Is GOM drilling moratorium hurting or helping rig safety?

The International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) is urging its members to contact federal lawmakers to convey IADC’s dismay regarding the blanket suspension of deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

IADC Chairman Louis A. Raspino said uncertainty from Washington, DC, regarding deepwater drilling threatens the future of the US offshore drilling industry. Raspino, chief executive officer and president of Pride International Inc., spoke during an IADC town hall meeting in Houston on July 7.

The Interior Department imposed a 6-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling in the gulf following an Apr. 20 explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible drilling rig, which was working for BP PLC and partners on the Macondo well in 5,000 ft of water on Mississippi Canyon Block 252.

“Just about every rig sitting in the gulf right now is trying to find a way out of the gulf,” Raspino said. A federal judge in New Orleans issued a temporary injunction that effectively blocks the drilling moratorium, but the federal government is appealing that ruling to the appeals court.

Raspino and others speaking at the meeting all emphasized the importance of rig safety, but they also suggested that the motivation behind the moratorium was more about anti-drilling politics than it was about rig safety.

The moratorium is more likely to reduce safety than to improve safety, said Tom E. Williams, a member of a team of scientists advising Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. Williams is managing director of Nautilus International LLC.

Several others at the town hall meeting emphasized that the US has higher environmental standards and drilling safety regulations than do many other countries.

“The national security issue is not even being discussed,” in Washington, Raspino said regarding the likelihood that a decrease in US drilling will contribute to higher US dependence upon imported oil.

Judge says 150,000 jobs tied to offshore gulf operations

The offshore industry is crucial to the economies of communities along the Gulf of Mexico, US District Judge Martin Feldman of New Orleans notes in his ruling blocking a 6-month deepwater drilling moratorium in the gulf.

The moratorium stemmed from the Apr. 20 explosion and fire on Transocean Ltd.’s Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible rig, which was drilling the Macondo well in 5,000 ft of water for BP PLC and its partners. Eleven people were killed and a massive oil spill resulted.

US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar believes industry needs to refine blowout prevention, containment, and response planning before deepwater drilling should resume. DOE is appealing the temporary injunction that Feldman granted, blocking the drilling moratorium.

In his June 22 ruling, Feldman discussed how gulf drilling activities rely upon a vast and complex network of technology, assets, people, and experience.

“Indeed, an estimated 150,000 jobs are directly related to offshore operations,” Feldman said. “The government admits that the industry provides relatively high-paying jobs in drilling and production activities.”

Hornbeck Offshore Services Co. of Covington, La., and some 30 other companies requested the preliminary injunction against the moratorium. Feldman said plaintiffs own and operate vessels, shipyards, and supply service companies that support deepwater exploration and production.

“In addition to the vessels and facilities involved in their work, the plaintiffs together employ over 11,875 people,” Feldman said. “At least 19 other companies, aside from BP’s operations involved with Deepwater Horizon, are presently operating deepwater drilling rigs.”