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April 2010

Vol. 15, No. 16 Week of April 18, 2010

DOI announces science strategy for OCS

Salazar says USGS and MMS will gather scientific information for informed decisions on future Chukchi and Beaufort Sea lease sales

Alan Bailey

Petroleum News

On April 13 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the U.S. Department of the Interior’s strategy for gathering scientific information that will inform future decisions regarding oil and gas development in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.

Salazar said that he has instructed the U.S. Geological Survey to complete by Oct. 1 a review of existing scientific information relating to the Arctic outer continental shelf, offshore Alaska. And concurrently with the USGS review, the U.S. Minerals Management Service will gather scientific information about offshore resources, spill response capabilities and environmental sensitivities for the scoping of a draft environmental impact statement for the upcoming 2012-17 outer continental shelf lease sale program.

New OCS strategy

On March 31 President Obama and Secretary Salazar announced a new strategy for outer continental shelf oil and gas leasing, removing the remaining Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea lease sales from the MMS 2007-12 lease sale program, placing the Bristol Bay region off limits for future lease sales and saying that more scientific research into environmental and oil spill response issues is needed prior to conducting more oil and gas leasing in the Arctic offshore.

The Chukchi and Beaufort seas remain within the planning scope for the 2012-17 OCS lease sale program. And Interior is honoring the rights of existing Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea leaseholders — Shell plans to drill two exploration wells in the Beaufort Sea and up to three wells in the Chukchi Sea during the 2010 open water season.

“If we are to responsibly develop energy resources in frontier areas of the outer continental shelf, especially in the Arctic’s extreme environment, we must support exploration activities, gather the science needed and listen to affected communities,” Salazar said in announcing Interior’s science strategy. “The studies that USGS and MMS are undertaking and the exploration wells that could be drilled as early as this summer will help us better understand the resources and challenges in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, so that we can make wise decisions about potential resource exploration and extraction activities.”

USGS evaluation

“Protecting our coastal and marine ecosystem is fundamental to the department strategy,” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. “By asking the USGS to make the initial independent evaluation, to inform the department, we will much better understand the environmental sensitivities in the Arctic before we consider further offshore energy development.”

USGS will determine what information is currently available and what knowledge gaps exist regarding the resilience of coastal and marine ecosystems to potential resource extraction activities, McNutt said. Input will come from established organizations, such as professional associations and the North Slope Borough, which can represent consensus viewpoints and present major findings.

“This information will help highlight where strong science exists, where scientific uncertainty still resides and help better inform our energy and natural resource missions in the Arctic,” McNutt said.

USGS efforts will focus on the impacts of exploration activities on marine mammals; identify research applicable to oil spill response in ice-covered regions; evaluate the cumulative offshore and onshore environmental impacts of development, infrastructure and maintenance activities, including impacts on subsistence hunting and fishing; and review any impacts of future climate change on future energy development, she said.

And in addition to this review, aimed at decision making for oil and gas leasing, USGS is involved in research into the effects of the loss of Arctic sea ice and terrestrial permafrost through the “Changing Arctic Ecosystems” program, under a 2010 federal appropriation, McNutt said.

Balancing needs

The revised 2007-12 lease sale program, announced on March 31, reflects the trust that the American people have placed on government agencies “to balance the sometimes competing needs of meeting our country’s energy requirements while ensuring the health and well being of our natural environment and our human communities,” said MMS Science Advisor Dr. Alan Thornhill.

And the environmental scoping process for the 2012-17 lease sale program will include four public meetings to be scheduled in June by the Alaska region of MMS, he said.

“This is only the first of many ways we will be working with the public, local leaders, tribal members and other stakeholders in every step of this program,” Thornhill said.

And, in response to a question regarding dialogue with the Alaska administration with respect to OCS oil and gas development, Salazar said that Interior is in “constant conversation” with Alaska stakeholders, including Alaska Natives and the Alaska state government.

“We do not always agree with everything that the State of Alaska is proposing and we have different points of view, but we intend to work with State of Alaska in every way possible to make sure their voices are in fact heard,” Salazar said.

Importance of research

Scientific research sits at the core of everything that MMS does and the agency enjoys a long history of involvement in Arctic research — various federal agencies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in researching the Arctic region, Thornhill said.

“Since 1973 the Alaska region of MMS alone has funded more than $300 million in studies to assess the biological and social impacts from economic development activities,” he said. “The MMS Alaska region environmental studies program currently manages about 60 ongoing studies and maintains a multidisciplinary research program.”

A current multiyear MMS study is focusing on the Chukchi Sea, monitoring ocean currents and ice; studying bowhead whales, walrus, fish and seabirds; and sampling the water quality and the seafloor sediments to establish environmental baselines. Other Arctic studies are investigating polar bear populations; examining bowhead whale feeding habits; studying ocean currents and sea-ice movements; analyzing the foraging of various marine mammals; and making use of state-of-the-art technologies to track animal movements.

MMS is also providing funding for a program of research into Arctic oil spill prevention and response technologies, Thornhill said. That research includes an investigation into the behavior of oil in various sea-ice conditions or in cold water, as well as the development of tools for detecting and mapping oil in ice conditions, and for responding to oil spilled in moving, broken pack ice, he said.






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