NEW ORLEANS – The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement today received a Consensus Study Report published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that evaluated BSEE’s offshore oil and gas inspection program and overall mission to promote offshore safety and environmental protection.
“BSEE takes every opportunity to augment and improve its offshore oil and gas inspection program,” said Gulf of Mexico Region Director Lars Herbst. “We appreciate the expertise and thoroughness of the NAS committee who worked on this report, and BSEE will be assembling a team to fully assess the report’s findings and recommendations.”
In May 2017, BSEE contracted with the National Academies’ Transportation Research Board to look at BSEE’s offshore oil and gas inspection program in the context of the agency’s other related programs and activities. The report titled, “Modernizing the U.S. Offshore Oil and Gas Inspection Program for Increased Agility and Safety Vigilance,” outlined ways BSEE can keep pace with changing circumstances and conditions and become more agile, versatile, and effective in a changing offshore oil and gas industry.
BSEE’s adaptive capability in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic was also highlighted in the report. Since the pandemic began in March 2020, BSEE inspectors have been screened and tested to reduce the likelihood of the spread of COVID-19 offshore. To date, no BSEE inspector has contracted the virus because of offshore operations. Since March 2020, BSEE inspectors have flown more than 695,090 miles and conducted over 12,500 inspections.
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