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To
Our Guests:
 Welcome to our web site Thank you for taking the time to visit with
us.
On July 30, 2008, Interior Secretary Kempthorne
and I announced a major
new energy initiative for the nation's Outer Continental Shelf
(OCS). Today's action not only highlights the important role the OCS
plays in meeting America's energy needs -- it will also open
discussions across the country about how best to expand the nation's
domestic energy production.In light of the current energy situation and
President Bush’s lifting of the Executive Withdrawal, Secretary
Kempthorne directed the MMS to begin the initial steps for
developing a
new Five-Year Program. We are, in effect, getting a two-year
jumpstart on that process, but it is still a multi-step and
multi-year effort to develop the program.
The current Five-Year Program took effect on July
1, 2007 at a time when oil was only $64 a barrel and does not
contain many of the areas that were under Withdrawal and remain
under Congressional ban. Should the Congressional ban be lifted, a
new program would have to be developed to make those areas
available.
(07/31/2008) 
Randall Luthi,
Director
Minerals Management Service
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Hurricane
Gustav/Hurricane Ike Activity Statistics Update – November
19, 2008
Minerals Management Service Monitors
Activities for Both Storms Through its Continuity of
Operations Plan
 NEW
ORLEANS
Offshore oil
and gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico are reboarding platforms and
restoring production following both Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane
Ike. The Minerals Management Service is monitoring activities for
both hurricanes through its Continuity of Operations Plan team. This
team will be activated until operations return to normal.
Based on
data from offshore operator reports submitted as of 11:30
a.m. CDT today, personnel are evacuated from a total of 58
production platforms, equivalent to 8.4% of the 694 manned
platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Production platforms are
the structures located offshore from which oil and natural
gas are produced. These structures remain in the same
location throughout a project’s duration unlike drilling
rigs which typically move from location to location.
There
are no longer any evacuated rigs in the Gulf. Rigs can
include several types of self-contained offshore drilling
facilities including jackups, submersibles and
semisubmersibles.(11/19/2008)
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Minerals Management Service Updates Number
of Offshore Facilities Impacted by Hurricane Ike
5
Confirmation of
Destruction and Damage Reports from Offshore Operators Continues
NEW ORLEANS Offshore operators continue to
report damage from Hurricane Ike to the Minerals Management Service
(MMS) Gulf of Mexico Regional Office. This information is compiled
and used by MMS staff in reviewing and approving repair plans
submitted by the oil and gas operators in order to resume oil and
gas production from the Gulf of Mexico.
MMS estimates that from September 13, 2008 through
September 14, 2008, approximately 1,450 oil and gas production
platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were exposed to hurricane
conditions, winds greater than 74 miles per hour. As of August 2008,
there were more than 3,800 production platforms in the Gulf of
Mexico; these structures range in size from single well caissons in
water depths of ten feet to a large complex facility in water depth
greater than 7,000 feet.
Offshore Infrastructure Destroyed – As of
October 6, 2008, 54 of the 3,800 offshore oil and gas production
platforms have been confirmed as destroyed. Initial estimates are
that the 54 destroyed production platforms produced a total of
13,300 barrels of oil per day and 90 million cubic feet of gas per
day. (10/07/2008) |
MMS
Completes Assessment of Destroyed and Damaged Facilities
from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike
Number of Destroyed Platforms Exceeds Number from Hurricane Katrina
 Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico Regional Office staff have completed the assessment of destroyed and damaged facilities from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The assessment was conducted in coordination with the oil and gas operators who report the status of their production platforms to MMS following a storm.
MMS estimates that approximately 2,127 oil and gas production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were exposed to hurricane conditions, with winds greater than 74 miles per hour, from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. As of August 2008, there were more than 3,800 production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico; these structures range in size from single well caissons in water depths of ten feet to a large complex facility in water depth greater than 7,000 feet.
(11/26/2008)
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MMS
Sponsors Scientific Workshop to Identify Research Needs Offshore Virginia
Workshop Participants Will Explore Current Data and Identify Information Gaps
 The Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management
Service (MMS) is sponsoring a workshop to consider and
identify environmental research needs in support of potential
offshore oil and gas activities off the coast of Virginia. The
workshop, hosted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, is
scheduled for December 3-4, 2008, at the Williamsburg Woodlands
Conference Center in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Participants attending this scientific workshop can expect to learn more about the current technical understanding of the marine environment off the coast of Virginia and will be invited to provide input for future scientific research needs in their area of expertise. Presentations by local scientists will address the areas of physical oceanography, fish and fisheries, marine mammals, socioeconomics and other relevant subjects. (11/26/2008)
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MMS
Completes
Assessment of Destroyed and Damaged Facilities from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike
 The
Minerals Management Service (MMS) has begun a $3.7 million,
four-year study of deepwater corals in the Gulf of Mexico.
The study contract, which focuses on deepwater coral
communities that have formed both naturally and on oil and
gas platforms and shipwrecks, was awarded to TDI
International Inc.
The first round of the
project, primarily dedicated to the exploration of shipwreck
sites, took the researchers to a remarkable discovery of a
copper-clad sailing schooner likely dating to the early
1800’s. Another wreck site visited, confirmed to be the
Gulfoil, a tanker sunk by a German U-boat in 1942, was
covered with dense thickets of the deepwater coral Lophelia.
The study marks the
first time coral community areas below 1,000 feet will be
investigated using remotely-operated vehicles.(11/24/2008)
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