The NewsRoom
Release #:  3127
Date: September 1, 2004

Key Program Gets Higher Status

Recognizing the high level of responsibility associated with offshore regulatory programs, the Department of the Interior’s Executive Resource Board has elevated a key Minerals Management Service position to Senior Executive Service status.

MMS veteran Bud Danenberger has been selected to fill the position of Chief of Offshore Engineering and Operations because of his demonstrated leadership skills and extensive experience in safety and regulatory issues within the offshore program.

In making the selection, Johnnie Burton, MMS director, said “Mr. Danenberger brings a high level of expertise to the position. Having managed the office for a number of years, we felt that his experience and the responsibility the office carries with it, warranted the shift.”

Danenberger, a native of Southampton, PA, added “I am honored to lead this important program and work with such outstanding professionals. MMS managers, engineers, inspectors, and scientists are 100% committed to safety achievement and pollution prevention. I also welcome the opportunity to work closely with safety leaders in the offshore industry and elsewhere in government.”

Danenberger earned a bachelor’s degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering and a master’s degree in environmental pollution control from The Pennsylvania State University. He has been employed as an engineer in the Department of the Interior’s offshore oil and gas program since 1971. Danenberger has served as District Supervisor for the Minerals Management Service (MMS) field offices in Santa Maria, California, and Hyannis, Massachusetts; as a staff engineer in the Gulf of Mexico regional office; and as Chief of the Technical Advisory Section at the headquarters office of the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Minerals Management Service is the federal bureau in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation’s oil, natural gas and other mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in federal offshore waters. The bureau also collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian lands. MMS disbursed more than $8 billion in 2003 and more than $135 billion since it was created in 1982. Nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund annually for the acquisition and development of state and federal park and recreation lands.

Relevant Web Sites

MMS Main Website

Media Contacts

Susan Weaver
(202) 208-3985

MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for America
U.S. Department of the Interior