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The
NewsRoom
Release #3078
Date: September 20, 2004
Small Federal Agency Plays
Large Role in Managing Oceans
The
Minerals Management Service is the nation’s ocean resources expert
charged with overseeing nearly 2 billion ocean acres. MMS works to
provide a secure energy future for Americans while protecting the
environment. MMS’s efforts include finding better ways to ensure safe
operations for the thousands of offshore oil and gas platforms, to
conducting essential environmental studies using cutting edge
technology.
There are nearly 4,000
offshore oil and gas platforms operating in the Gulf of Mexico. To the
west, 23 platforms operate in Federal waters off the coast of Central
California, and to the north, there is growing energy industry
interest in Alaskan offshore waters.
In addition to providing
access to critical energy and other mineral resources needed for the
nation’s economic well-being, MMS also collects and disburses around
$6 billion a year in mineral revenues--$135 billion since 1982.
With all that activity, the MMS has, for the past
22 years, helped provide America with domestic offshore energy while
ensuring safe operations for people and the environment. And it has
done so with stringent regulation of this vital offshore industry.
To be successful, MMS keeps pace
with a rapidly changing industry, and frequently evaluates and
streamlines its operations. Working with experts from around the
world, MMS plays a vital role in studying and protecting the ocean
environment.
Domestic Offshore Energy
Much has been written about the need for new
sources of oil and natural gas to fuel our economy and heat and cool
our homes. Prices and demand are on the rise, but domestic production
is lagging behind demand, thus increasing dependency on foreign oil
and gas.
Offshore oil production now accounts for about 30
percent of total domestic production – more than double what it was
just 12 years ago. And experts estimate it may increase to as much as
40 percent by 2010.
With national security interests in mind, MMS is
aggressively leading the way, with industry, to help find new domestic
deposits of oil and natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska.
Director Johnnie Burton said, “With an eye on
the future, we are not only actively involved in finding needed energy
for the American people but are also considering alternative sources
of energy, like harnessing energy from offshore wind farms, and
looking at ways to extract natural gas from deepwater methane
hydrates.”
Deepwater Exploration
Energy exploration in deep water is perhaps the
most significant area of innovation in energy exploration. Now in its
ninth year of expansion, deepwater oil and gas development in the Gulf
of Mexico is a workhorse for U.S. domestic oil and gas production.
Ocean oil production rose 535 percent between 1995 and 2002, and
deepwater gas production rose 620 percent over those same years.
In 1990, about four percent of the oil and less
than one percent of the natural gas produced on the Gulf’s outer
continental shelf (OCS) was from those deeper regions. By the end of
2003, more than 60 percent of the Gulf’s oil production and 23 percent
of its natural gas came from that area. Production potential from
deepwater resources is estimated to be 49.5 billion barrels of oil
equivalent.
If current trends continue, by 2006, as much as
77 percent of daily oil production in the gulf and 26 percent of daily
gas production could come from the deep water regions.
Environmental Protection
Jacques Cousteau once said, “The future of
civilization depends on water. You have the duty to convince people.”
MMS has a long tradition in keeping a watchful
eye on the marine environment. For years the agency has funded
important studies to gain a better understanding of that environment
in order to make safe and responsible leasing decisions.
MMS’ Offshore Minerals Management (OMM) program
is responsible for all phases of mineral resource management on the
OCS. Under this umbrella is the Environmental Studies Program, which
provides the scientific information necessary to make sound decisions
pertaining to our ocean role. The program’s activities:
- provide information to predict and manage the
impacts of OCS oil and gas activities on the human, marine, and
coastal environments.
- look at impacts on marine organisms that may
result from chronic low-level pollution or large spills associated
with OCS production.
- monitor human, marine and coastal environments
to report on any significant changes in the quality and productivity
of these environments.
“Our scientists coordinate oceanographic research
involving underwater archaeology, ocean currents, sea ice conditions
in Alaska, deep-sea chemosynthetic communities, marine mammals, and
the potential use of retired offshore platforms as sites for
harvesting marine bioproducts,” says Jim Kendall, Chief Scientist for the agency.
MMS funds or co-funds long-term monitoring
studies, like the Bowhead Whale Aerial Survey Project in Alaska, and
monitoring the health of the East and West Flower Garden Banks in the
Gulf of Mexico.
MMS works with National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to
ensure that offshore operations do not jeopardize threatened or
endangered species such as marine mammals.
Any actions MMS permits, funds, or carries out
are done in consultation with those agencies and in compliance with
the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Turning to another area that directly affects
MMS’s ocean role, the agency’s Technology Assessment and Research
Program supports research on operational safety, pollution prevention,
and oil spill response and clean-up.
“The contributions of this program along with our
environmental studies arm have been essential in helping us write
regulations that mandate safety systems that ensure a safe workplace
and protect the environment.” says Tom Readinger, associate director
for MMS. “Our reviews of new technology are thorough, ensuring that
offshore operators use the best and safest available technology.”
