By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is proposing to split up an Interior Department agency that oversees offshore drilling, as part of its response to the Gulf Coast oil spill, The Associated Press has learned.
An administration official who asked not to be identified because the plan is not yet public said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will urge that Congress approve splitting the Minerals Management Service in two. One agency would be charged with inspecting oil rigs, investigating oil companies and enforcing safety regulations, while the other would oversee leases for drilling and collection of billions of dollars in royalties.
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An internal investigation in 2008 described a "culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" by workers at the agency. The investigation by Interior's inspector general found workers at the MMS royalty collection office in Denver partied, had sex with and used drugs with energy company representatives. Workers also accepted gifts, ski trips and golf outings, the report by Inspector General Earl E. Devaney said.
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Salazar, who promised aggressive reform when he took over the Interior Department early last year, believes the tragedy aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig — and the resulting massive oil spill — has made reform even more urgent, the administration official said.
moreUpdated to add:
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Australia, for example, created a separate agency — the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority — in 2005. Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority was created a year earlier to specifically address the inherent regulatory conflicts between resource management and workplace safety.
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The director general of Norway’s P.S.A., Magne Ognedal, was asked about the creation of the P.S.A.
in a recent interview with Elmer P. Danenberger — chief blogger at
Bud’s Offshore Energy and as it happens, the recently retired chief of offshore regulatory programs for the M.M.S.
The exchange:
Mr. Danenberger: In 2004, Norway separated its safety and resource management functions. The U.K. had done this after Piper Alpha, and Australia recently established a separate offshore safety regulator. Can you comment on the pros and cons of being an independent offshore safety regulator?
Mr. Ognedal: This is a good example of the influence of the political system of a country on safety regulatory matters. Not that I disagree, but the change made to separate safety and petroleum administrative matters was probably also aimed at reducing political risk. We have had no problems relating to that fact. Our role and mandate has now become much clearer and we have been given all the necessary authority to fulfill our mission. However, it has placed a big responsibility on the PSA. We must ensure we make the right decisions and be able to defend them. For myself, I think our oversight of safety in the petroleum industry has become both better and stronger because of this change. But others shall have to judge that.
Britain similarly severed these functions after a 1988 oil rig explosion in the North Sea, known as the
Piper Alpha incident, that killed 167 people. It remains the world’s worst offshore oil rig accident in terms of lives lost.
A subsequent investigation resulted in a recommendation that responsibility for safety oversight be moved from the Department of Energy to the
Health and Safety Executive, the independent watchdog agency for work-related health, safety and illness. A
separate division was created within the H.S.E. to monitor safety of the offshore oil and gas industry.
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