MMS suspends permits for Gulf drilling regardless of water depth

[ClarkUSA]

Source: Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 3, 2010; 1:54 PM

The Minerals Management Service has stopped issuing permits for new oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico regardless of water depth, effectively extending President Obama's previously announced suspension of permits for deepwater drilling into the shallow waters.

Michael J. Saucier, regional supervisor of field operations for the MMS Gulf of Mexico region, said in an e-mail to one company seeking a permit that "until further notice we have been informed not to approve or allow any drilling not matter the water depth." Only three days earlier the company had been informed that drilling in water up to 500 feet deep would not be affected by the Obama moratorium.

Obama last week announced that he would suspend drilling in deepwater in the Gulf for six months, effectively delaying plans for at least 30 rigs. But the new ban on shallow water drilling would affect many more companies and it would fly in the face of lobbying by Gulf coast lawmakers, who have asked that shallow water drilling continue to protect the jobs that depend on such activity.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060302738.html?hpid=topnews

[JuniperLea]

1. Knickers were twisted... people weren't going to vote for him again...

All sorts of stuff... but here you have it.

I'm betting Obama is about as sick of some of us as some of us are... he's going to ignore it all too... it would be wasted energy anyway.

But no doubt knees will continue to jerk.

[Cant trust em]

2. I love it when stuff like this comes out...

just to see what the opposition to it will be.

[JuniperLea]

3. No doubt the goal post will be moved...

Again, and again... yeah but... no but... yeah but... no but... yeah but...

[chill_wind]

5. Seems MMS keystone cops don't even know where the goalposts are.

Nothing new there.

[chill_wind]

4. Ooops.

Interior Dept. denies it has extended drilling freeze to shallow gulf waters

By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 3, 2010; 3:05 PM

The Interior Department denied that it has extended a drilling freeze to shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, contradicting an e-mail written earlier Thursday by the Minerals Management Service's supervisor of field operations for the Gulf of Mexico.

An Interior Department spokesman said "shallow water drilling may continue as long as oil and gas operations satisfy the environmental and safety requirements Secretary Salazar outlined in his report to the President and have exploration plans that meet those requirements. There is no moratorium on shallow water drilling."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060302738.html?hpid=topnews

Fekkers at MMS apparently can't keep it straight. Even when they do finally put it in writing.

[JuniperLea]

6. Consider the source, please... eom

[chill_wind]

8. I will if you will. Same source as the OP that you responded to upthread-- WAPO.

eom

[JuniperLea]

12. Exactly...

They are releasing limited information, conflicting information, etc. I checked out other reports before commenting here at all... and there are others, and they are far more complete stories.

[ProSense]

7. WaPo is all over the place. They misreported the story. There is a

reevaluation of shallow drilling projects in progress:

Kendra Barkoff, a spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, denied that the administration was placing a hold on shallow-water drilling.

"There is a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling," Barkoff said in an e-mail Thursday. "Shallow-water drilling may continue as long as oil and gas operations satisfy the environmental and safety requirements Secretary Salazar outlined in his report to the president and have exploration plans that meet those requirements. There is no moratorium on shallow water drilling."

Bob Abbey, the acting director of the Minerals Management Service, announced further restrictions for offshore drilling on Wednesday night.

Abbey, who took over the minerals agency last week after the forced resignation of its previous director Elizabeth Birnbaum, said operators will be required to submit additional information about potential risks and safety considerations before being allowed to drill. The rule applies even to those plans that have already been approved or received a waiver exempting them from detailed environmental scrutiny, Abbey said.

The new information must be submitted before any drilling of new wells begins, Abbey said, adding that the rule should ensure that tighter safety standards and better consideration of risks are incorporated into drilling plans.

link

[chill_wind]

9. From your own link: A copy of the e-mail was obtained by The Associated Press.

An e-mail Thursday from the Gulf Coast office of the Minerals Management Service says that "until further notice" no new drilling is being allowed in the Gulf, no matter the water depth. A copy of the e-mail was obtained by The Associated Press.

If the email didn't exist as reported, somebody (AP, WAPO or both) has some retracting to do.

:shrug:

[ProSense]

11. The point is that the

story is being reported leaving out details. The AP story mentions both the e-mail and the clarification.

[chill_wind]

13. And YET

The AP *does not refute the existence of the original email.* They are reporting on the latest MMS spokesman statement, coming out to clean up. No one has yet denied the existence of the Michael J. Saucier email that got Kendra Barkoff out there so fast.

If anything, the AP muddies it up even worse with their very first statement.

