Interior to split Minerals Management Service into two agencies

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Interior Department announced on May 11 its intent to split the Minerals Management Service into two divisions, one
focusing on gathering royalties from oil and gas companies and another focused on safety inspections.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made the announcement at 1 p.m. EDT.
The reorganization comes amid the vast Gulf Coast oil spill that has called into question the efficacy of the government's regulation.
The tiny agency currently plays dual roles, focusing on collecting money as well as on ensuring the safety of oil rigs. Some former employees have
said that amounts to a conflict-of-interest, as employees must focus on keeping oil revenue flowing while also focusing on safety.
A Wall Street Journal examination of the MMS's track record last week found several instances of the agency identifying potential safety problems
and then either not requiring follow-up or relying on the industry to craft a solution. In some cases, the industry didn't do its part.
The Journal also found that the safety record of U.S. offshore drilling compares unfavorably, in terms of deaths and serious accidents, to other
major oil-producing countries. Over the past five years, an offshore oil worker in the U.S. was four times more likely to be killed than a worker in European waters, and 23 percent more likely to sustain an injury, according to International Association of Drilling Contractors data, which
is adjusted for man-hours worked.
The U.K., home to one of the largest offshore-drilling industries in the world, has already adopted a regulatory structure similar to the one that the Obama administration is moving toward. In 1998, after a fire aboard a North Sea platform killed 167 people, the U.K. separated its offshore safety-oversight agency from the revenue-gathering side.

Hurricane update: Ida dissipates, energy production in GoMex returns to normal

Hurricane Ida, its winds deteriorated to 40 mph as it came ashore near Mobile, Ala., on the morning of Nov. 10, was downgraded to Tropical Depression Ida.
The National Hurricane Center further reduced it to “extratropical” status as its remnants crossed Florida, Alabama and Georgia later on Nov. 10.
The storm prompted U.S. energy companies to close down 43.1 percent of oil output and 28.0 percent of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. Employees from eight drilling rigs and 126 production platforms were evacuated as the storm passes through the area, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said.
Energy sources predicted that oil industry operations that had been shut down ahead of the storm would return to normal by the end of Nov. 10 or early
On Nov. 11.
The Gulf is the source of 25 percent of U.S. domestically produced oil and 15 percent of natural gas. About 40 percent of U.S. refining capacity is located on the Gulf Coast.
Oil refineries will not likely need to request crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as they prepare for the potential effects of Tropical Storm Ida on the country's stockpile, the Energy Department said. Refineries were "holding above average stock levels, and refinery utilization is average or less than average," the agency said. The department is capable of supplying crude but said it thinks that it will not be necessary.
Chevron Corp. said on Nov. 10 that it was assessing facilities in the Gulf of Mexico affected by Tropical Storm Ida and returning workers to offshore platforms. The company will continue "safe remobilization efforts throughout the week," Chevron said in a news release.