Here’s the OCS fact sheet from DOI Followed by the press statement (per Richard Charter)
The Proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Proposed Program) will advance safe and responsible domestic energy exploration and production by offering substantial acreage for lease in regions with known potential for oil and gas development. The Proposed Program is consistent with the Obama Administration’s Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future, which aims to promote domestic energy security and reduce oil imports by a third by 2025 through a comprehensive national energy policy.
The Proposed Program is informed by lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon tragedy and reforms that have been implemented to make offshore drilling safer and more environmentally responsible, and to ensure that we are better prepared in case a blowout or oil spill occurs. More information on the department’s ongoing offshore reforms can be found at: http://www.boem.gov/About-BOEM/Reforms/Reforms.aspx.
MAKING MORE THAN 75% OF UNDISCOVERED RESOURCES AVAILABLE
The Proposed Program includes 15 lease sales in six offshore areas where there are currently active leases and exploration and where there is known or anticipated hydrocarbon potential. This strategy makes more than 75% of the undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources estimated on the OCS available for development.
The following sales are included in the Proposed Program:
Western Gulf of Mexico: Five annual areawide lease sales beginning in the fall of 2012 that make available all unleased acreage.
Central Gulf of Mexico: Five annual areawide lease sales beginning in the spring of 2013 that make available all unleased acreage.
Eastern Gulf of Mexico: Two sales, in 2014 and 2016, in areas of the Eastern Gulf that are not currently under congressional moratorium.
Beaufort Sea: One sale in 2015 with time to learn from any interim exploration and further analyze environmental issues, subsistence use needs, and infrastructure capabilities – so that the lease sale can be tailored to balance these issues.
Chukchi Sea: One sale in 2016, with time to learn from any interim exploration and further analyze environmental issues, subsistence use needs, and infrastructure capabilities – so that the lease sale can be tailored to balance these issues.
Cook Inlet: One special interest sale including the entire planning area, which is initially scheduled for 2013, but may be moved to later in the program depending on industry interest in the sale.
ADOPTING A TARGETED, REGION-SPECIFIC APPROACH
The Proposed Program is tailored to specific regional considerations like resource potential, adequacy of infrastructure including oil spill response capabilities, state interests and concerns, and the need for a balanced approach to our use of natural resources. By focusing on six offshore regions, the Proposed Program advances a strategy that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced on December 1, 2010.
Gulf of Mexico: The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) currently supplies more than a quarter of the nation’s oil production, and the Central and Western GOM remain the two offshore areas of highest resource potential and industry interest. The infrastructure supporting the oil and gas industry, including subsea containment and oil spill response resources, is the most mature and well developed in these regions. Therefore, the Proposed Program schedules annual, areawide lease sales in both the Western and Central GOM throughout the five-year leasing program. The program also includes lease sales gauged to accommodate anticipated industry interest in the portion of the Eastern GOM that is not currently subject to congressional moratorium. Other areas in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico – including the Straits of Florida – are not included in this Proposed Program because they are under a congressionally-mandated leasing moratorium until June 30, 2022. (bold added)
Alaska: The Proposed Program represents a balanced and careful approach to offshore development in the Arctic that accounts for resource potential; environmental needs; and the social, cultural, and subsistence needs of Native Alaskan communities. Single sales in each of the Beaufort and Chukchi Sea planning areas are placed late in the schedule to account for the significant inventory of yet-undeveloped leases in these frontier areas and to:
1) facilitate the development, synthesis, and consideration of further scientific study relevant to oil and gas exploration and development in the Arctic;
2) allow time for the analysis and evaluation of data collected from any exploration activity under current leases in the Beaufort and Chukchi Sea planning areas;
3) enable further long-term planning and development of spill response preparedness and infrastructure, building on current plans that could support limited activity in the near-term; and
4) support a leasing strategy that is tailored to both the specific resource opportunities and the special environmental and subsistence concerns presented in these regions.
