[QUOTE=New Orleans Lady;38619]Dell, queston: Does bp have exclusive rights, to drill in the macondo resevoir <pardon spelling>? Go back to sleep,I’ll check later tonite.Gotto hit the pavement, yall have a great day. Dont eat, too many pies., and save the chocolate cream for me![/QUOTE]
[I]Federal oil and gas production is regulated by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and Minerals Management Service (MMS) under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). OCSLA provides a four-step process for approving offshore oil and gas projects:
Five-Year Lease Plans analyze the country’s needs, supplies, and options for new leasing;
Lease Sales: areas identified in a final Five-Year Lease Plan may be sold to private companies through a bidding process. Leases are valid for five to ten years. Purchase of a lease does not guarantee a right to development, but rather provides an exclusive right to apply for exploration and development permits;
Exploration Plans (EPs): once a lease is purchased, the buyer develops a plan to explore the area for development potential. Exploration activities, such as seismic surveys and exploratory drilling, can pose impact to the environment and often require environmental review;
Development and Production Plans (DPPs): following successful exploration, a company may apply for permission to develop the lease. Development activities involve construction impacts (from installing platforms, pipelines, onshore processing, storage and transportation facilities) and operational impacts (from drilling, discharging byproducts into the ocean, transporting, processing and refining operations). Once commercial production commences, the lease has no termination date.
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