It's a really stupidly worded report that seems to be trying to maintain the validity of both statements. A he-said he-said.

WASHINGTON— The Obama administration is blocking all new offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, a day after regulators approved a new permit for drilling in shallow water.

An e-mail Thursday from the Gulf Coast office of the Minerals Management Service says that "until further notice" no new drilling is being allowed in the Gulf, no matter the water depth. A copy of the e-mail was obtained by The Associated Press.

The announcement comes a day after the minerals agency, which oversees offshore drilling, granted a new drilling permit for a site about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, 115 feet below the ocean surface. Environmental groups accused the administration of misleading the public by allowing work to resume in waters up to 500 feet deep while maintaining a moratorium on deepwater drilling.

Kendra Barkoff, a spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, denied that the administration was placing a hold on shallow-water drilling.

"There is a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling," Barkoff said in an e-mail Thursday. "Shallow-water drilling may continue as long as oil and gas operations satisfy the environmental and safety requirements Secretary Salazar outlined in his report to the president and have exploration plans that meet those requirements. There is no moratorium on shallow water drilling."

Either AP and WAPO should retract the email story, print it in full, or somebody is doing a lot of very frantic ass-covering at MMS.

Until then, a pox on all of them.

[chill_wind]

10. Wall Street didn't like that first report much.

This news, as expected, is causing some weakness on the following stocks which are associated with water drilling-exploration:

* Rowan Companies Inc. (RDC) : $22.77 Down $1.91 (7.74%) 2:18PM EDT
* Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) : $39.48 Up $1.39 (3.65%) 2:17PM EDT
* McMoRan Exploration Co. (MMR) : $10.06 Down $0.59 (5.54%) 2:18PM EDT
* Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (PTEN) : $13.97 Up $0.12 (0.87%) 2:19PM EDT
* Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC) : $44.98 Up $0.62 (1.40%) 2:19PM EDT
* Halliburton Company (HAL) : $23.20 Down $0.48 (2.03%) 2:17PM EDT

Update:

Interior Dept. now denies it has extended drilling freeze to shallow gulf waters
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060302738.html

http://wallstreetpit.com/30675-minerals-management-service-stops-issuing-permits-for-gulf-drilling

[CBR]

14. Are they showing enough anger and emoting? That is the true test. nt

[chill_wind]

15. No, They (Dept Interior & MMS) are just showing their embarassing self-contradictory

bare butts again.

Turns out the Soucier email got around.

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/101331-drilling-agency-email-contradicts-administration-position-on-shallow-permits

[chill_wind]

16. The Hill has the email, too. I bet Saucier is looking for a new job.

Interior Department dismisses drilling agency e-mail on shallow-water ban
By Ben Geman - 06/03/10 04:41 PM ET

The Interior Department found itself in a public dispute on Thursday with one of its own agencies – the troubled Minerals Management Service – after an MMS official sent an email contradicting the administration’s policy allowing drilling in shallow waters.

The administration has halted new drilling permits in deep waters – greater than 500 feet – for at least six months while a bipartisan commission reviews safety and environmental protections. It recently lifted a ban on shallow-water permits.

But an email Thursday written by an MMS supervisor said that a ban on shallow water permits remains in effect too.

“Until further notice we have been informed not to approve or allow any drilling not matter the water depth,” states an email from Michael J. Saucier, an MMS regional supervisor in the Gulf of Mexico, to a company planning a shallow-water drilling project.

The email was obtained by The Hill and other media outlets, several of which reported that the administration had again halted all drilling.

White House and Interior officials said flatly Thursday afternoon, however, that that is not that case, and that there is no ban on new shallow-water permits.

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/101331-drilling-agency-email-contradicts-administration-position-on-shallow-permits

[Cha]

17. Thank you, Clark! nt

[chill_wind]

18. MMS issues permits just yesterday, rescinds them today.

You just can't make this stuff up.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8481583

[Cha]

19. That's the way it goes

sometimes. Good.

[chill_wind]

20. It's good if you enjoy bad jokes.

Which is pretty much what the schizophrenic MMS bureaucracy seems to continue to be.

Just my purely subjective opinion. Perhaps it will get better when the newly restructuring entities involved figure out that they still have to talk to each other.

[Cha]

21. What's so bad about rescinding the

permits?

[chill_wind]

22. You said it was good. Why is it "good"? What do you know

that none of the rest of us do? They haven't even told the companies themselves why they reversed themselves on them.

Maybe it was "good". Just like giving them out just one day before was also deemed "good" by someone else among them.

Don't worry. MMS has GOT THIS.

[Cha]

23. Kick for more exposure..