US Proposes Easing Offshore Oil Drilling Safety Regulations

[Joanna + 68]

The U.S. Interior Department  proposed eliminating some safety regulations for offshore oil and gas drilling that the Obama administration put in place after BP’s massive Gulf of Mexico (GoM) oil spill, a move it said would reduce “unnecessary burdens” on industry.

[Joanna + 68]

The regulation, called the Production Safety Systems Rule, addresses safety and pollution prevention equipment, subsea safety devices and safety device testing for oil and gas production on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. BSEE said its initial regulatory impact analysis estimates that the proposed amendments would reduce industry compliance burdens by at least $228 million over 10 years.

One of the safety provisions BSEE plans to remove is a requirement for operators to get a third party to certify that safety devices work under extreme conditions.

[Meanwhile + 49]

What is happening here is that corporate maximum profits are being put before American lives...again. I don't see how is this accomplishment, as the government is putting it

[Stephen + 67]

Much of the newer regulations were written by folks who knew nothing about undersea exploration or production. You just can not bypass some protocols 

[Joanna + 68]

2 minutes ago, Meanwhile said:

What is happening here is that corporate maximum profits are being put before American lives...again. I don't see how is this accomplishment, as the government is putting it

Meanwhile, industry "experts" have infected the Congress with lobbyists who, wait for it, write the regulations . . .

[JohnAtronis + 78]

1 hour ago, Joanna said:

The U.S. Interior Department  proposed eliminating some safety regulations for offshore oil and gas drilling that the Obama administration put in place after BP’s massive Gulf of Mexico (GoM) oil spill, a move it said would reduce “unnecessary burdens” on industry.

Deep Water Horizon should be a lesson. BP was so shoddy in their internal controls that the blowout preventor had dead batteries which is why it failed to work.

[Joanna + 68]

Does the administration have any idea why the rules and regulations were implemented in the first place? Blindly rolling back safety standards plays into the hands of huge companies at the expense of workers.

[Stephen + 67]

1 minute ago, Joanna said:

Does the administration have any idea why the rules and regulations were implemented in the first place? Blindly rolling back safety standards plays into the hands of huge companies at the expense of workers.

Off course they don't.

"The reason my hair looks so neat all the time is because I don't have to deal with the elements. I live in the building where I work. I take an elevator from my bedroom to my office. The rest of the time, I'm either in my stretch limousine, my private jet, my helicopter, or my private club in Palm Beach Florida," Trump wrote once

[Stephen + 67]

BSEE said the changes would save the oil and gas industry $33 million a year and would not compromise safety, the environment or worker protections. That sum is a fraction of the bonuses they pay to their executives 

[JohnAtronis + 78]

13 minutes ago, Stephen said:

Much of the newer regulations were written by folks who knew nothing about undersea exploration or production. You just can not bypass some protocols 

Much of the Obama era regulations also missed the point, requiring costly actions that had nothing to do with safety.