Funding for Offshore Drilling Safety Study Suspended

Funding for Offshore Drilling Safety Study Suspended

On December 21, 2017, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced that the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) had directed it to “stop work” on a study into offshore oil and gas drilling safety. The study was commissioned by BSEE in 2016 as part of an ongoing effort to implement lessons learned recent oil spills.

A spokesman for BSEE said it was assessing whether the National Academies study is duplicating efforts already underway to improve its inspections. BSEE told the National Academies it would decide whether to continue funding the study within 90 days.