BSEE, DOE sign offshore energy agreement

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, or BSEE, and the Department of Energy, or DOE, have signed a memorandum of collaboration for coordinating research and technology improvement projects relating to safe and sustainable offshore oil and gas production, BSEE said Aug. 23. The agencies will collaborate to build safety through technology improvements; to support research and development for offshore operations; and to support the implementation of recommendations arising from investigations of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, BSEE said.

The lead office in DOE for the agreement will be the Office of Fossil Energy.

“This memorandum of collaboration will ensure that the ongoing activities of our two agencies will continue to be appropriately coordinated,” said BSEE Director James Watson. “We will continue to prevent duplication and increase the effectiveness of our ability to create a regulatory environment that fosters the safe and responsible development of the nation’s energy resources.”

“This memorandum of collaboration formalizes the interaction between our two agencies, and will help ensure that research and development executed by the Department of Energy is directly relevant to BSEE’s regulatory challenges,” said DOE Assistant Secretary Christopher Smith. “This is research that makes offshore oil and gas operations safer and environmentally sustainable while promoting our nation’s energy security.”

—Alan Bailey