Salazar receives drilling ban report, launches new revenue agency

The Interior Department’s top offshore energy regulator on Friday gave Secretary Ken Salazar a report that provides recommendations on the controversial deepwater oil-and-gas drilling ban, moving the Obama administraton closer to a potential easing of the moratorium.

The confidential report from Michael Bromwich — who heads the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) — is meant to help inform Salazar’s decision on whether to lift or scale back the ban before its Nov. 30 expiration.

“Secretary Salazar has received Director Bromwich’s report and will be reviewing it in the coming days,” Interior spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said. Bromwich crafted the report after holding a series of public hearings on offshore drilling in the Gulf Coast and elsewhere around the country.

Separately, Interior announced Friday that it has formally transferred royalty revenue collections and auditing outside BOEMRE, which is the overhauled and re-branded version of Interior’s long-troubled Minerals Management Service.

Salazar announced the plan months ago as part of an overhaul of drilling oversight in the wake of the BP oil spill.

The newly launched Office of Natural Resources Revenue will be housed within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget.

The restructuring — designed to remove conflicts of interest in offshore regulation — is also creating separate departments for offshore energy leasing and safety regulation.

“This is significant not only for moving forward with our overall reorganization, but also for the American taxpayers, whose interests will be better protected by the improved collection and management of revenues from energy development on our public lands and oceans,” Salazar said in a prepared statement Friday.

“When fully implemented, our restructuring will separate leasing and regulatory enforcement responsibilities as well, eliminating real and perceived conflicts in the previous organization, and providing the independence and resources necessary for each agency to fulfill its mission,” he added.