Trump Rollbacks Target Offshore Rules ‘Written With Human Blood’
But the company, Energy XXI, and other struggling operators in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico are beneficiaries of the Trump administration’s
efforts to increase offshore production here — in large part by upending financial, environmental and safety regulations that the companies oppose.
“The work we are doing in BSEE benefits the entire nation, and we are supporting the president’s objective of safely achieving energy dominance in order to contribute to national security, economic security and energy security,” said Eileen Angelico, the spokeswoman, adding, “The fact
that Director Angelle deeply understands the industry we regulate is a good thing.”
The agency is starting an enforcement effort that will focus inspectors on platforms with the most frequent
problems, reducing paperwork requirements so they can spend more time on checking equipment.
In a presentation to Wall Street analysts, Houston-based Renaissance Offshore, one of the Gulf’s
independent operators, called its business plan “a targeted acquire and exploit strategy.”
While major oil companies had given up on shallow-water drilling in favor of bigger prizes farther offshore, Renaissance was
“happy to assume control of forgotten assets with bypassed reserves on the continental shelf,” the presentation said.
He eventually went on to lead the state agency charged with regulating the oil
and gas industry, and made a series of appeals to Interior Department officials — some at the safety agency he now runs — to press the federal government to soften its response to the Deepwater Horizon accident.
“Help is on the way, help is on the way,” the official, Scott Angelle, said in September at a gathering in Lafayette, La., of oil
and gas executives from so-called independent companies, which focus on drilling alone rather than the extended drilling-to-gas-station operations of bigger competitors.
