The Regulation of Seismic Exploration in the United States

S & P Global Platts published the above-titled article, which reads in part as follows:

“In its Petroleum Supply Monthly report Tuesday, EIA [U.S. Energy Information Administration] said that crude oil imports in the US Gulf Coast fell to 1.22 million b/d in October, its lowest monthly average since February 1985.

Total US imports of crude oil from OPEC countries fell below 1.2 million b/d, also the lowest since February 1985. Crude imports from Persian Gulf countries fell to 671,000 b/d in October, a 53% decline from October 2018, EIA said.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has issued final Letters of Authorization pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act to govern the U.S. Navy’s taking of marine mammals incidental to the training and testing activities conducted in the Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Study Area over the course of seven years, effectively extending the time period from November 13, 2023, to November 13, 2025. In August 2018, the MMPA was amended by the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019 to allow for seven-year authorizations for military readiness activities, as compared to the previously allowed five years. The Navy’s activities qualify as military readiness activities pursuant to the MMPA as amended by the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2004.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has notified  the public that BOEM is rescinding the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the OCS Gulf of Mexico (GOM) lease sales for 2020 and subsequent GOM lease sales through 2022

Cambria’s notice of this action reads in part as follows:

“On December 26, 2018, BOEM published a NOI to initiate the environmental review to inform the decisions for the two proposed lease sales scheduled in 2020 and the subsequent lease sales through 2022. The proposed lease sales include the Western and Central Planning Areas, and a small portion of the Eastern Planning Area not subject to Congressional moratorium.