WHILE the US regulatory agencies Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) are credited with important safety advances since the 2010 Macondo disaster, there are concerns that some progress could be rolled back by the anti-regulation policies of President Donald Trump's administration.Of particular note is a well-control rule put forward before Trump took office in 2017. The rule underwent changes before being finalised in 2018.BSEE director Scott Angelle and the American Petroleum Institute (API) trade group both said at the time that the goal was to make the rule less prescriptive and more performance-based, an example of "smarter" regulation that can be flexible but also ensure safety and protect the environment.The API says research shows some of the changes to the rule, such as longer intervals between blowout preventer inspections, yield similar results.
展开▼