Atlantic: This Proposed Program does not include lease sales in the Atlantic region. While an OCS development strategy announced in 2009 included the Mid- and South- Atlantic planning areas under consideration for potential inclusion in the Proposed Program, a number of specific considerations supported the Secretary’s decision not to include these areas, including the current lack of infrastructure to support oil and gas exploration and development, as well as spill preparedness and response. Additionally, there remain complex issues relating to potentially conflicting uses, including those of the Department of Defense. As the oil and gas resource potential in the Mid- and South Atlantic planning areas is not well understood, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is moving forward to expeditiously to facilitate resource evaluation in these areas, including conducting a programmatic Environmental Impact Statement relating to seismic surveys in the Atlantic.
Pacific: Areas off the Pacific coast are not included in this Proposed Program, which seeks to accommodate the recommendations of governors of coastal states and of state and local agencies – an important priority established by the OCS Lands Act. The exclusion of the Pacific Coast is consistent with state interests, as framed in an agreement that the governors of California, Washington and Oregon signed in 2006, which expressed their opposition to oil and gas development off their coasts.
PRESS RELEASE:
Date: November 8, 2011
Contact: Melissa Schwartz (202) 208-3599
*** EMBARGOED UNTIL 11:50 A.M. EST ***
Secretary Salazar Announces 2012-2017 Offshore Oil and Gas Development Program
WASHINGTON DC – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced the Proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017, which makes more than 75 percent of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources estimated in federal offshore areas available for exploration and development.
The Proposed Program, which is in line with President Obama’s direction to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic production, includes six offshore areas where there are currently active leases and exploration, and where there is known or anticipated hydrocarbon potential.
It schedules 15 potential lease sales for the 2012-2017 period – 12 in the Gulf of Mexico and three off the coast of Alaska.
“Expanding safe and responsible oil and gas production from the OCS is a key component of our comprehensive energy strategy to grow America’s energy economy, and will help us continue to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create jobs here at home,” said Secretary Salazar. “This five-year program will make available for development more than three-quarters of undiscovered oil and gas resources estimated on the OCS, including frontier areas such as the Arctic, where we must proceed cautiously, safely and based on the best science available.”
The Proposed Program will promote safe and responsible domestic energy production by offering substantial acreage for lease in regions with known potential for oil and gas development.
“This proposal recognizes the need to proceed carefully and in a manner that protects human safety, coastal areas, and the environment,” said Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Tommy P. Beaudreau. “This Proposed Program both promotes responsible development and is informed by lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon tragedy and the reforms that we have implemented to make offshore drilling safer and more environmentally responsible.”
The Proposed Program also reflects the need for a regionally tailored approach to offshore development that accounts for issues such as current knowledge of resource potential, adequacy of infrastructure including oil spill response capabilities, and the need for a balanced approach to our use of natural resources. The majority of lease sales are scheduled for areas in the Gulf of Mexico, where resource potential and interest is greatest and where infrastructure is most mature.
“A key part of safe and responsible development of our oil and gas resources is recognizing that different environments and communities require different approaches and technologies. In Alaska and off its coast, the Proposed Program recommends that the current inventory of already-leased areas in the Arctic should be expanded only after additional evaluations have been completed, and in a manner that accounts for the Arctic’s unique environmental resources and the social, cultural, and subsistence needs of Native Alaskan communities,” said Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes.
The Proposed Program includes lease sales in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, but the single sales are scheduled late in the 5-year period to facilitate further scientific study and data collection, and longer term planning for spill response preparedness and infrastructure. The proposal suggests that any lease sales in the Arctic be tailored to protect sensitive environmental resources, including those accessed by Native Alaskans for subsistence uses.
The Proposed Program will be open for significant public comment and consideration. Following public comment and review periods for the proposed program, as well as the accompanying Draft Environmental Impact Statement, a Proposed Final Program (PFP) and a Final EIS will be submitted to the President and Congress.
The OCS Lands Act requires that the Secretary of the Interior prepare a 5-year program that includes a schedule of oil and gas lease sales and indicates the size, timing and location of proposed leasing activity as determined by the Secretary to best meet national energy needs for the 5-year period following its approval, while addressing a range of economic, environmental and social considerations.
The Proposed Program is consistent with the Obama Administration’s Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future, which aims to promote domestic energy security and reduce oil imports by a third by 2025 through a comprehensive national energy policy.
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Special thanks to Richard Charter