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The
NewsRoom
Release #: 3089
Date: May 6, 2004
Minerals
Management Service and Petroleum Safety Authority of Norway
Renew Shared Commitment to Offshore Safety and Environmental
Protection
A Memorandum of Understanding signed today
by the Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service and the
Petroleum Safety
Authority of Norway signals the continuation of a
long-standing shared commitment to safe and environmentally sound
offshore oil and gas operations.
“Norway is a widely respected leader in
managing offshore resources and is very proactive on safety issues. We
look forward to our continued association as we strive to make
offshore minerals development ever more operationally safe and
environmentally sound,” said
MMS
director Johnnie Burton.
The MMS and the PSA of Norway will consult
regularly to exchange information, share ideas, skills and techniques
and address matters of mutual interest related to offshore oil and gas
operations.
Established in January, 2004, the PSA of
Norway took over the responsibility of ensuring safe oil and gas
exploration and development from the
Norwegian Petroleum
Directorate (NPD).
MMS has a strong commitment to
offshore safety
and
environmental protection, and has for years
shared its expertise with
nations considering offshore production in their waters.
The Minerals Management Service is the
federal agency 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 agency also
collects, accounts for, and
disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian
lands. MMS disbursed more than $8 billion in FY 2003 and more
than $135 billion since the agency 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
Online Photo
Gallery
Media Contacts
Nicolette
Humphries
(202) 208-3985
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department of the Interior |