U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region News Release

MMS Conducts 150 Unannounced Oil Spill Drills

On August 8, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) conducted its 150^th Unannounced Oil Spill Drill in the Gulf of Mexico.  The program was started to test the ability of offshore oil and gas and pipeline operators to contain or mitigate and clean up an oil spill by using the procedures and resources defined in their Oil Spill Response Plans.  The MMS Gulf of Mexico Region initiated the Unannounced Oil Spill Drill Program with its announcement in Notice to Lessees and Operators NTL 92-04.

Rusty Wright, Oil Spill Program Administrator, said, “The MMS conducting about 20 oil spill drills a year, has helped industry improve their capability to respond to actual oil spills.”

Regional Director Chris Oynes said “Since the inception of the Unannounced Oil Spill Drill Program, MMS has observed that the response capabilities, response efficiencies, and response training have improved to where the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico is prepared to respond properly in the event of an actual oil spill.”

The selection of an operator to participate in an unannounced drill is based on such factors as the number of oil producing facilities, the volume of oil production, and proximity to sensitive areas.  With an eye to the operator’s current activities, a location is chosen and a spill scenario is developed. Fictitious weather conditions provided to the operator during the drill are used to produce a trajectory of the spill.  Real time (actual) weather conditions are not used.

There are three types of exercises ─ Table Top, Mobilization, and Mobilization and Equipment Deployment. During these exercises, an MMS monitoring team presents to the Incident Commander a scenario involving one or more of the operator’s facilities and then observes the Spill Management Team’s simulated or actual response.

At the conclusion of a drill, the MMS monitoring team discusses with the Spill Management Team the strong and weak areas of the response.  MMS requires that a written report be submitted within 15 days with complete documentation of the exercise.  MMS then prepares a written evaluation of the exercise.  Exemplary responses are acknowledged and recommendations/requirements for improvement are given when warranted by MMS.  An Incident of Noncompliance may be issued for poor performance.

MMS is the Federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation's oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in Federal offshore waters.  The agency also collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian leases.  These revenues totaled over $6 billion in 2002 and nearly $127 billion since the agency was created in 1982.  Annually, nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the acquisition and development of state and Federal park and recreation lands.

MMS Main Website:  www.mms.gov
Gulf of Mexico Website:  www.gomr.mms.gov