Latest news with #BSEE
E&E News
13-06-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Burgum suggests Interior could terminate more leases
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum declined on Thursday to commit to keeping open a California oil and gas oversight office, telling lawmakers that his agency was looking to save money on real estate. At a House Natural Resources Committee oversight hearing, Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.) pressed Burgum to promise not to close the Pacific regional office for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), the Interior agency that oversees offshore drilling infrastructure. The office appeared on a 'lease termination list' earlier this year that included dozens of federal offices, many at Interior, that the Trump administration believed were extraneous. Burgum refused to say the office would remain open. Advertisement 'The work they do is crucial. I won't make any commitments about leases,' Burgum told the committee. 'We've got way too much space across Interior.'
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
USC Aiken to offer degree in electrical engineering starting in Fall 2026
AIKEN, S.C. (WJBF) – The University of South Carolina Aiken has announced it will add a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) beginning the Fall 2026 semester. According to the school, the degree program will be focused on educating students to design, build, test and maintain electrical and electronic systems. The program was developed in response to local industry needs and aligns with the university's goal of supporting local economic growth and workforce development. 'Aiken and the CSRA have a great need for engineers,' says Scott McKay, Dean of the College of Sciences and Engineering. 'As a regional university, it is our job to support the economy and workforce development in those industries by meeting their demands for highly skilled engineers and scientists.' The forthcoming BSEE joins degree programs in mechanical, process and software engineering already offered by the College of Sciences and Engineering. USC Aiken states students interested in the electrical engineering program but entering in Fall 2025 may complete a year of prerequisites that will meet the requirements of the BSEE. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
E&E News
23-05-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Interior will oversee oil decommissioning in marine sanctuary
The Trump administration is giving an offshore regulatory agency new authority over decommissioning oil and gas sites in a recently created marine sanctuary off California's central coast. The Interior Department said Thursday that its Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is now the lead federal agency to oversee retiring oil and gas platforms in the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. The 4,543-square-mile swath of the Pacific Ocean became protected near the end of the Biden administration. Oil and gas decommissioning oversight for the area had been under the Department of Commerce. 'This is a strong example of interagency collaboration to streamline permitting and promote responsible energy development while honoring our commitment to environmental protection,' said Interior's acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, Adam Suess, in a statement. 'By leveraging BSEE's regulatory expertise, we can ensure that offshore decommissioning activities within the sanctuary are conducted safely and efficiently.' Advertisement BSEE is charged with leading safety and environmental protection related to offshore energy activities on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is also part of Interior, manages the development of resources in that offshore region.
E&E News
19-05-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Interior offshore safety agency resisted Gulf office relocation plan
The Interior Department's offshore safety agency expressed concerns earlier this year about the prospect of moving offices in the New Orleans area — changes that now appear to be off the table. Offices occupied by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, or BSEE, appeared on a 'lease termination list' in February, according to records obtained by POLITICO's E&E News through a Freedom of Information Act request. The 'planned termination' date for leases at four addresses in the New Orleans area was Aug. 31 for two sites and Dec. 31 for the others, the spreadsheet showed. The document listed the Bureau of Minerals Management Service — a precursor to BSEE and its sister agency, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management — as the entity tied to those leases. Advertisement Experts cautioned that office changes could slow President Donald Trump's push to expand domestic oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, which he renamed the Gulf of America. But while Interior did not comment last week on whether the building leases in southeast Louisiana were still being targeted for termination, a local business official is not expecting closures or moves in the area.
Epoch Times
25-04-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
DOI Eases Drilling Rules to Boost Offshore Oil Production
The Department of the Interior (DOI) relaxed a drilling rule that was projected to increase oil production in the Gulf of America and lower costs, the agency said in an April 24 The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has implemented new parameters for 'downhole commingling' in the Paleogene (Wilcox) oil and gas reservoirs in the Gulf of America. Downhole commingling is the process of producing oil from several reservoirs that have varying pressure levels by using only a single wellbore, a type of borehole drilled to extract oil. Under the new policy, the BSEE is 'expanding the allowable pressure differential from 200 psi to 1500 psi,' a nearly eightfold increase. This will allow companies to produce oil from multiple reservoirs with pressure differences. 'This change, the result of extensive technical consultation with offshore industry leaders, could increase production output by roughly 10 percent, which would translate into over 100,000 barrels per day production increase over the next ten years,' the department said. The DOI said additional gains are possible and would depend on further data provided by operators working in the Wilcox reservoirs. Related Stories 4/24/2025 4/22/2025 Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum called the decision to raise the pressure differential a 'monumental milestone in achieving American Energy Dominance.' 'We're delivering more American energy, more efficiently, and with fewer regulatory roadblocks. That means lower costs, more jobs, and greater security for American families and businesses, as President Trump promised. Through smart collaboration and decisive leadership, we're showing what's possible.' According to the DOI, the update follows President Donald Trump's Jan. 20 executive The order highlighted America's abundant natural resources, the development of which has been impeded in recent years due to 'burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations.' Trump focused on several measures to boost the country's energy output, including encouraging energy production on federal lands and waters. Commenting on the new commingling policy, the Interior Department cited a 2023 It added that since the new policy expedites development from each reservoir, it helps prevent waste and extract 'more value from every well. ' Kenneth C. Stevens, principal deputy director of BSEE, called the policy update a 'major win' for American energy. 'Thanks to the tireless work of our technical experts and our industry partners, this advancement enables increased recovery from existing wells, reducing the cost per barrel, and strengthening our nation's energy independence.' Trump Energy Push The National Ocean Industries Association welcomed the commingling policy update, with President Erik Milito saying the organization 'strongly supports' the move, according to an April 24 'Over the last 15 years, reservoir management and robust well completion technologies, among other innovations, have strengthened confidence in safe commingling operations,' he said. 'This policy is a big win for American energy security, for the jobs it sustains, and for the responsible growth of our industry in the Gulf.' The commingling policy is one of the latest actions taken by the Trump administration to boost America's energy security. Some of the measures have attracted criticism. On April 23, the DOI In an April 24 Athan Manuel, director of the club's Lands Protection Program, said that 'these arbitrary time limits make a complete review of the risks of potentially hazardous projects impossible.' 'A shoddy review means the true hazards of a project may only be known when the air or water thousands of people rely on is dangerously polluted.' Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration In March, the DOI said it was looking to reopen up to 82 percent of the approximately 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for leasing to tap into the region's energy resources.
