Offshore regulators focused on nits while avoiding the big things?

Fuel Fix:

The offshore oil industry's top cop says the inspectors that oversee drilling in the Gulf of Mexico are overly focused on what he described as minor infractions that needlessly hold up production.

Scott Angelle, director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, said in an interview Thursday, he was concerned that over policing was creating a contentious environment in which the bureau and the oil companies it oversees were spending too much time sending paperwork back and forth and not enough time focused on preventing oil spills and blowouts.

"If BSEE is saying you're not doing this right and that right, they got to shut us up, just like Delta airlines has to shut up the FAA," Angelle said. "If you're inspecting around some things... but they're for little bitty things and we're not focused on the big things, or we're not even inspecting for those big things, isn't that a misalignment?"

The comments come as President Donald Trump has made expanding offshore oil and gas production a top priority for his administration, with hopes to expand beyond the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.

At BSEE, which issues permits for offshore drilling and pipelines and send inspectors to platforms hundreds of miles off the coast, Angelle has instigated an overhaul of the agency designed to reduce lag times in permitting and focus inspections on those violations and operations determined to be most at risk.

Offshore oil and gas companies have advocated for such an approach since time lost to spot inspections or waiting for a drilling permit, translates into lost revenue.

"The economics are particularly tough offshore right now," said Randall Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, a trade group. "We think [BSEE] is headed in the right direction."
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Offshore oil spills are costly disasters for companies.  They have their own self-interest in seeing that they do not happen.  They are a double whammy since they are not only losing product, they have to spend extraordinary time and effort to stop the leaks and clean them up.  That should be the main focus of the regulatory effort.