A Leader in Ocean Science – a Role in Discovery
At the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History,
diligent staff catalogue and store millions of specimens sent to them
by MMS supported scientists. Many of the research projects that MMS
supports involve the collection of organisms, ranging from tiny shrimp
to fist-sized mollusks. The reason: Before exploratory drilling in new
“frontier areas” begins, MMS must determine if unique or fragile
communities live in the areas, and if these communities could be
harmed by offshore oil and natural gas development.
“The importance of this collection, and why we
rely so much on MMS,” said Cheryl Bright of the Smithsonian, “is that
the collection serves as a valuable research tool. As the agency goes
further into deeper waters, new and existing organisms are being
discovered. These specimens are of great importance to future
scientific studies, particularly when doing comparative analyses.”
Gathered by grab samplers, remotely operated
vehicles, or manually by SCUBA divers, the creatures are separated
from the sediment, identified, and preserved. Once at the Smithsonian,
the specimens are placed in jars of alcohol, catalogued, and shelved
for future research and reference.
“The telling aspect of all this work,” Kendall says, “is that the
agency must be a leader in ocean science to be a leader as a
regulatory agency.”
Along with the agency’s regulatory arm, is an ocean science program
that has funded over $650 million in environmental studies over the
last 20 years, and about $17 million for its Technology Assessment and
Research Program.
The agency’s research activities have funded
significant findings in marine research on marine mammal distribution,
abundance, and behavior and the potential effects of human activity on
their habitat. The agency prepares essential environmental assessments
and impact statements, and works with coastal universities to gather
needed scientific information used to make responsible offshore
leasing decisions.
Using leading edge technology, MMS has been
involved, directly or indirectly, with new discoveries of marine
species, underwater archaeological sites and sunken ships.
In the summer of 2001, MMS archaeologists were
tabbed to verify the remains of a German U-Boat discovered in the Gulf
of Mexico under the auspices of British Petroleum and Shell Oil during
one of their seafloor surveys prior to construction of a pipeline.
MMS funded studies identified several whale and
dolphin species previously thought not to occur in the Gulf of Mexico.
Both melon-headed whales and Fraser's dolphins were unknown in the
Gulf prior to the studies. An international research effort supported
by MMS is studying the effects of seismic noise on whales, namely
sperm whales, which reside in some areas of the Gulf.
Navigating north to Alaska, long-term monitoring
of the bowhead whale and its importance to Inupiat culture has
garnered needed information to protect the only known whale that lives
exclusively in the Arctic.
These are but a few examples of how the MMS
scientific arm reaches far, wide and deep to get the best science to
make the most informed resource development decisions.
Coastal Erosion Assistance
Coastal areas account for less than 10
percent of America’s land area, but are home to half the population,
and 40 percent of new commercial and residential development. The
population explosion is only part of the new environmental stresses
being put on the nation’s coastal areas, which are under constant
assault from the elements. Proactive management and coastal
restoration efforts like the MMS beach renourishment partnership
program are critical to stabilizing these receding shorelines.
About 20,000 acres of coastal wetlands
disappear every year in the United States. Louisiana alone has lost
half a million acres of wetlands since the 1950s.
In many coastal cities, sand resources are
no longer readily available onshore or in nearshore waters. So States
have been forced to go farther offshore to find alternative sand
sources.
MMS collects and provides geologic and
environmental information, developed through partnerships with
fourteen coastal States, to identify and make available sand deposits
in Federal waters suitable for beach nourishment and wetlands
protection projects. Information collected in conjunction with these
efforts assists the MMS in making future decisions relative to the
possible leasing of these deposits.
Operational Safety
For years, MMS has worked to advance the safety
of offshore operations worldwide. Off U.S. shores, the agency is
required, under the OCS Lands Act, to conduct annual and unannounced
inspections of all oil and gas operations on the OCS. The Act also
requires MMS and the U.S. Coast Guard to investigate major accidents
that might include deaths, major fires and spills.
In 2003 alone, MMS inspectors conducted over
23,000 inspections. MMS is developing a system to identify higher
risk facilities and activities that will allow the agency to improve
the efficient use of inspection resources.
After September 11, 2001, the agency developed
guidelines to enhance existing protective measures. Titled the OMM
Threat and Advisory Guidelines for OCS Operations, these guidelines
form the foundation for offshore security systems that improve
response during crisis in accordance with the threat levels
established by Homeland Security.
In the complex world of managing oil and gas
exploration and development on the nation’s OCS, MMS is carrying out
its mission by employing the best scientists, funding far reaching
studies, and ensuring that the highest safety standards are met so
that America gets its needed energy.
“We are convinced that offshore oil and gas
development, supported by a strong federal regulatory system, will
continue to play an important role in securing a safe and dependable
energy supply for our nation,” said Burton.
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 federal
outer continental shelf. The agency also collects, accounts for, and
disburses mineral revenues from federal and American Indian leases.
MMS disbursed more than $8 billion in fiscal year 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
MMS Sand and Gravel
Program
Environmental Research Program
Media Contacts:
Curtis Carey
202-208-3985
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department of the Interior |