskan ties and continues to be a great resource to our state at the Department of the Interior,” Begich said. “He has done good work in his current position at Interior and I am confident his knowledge of Alaska’s unique conditions and needs will carry over into his new role as chief of staff. Tommy has been a fair advocate for responsible oil and gas development so I hope his influence will be broad in his new position.”

—Alan Bailey