Federal proposals for offshore seismic surveys, including a shutdown of equipment if whales are spotted, could reduce the number of seismic surveys in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM) by 10% or 25%, potentially setting back discoveries.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) draft regulations have raised concerns from oil and gas industry groups.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) is disturbed by some of the alternatives the BOEM offered. For instance, a proposal puts in place a minimum 40-kilometer (25-mile) distance between vessels simultaneously conducting separate deep-penetration seismic airgun surveys.

“There is no evidence that sound produced by exploring for oil and natural gas or seismic surveys has resulted in any physical or auditory injury to a marine mammal or impacted marine mammal population in the Gulf of Mexico,” Andy Radford, offshore senior policy adviser for the API, said on a media call Oct. 13. “In fact, marine life and commercial fishing have thrived in the Gulf of Mexico for more than 30 years.”

The proposals are among the mitigation measures included in BOEM’s draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), which aims to address the potential environmental impacts of geological and geophysical (G&G) activities in federal waters of the GoM, under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The draft PEIS, which is in the public comment phase, also covers G&G activity on the Outer Continental Shelf—both pre-lease and post-lease—carried out in the renewable energy and marine minerals sectors.

Activities assessed in the draft include:

  • Deep-penetration and high-resolution seismic surveys;
  • Electromagnetic, magnetic, gravity and remote-sensing surveys; and
  • Geological and geochemical sampling.

The results of such surveys are considered essential building blocks for exploration and appraisal campaigns, which can lead to new oil and gas discoveries.

Reducing the number of seismic surveys allowed in the GoM could have negative effects. Wells may not be drilled and economies could be impacted, Radford said, noting the API is “deeply troubled” by these proposals.

One BOEM alternative would reduce G&G activity for seismic airgun surveys. The proposal includes a 10% reduction in deep-seismic multiclient activities; another includes a 25% reduction.

“Neither operational experience nor the best available science would dictate the level of precaution proposed in some of the alternatives, specifically concerning mitigation measures that would require shutting down operations in the presence of dolphins,” he said. “There’s nothing to justify the need for these restrictions.”

Part of BOEM’s methodology for calculating the number of noise-generating samples performed includes injury or behavioral disruption of mammals. Radford said BOEM’s analysis “needs much more scrutiny.” He said the estimates don’t take into consideration mitigation measures already being used by the industry.

“Historically, the models used have been overly conservative and do not take into account the effective mitigation measures used by industry,” he said. “The result is astronomically and unrealistically high numbers for potential takes that are then misused and sensationalized by groups opposed to energy production.”

Testing and rulemaking should accurately reflect the best science and research and industry’s operational experience, the API contends. Taken together, seismic surveys appear to “have little to no impact on marine wildlife populations,” Radford said.

He acknowledged that seismic work may temporarily impact an individual animal—which may react to sounds—but a temporary impact on marine life does not affect the overall population levels of animals in the GoM.

BOEM stands by its methods.

“BOEM’s approach offers the strongest practicable safeguards in an effort to eliminate or reduce impacts to marine mammals and the environment,” BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper said in a news release about the draft PEIS. “We continue to conduct research and monitor the science of this field and work with other agencies and stakeholders to create and maintain the protection of these resources.”

BOEM said it used mathematical models to estimate the exposure of marine mammals to G&G activities using active acoustic sources, such as airguns and HRG surveys using non-airgun acoustic sources, emitting sound at frequencies <200 kHz.

Radford noted seismic surveys are a “proven, environmentally sound technology with a track record that extends for decades.” He added that “advances in seismic imaging technologies and data processing in the last decade have dramatically improved the industry’s ability to locate oil and natural gas offshore.”

He also pointed to exploration development activity that has led to higher resource estimates. In 1987, for example, the Minerals Management Service estimated there were 9.57 billion barrels (Bbbl) of recoverable oil resources in the GoM; however, more seismic data acquisition and more exploratory drilling combined with technological advances pushed that estimate up to 48.4 Bbbl in 2011.

The first of five public meetings on the draft PEIS is scheduled for Nov. 9 in New Orleans. Additional meetings will take place in Gulfport, Miss.; Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; Mobile, Ala.; and Houston. More information and a copy of the draft PEIS is available on BOEM’s website.

Velda Addison can be reached at vaddison@hartenergy.com.

Offshore