HOUSTON, TX — (Marketwire) — 03/28/12 — The International Association of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC) responded today to the US Department of the Interior–s announcement that they are taking steps to assess conventional and renewable energy resources in the Mid- and South Atlantic Planning Areas.
Chip Gill, IAGC President, stated, “We applaud the administration is finally moving forward on the environmental review of geological and geophysical operations in the Mid- and South Atlantic Planning Areas, including deep imaging using geophysical technologies such as seismic surveys for mineral exploration. Unfortunately, this announcement is anti-climactic now that the Administration has removed any leasing along the Atlantic seaboard from now through at least 2017.”
The Administration today suggested that if the results of the environmental review allow it, seismic surveying will likely start in the next year. Gill continued, “There are applications for permits to conduct geophysical activity remaining on file with BOEM. These were filed when the drilling moratorium off the Atlantic coast was lifted in 2008, and were evidence of the resulting industry interest. However, with the removal of any lease sales from the proposed 2012 – 2017 Five Year Leasing Plan currently under consideration, the economic or financial incentive to acquire that data and offer it for license has been removed. Geophysical contractors acquire non-exclusive geophysical data for license to the oil and gas industry as well as acquire it as a service to oil and gas companies. Therefore, contrary to the statements by Secretary Salazar and Director Beaudreau, we do not expect seismic surveys to be conducted for years, and thus we don–t expect it to be available to help the federal government evaluate the resource base anytime soon.”
Commenting on the fact that the draft Programmatic EIS (PEIS) does not cover the North Atlantic Planning Area, Gill stated, “As we said in 2010 in our comments during the scoping process for the Programmatic EIS (PEIS), the wind doesn–t stop at the neither New Jersey state boundary, nor does oil and gas prospectivity. We continue to urge the Administration to expand the scope of its environmental review to the North Atlantic Planning Area out of. If the North Atlantic Planning Area is not included, we hope government will allow individual project specific environmental assessments to go forward that will facilitate geological and geophysical operations to take place.”
This point has recently become more poignant with the January 2012 announcement that Shell Canada is placing a $1 billion oil and gas exploration bet in Nova Scotia, Canada, just north of the North Atlantic Planning Area. Further, the only discovery made during the flurry of oil and gas exploration off the Atlantic seaboard during the 1970s and 1980s was made in the Hudson Canyon area offshore New Jersey — again in the North Atlantic Planning Area.
The Oil and Gas industry has created thousands of jobs in the last year alone, as well as increasing tax revenue to state and federal governments. Opening up the entire Atlantic OCS area to measured, responsible oil and gas exploration, including by means of the application of risk reducing geophysical technologies, would add to this increase.
IAGC is the international trade association representing the industry that provides geophysical services (geophysical data acquisition, seismic data ownership and licensing, geophysical data processing and interpretation, and associated service and product providers) to the oil and gas industry. For more information visit .
Beverly Jernigan
713-494-133