The Obama administration will announce April 14 safety regulations for offshore oil and natural gas drilling, an official told Reuters.
With the new rules, the administration is hoping to prevent the kind of explosion that happened six years ago on a BP Plc (NYSE: BP) rig in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), the official said.
The Department of Interior will unveil the final version of its well control regulations, which will require more stringent design and operating procedures for well control equipment used in offshore oil and gas operations, said the official, who is close to the rulemaking process.
The agency first released the proposal last April to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the deadly Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill in the GoM in 2010.
The Macondo well blowout and the fire on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20, 2010, killed 11 workers.
BP agreed in October to pay more than $20 billion in fines to resolve nearly all claims from the oil spill, marking the largest corporate settlement of its kind in U.S. history
Last year, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the rule would build on industry standards for blowout preventers and reform well design, well control, casing, cementing and real-time well monitoring.
Recommended Reading
Northern Oil and Gas Executes on Ground Game A&D
2024-02-16 - The non-op E&P reported $25 million in “opportunistic” acquisitions in the fourth quarter.
Elk Range Royalties Makes Entry in Appalachia with Three-state Deal
2024-03-28 - NGP-backed Elk Range Royalties signed its first deal for mineral and royalty interests in Appalachia, including locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
Exxon Shale Exec Details Plans for Pioneer’s Acreage, 4-mile Laterals
2024-05-03 - Exxon Mobil plans to drill longer, more capital efficient wells in the Midland Basin after a major boost from the $60 billion Pioneer Natural Resources acquisition. Data shows that Exxon is a leading operator drilling 4-mile laterals in the Permian’s Delaware Basin.
APA Closes $4.5B Callon Deal, Deepening Permian Roots
2024-04-01 - About two-thirds of Apache’s daily production will come from the Permian Basin after APA Corp. completed its $4.5 billion takeout of Callon Petroleum.
Exxon Closes $60B Pioneer Deal, Reshaping Permian Basin
2024-05-03 - After facing regulatory scrutiny, Exxon Mobil closed a roughly $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources. The largest shale oil transaction ever signed will reshape the order of power in the vast Permian Basin oil field.