The United States Department of the Interior published the final well control rule on Aug. 22 from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). The rule clarifies blowout preventer (BOP) system regulations and...more
The Opportune 2023 Study has been conducted to independently calculate the OCS plugging and abandonment (P&A) liability, assess the risk such liability poses to the U.S. taxpayer, and perform a cost-benefit analysis of how...more
On June 29, 2023, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a proposed rule that, if adopted, would substantially revise the financial assurance requirements applicable to offshore oil...more
The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) directs decommissioning of facilities located in federal waters of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) that are used in performance of oil and gas exploration...more
On April 19, 2021, eleven years since the Deepwater Horizon explosion, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report issued to Congress criticizing the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and...more
On October 16, 2020, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”), both agencies of the U.S. Department of the Interior, published a joint notice of proposed...more
This post provides a quick primer on the administrative expense claims. These claims are entitled to priority for actual and necessary goods and services supplied to a debtor in bankruptcy. For a claim to qualify for...more
In 2014, we wrote about efforts by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to require less traditional parties to fund the decommissioning of idle oil and gas wells and related...more
On May 2, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) issued the 2019 Well Control Rule (Rule), a long-awaited, revised (and final) well control and blowout preventer rule governing Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)...more
The looming decommissioning liabilities of offshore energy producers have been a focus of the federal government in recent years. One recent case out of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Taylor Energy v. United States,...more
The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is soliciting comments on whether and under what circumstances it should allow decommissioning-in-place of pipeline-related infrastructure in...more
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) recently announced proposed revisions to its Oil and Gas and Sulfur Operations in the Outer Continental Shelf – Blowout Preventer Systems and Well Control Rule....more
Lessons for Sellers in Contracting with Emerging Market Buyers: The “Three R’s” to Structuring Payment Security Provisions - The recent rebound in the international energy industry is being driven, at least in part, by a...more
On May 11, 2018, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) announced proposed revisions to the Oil and Gas and Sulfur Operations in the Outer Continental Shelf ? Blowout Preventer Systems and Well Control Rule...more
Public Comment Period Open Until Early July - On May 11, 2018, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) announced proposed revisions to the Oil and Gas and Sulfur Operations in the Outer Continental Shelf...more
In a recent decision, the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA or Board) rejected an attempt by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to require an offshore operator to adopt manufacturer recommendations...more
AG Elections- Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson Announces Bid for Reelection- Minnesota AG Lori Swanson declared her intention to run for reelection to a fourth term in 2018, putting to rest previously reported...more
As previously reported, the Fifth Circuit in September ruled that the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has no criminal jurisdiction under its current regulations over offshore contractors (USA v. Moss,...more
On December 18, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dismissed the U.S. government’s appeal regarding a Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) Notification of Incident of Noncompliance...more
Public notice of some very significant regulatory actions has been provided in the waning days of 2017. 1. On December 28, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking...more
On Wednesday, September 27, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an important decision in United States vs. Moss, No. 16-30561 that limits the authority of the federal government to bring enforcement actions...more
Since October 2011, when the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) issued its first-ever Incidents of Non-Compliance (INCs) against offshore contractors (Halliburton and Transocean) in the wake of the...more
On September 27, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its long-awaited opinion in the case of U.S. v. Moss, et al. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s ruling that the Outer Continental Shelf...more
Scott Angelle took over as the Director of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, May 23. Mr. Angelle is well known to the oil and gas...more
In the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident, which involved multiple contractors, the federal government revised its approach to offshore safety and environmental regulation. For the first time, the Bureau of Safety...more