The Regulation of Seismic Exploration in the United States

The International association of Geophysical Contractors posted the following article on its website:

“Trump Should Reverse Obama-Era South Atlantic Oil and Gas Restrictions

CARL BENTZEL   |   APRIL 7, 2017

In its waning days, the Obama administration took two actions to restrict potential offshore drilling off the South Atlantic coast. First, last March, in the final five-year schedule of OCS lease sales, the administration abandoned plans to open the coasts of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia to offshore oil and gas drilling, reversing its position in an earlier issued draft proposal. Then, early this year, just in advance of the transfer to power to the Trump administration, the Obama administration announced it had denied six permit applications to conduct seismic exploration testing for oil and gas reserves in the South Atlantic Ocean.

According to its last published notice, in April 2017 the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service intends to propose rules for “Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Conducting Geological and Geophysical Exploration of Mineral and Energy Resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico.” NMFS included the following “Abstract” in its notice:

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has published its Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Lease Sale Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 2018 (2018 Draft Supplemental EIS). The 2018 Draft Supplemental EIS provides an analysis of the potential significant impacts of a proposed action (a region wide lease sale) and reasonable alternatives to the proposed action. This Supplemental EIS is expected to be used to inform decisions on each of the two lease sales scheduled in 2018, and to be supplemented as necessary for future Gulf of Mexico region wide lease sales.

The International Association of Geophysical Contractors posted the following article on its website:

“Energy is one of the most important markets in the world, and the geophysical industry is the foundation of ensuring safe, affordable, and accessible oil and gas exploration and development. While OPEC’s landmark agreement at the end of the year to cut oil output boosted crude prices and optimism for some semblance of market certainty, no one can predict what the oil services market holds for 2017. One can be certain, however, that global energy demand will continue to increase, and that demand cannot be met without the geophysical industry.

On April 18-20, 2017, at the Astor Crowne Plaza in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, the Society of Petroleum Engineers will conduct a conference on health, safety, security, and environmental challenges facing the E&P industry. Topics covered:

• Environment
• Emergency preparedness and response
• HSE management
• Safety and health
• Security
• Social responsibility

Click here for more details

On March 15, 2017, the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness filed comments on a Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) Information Collection Request (ICR) affecting offshore oil and gas seismic. This ICR asks The U.S. Office of Management and Budget to approve the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Application and Reporting Requirements for Incidental Take Authorizations for offshore oil and gas exploration. For reasons discussed in detail in our comments, CRE requested that if OMB approves this ICR, then they include the following Terms of Clearance:

i) This ICR approval does not authorize any use of NOAA’s new “Technical Guidance for Assessing the Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing” (Acoustic Guidance).

The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has published its Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2017-2022; Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 256, 257, 259, and 261; Final Multisale Environmental Impact Statement (2017-2022 GOM Multisale EIS). The proposed oil and gas lease sales are tentatively scheduled to be held in 2017-2022 under the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing: Proposed Final Program.

Digital Journal recently posted an article entitled “Seismic Survey Market Is Expected to Witness Substantial Growth During Forecast by 2024.” This article states:

“The international seismic survey market is witnessing a strong trend in the field of 4D seismic survey technology. Along with depth, width, and height, the 4D technology also considers the important component of time. As a result, the implementation of this technology has seen a rise in the exploration and production domain of the oil sector. Companies such as Polarcus have adopted restructuring for coming out of debts, for which they received a significant support from their stakeholders. Players in the industry are also recommended to focus on collaborations for staying healthy in the global market.”

The international Association of Geological and Geophysical Contractors has announced that This meeting will occur Sunday, March 26, 2017 – Friday, March 31, 2017, at the Omni Hotel in Houston, Texas. IAGC stated that

“Planning is well underway for the 2017 One Gulf Summit and Gulf of Mexico Alliance All Hands Meeting.  The Summit has a robust agenda available on sgmsummit.org. Highlights address challenges that focus on assessing short-term and long-term restoration; effectively linking environmental, human, and economic health; and engaging our international partners relative to the Large Marine Ecosystem that is the Gulf of Mexico.

The International Association of Geological and Geophysical Contractors recently posted a report on a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management study that indicates seismic may scare away fish under some circumstances. The IAGC posted with this report an IAGC response criticizing and rebutting it. Click here for the IAGC postings.