HOUSTON – Discussing highlights from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's (BSEE) work in fiscal year 2015, BSEE Director Brian Salerno released the bureau’s 2015 Annual Report during a press conference today at the Offshore Technology Conference. The Annual Report includes descriptions of the bureau’s mission and its regulatory activities conducted to ensure safety and environmental compliance. Summarized statistics and industry safety performance results are also included in the report as well as BSEE’s new initiatives and plans for the future.
“2015 was a year during which many great strides were made, but also a year that contained avoidable industry incidents we must strive to prevent,” said Director Salerno. “BSEE staff conducted thousands of inspections, levied millions of dollars of fines when appropriate, and worked closely with other government entities to push the Outer Continental Shelf to become as safe as possible.”
Director Salerno also discussed the recently released Well Control Rule which incorporates many of the recommendations from the numerous investigations and studies following the Deepwater Horizon tragedy. He described the development of the rule and the necessity of some of the included provisions in the new rule.
“The final Well Control Rule is the culmination of years of work and bears the marks of good ideas from U.S. government experts, industry engineers, academics, NGOs, and many other stakeholders,” explained Director Salerno. “Their contributions will leave, as a legacy, a safer offshore workplace and a more protected environment.”
Presentations were also made to the winning team of the inaugural High School Offshore and Technology Stars Challenge. The challenge, held March 4 and sponsored by BSEE and the Ocean Energy Safety Institute, provided high school student teams an opportunity to participate in a technology competition centered around adopting evolving technology for use in the offshore oil and gas industry.
The Challenge is one part of BSEE’s overall initiatives to engage youth and heighten efforts to recruit talented professionals for public service.
For more info on the BSEE Annual Report 2015, click here.
For more info on the Well Control Rule, click here.
For more info on the Technology Challenge, click here.