There is hope for six companies wanting to conduct geological and geophysical (G&G) activities in the Atlantic Ocean.

The U.S. Department of the Interior said on May 10 that Walter Cruickshank, acting director for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), asked the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) to remand six application denials under appeal. The move follows Secretarial Order 3350, which implements President Trump’s America-First Offshore Energy Strategy, the Interior Department said in a news release. Upon the grant of the remand by the IBLA, the previous administration's decision that ordered BOEM to deny the permit applications reverses.

TGS, GX Technology Corp., WesternGeco LLC, CGG Services (US) Inc., Spectrum Geo Inc. and PGS had filed appeals with the IBLA after the permit requests were denied.

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The latest move allows BOEM to resume its evaluation to determine whether to approve or deny each application.

The Interior Department said that the previous administration’s decision underestimated the benefits of obtaining updated G&G information and ignored the conclusions of BOEM’s Atlantic G&G Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision. The agency said no significant impacts are expected as a result of these seismic surveys.

“Seismic surveying helps a variety of federal and state partners better understand our nation’s offshore areas, including locating offshore hazards, siting of wind turbines, as well as offshore energy development,” said Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. “Allowing this scientific pursuit enables us to safely identify and evaluate resources that belong to the American people. This will play an important role in the President’s strategy to create jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign energy resources.”

More than 30 years have passed since the last G&G seismic data for the Mid- and South-Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) were collected. During that time, technological advances also have been made in exploration.

The Atlantic region is not included in the current five-year OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program; however, President Trump has directed the Interior Department and BOEM to begin developing a new national program. Information gained from possible seismic surveys in the Atlantic will help with future decision-making, the release said.

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