The US will get one shot to inspect the rig Repsol will use to drill a deepwater well off the coast of Cuba next year, but will have no authority to force the company to make any changes if problems are found, witnesses told the House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday.
Officials from the US Coast Guard and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement are hoping to board the Chinese-made Scarabeo-9 rig sometime in the first two weeks of December, BSEE Director Michael Bromwich testified. The two groups will conduct as thorough an inspection as is allowed, but have not enforcement capabilities should deficiencies be found, Bromwich and Coast Guard Vice Admiral Brian Salerno said.
"Repsol has indicated to us they have every intention of conforming to US standards," Salerno, the Coast Guard's deputy commandant for operations, said. "Essentially, we have their word that they would match our standards as if they were operating in the Gulf of Mexico. This is consensual. We do not have any way to compel them to make changes on that rig."
Bromwich said that BSEE does not yet have Repsol's exploration plan or detailed information about their drilling activities because of confidentiality agreements between Repsol and the Cuban government. But Bromwich said he hopes to have that information soon.
Bromwich also made clear that the inspection that will be done won't be as complete as desired and will not include some key examinations that can only be done once the rig is in place where it intends to spud the well.
"I want to make clear that the completeness and the thoroughness of the inspection will not match what we're able to do," on rigs drilling in US waters, Bromwich said.
Bromwich said there are about a dozen important inspections that the US won't be able to conduct, from a key test of the blowout preventer after it is secured to the wellhead on the ocean floor, to specific well control drill requirements, and requirements that relate to well casing procedures.
"There are certain aspects...that can only be done at the site where the rig will actually be doing its work," Bromwich said. "In our judgment, it's a lot better than nothing."
Bromwich said that the US is enjoying access to Repsol drilling program because the Spanish company has leases in the US Gulf that it intends to develop.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Bromwich said his agency has no plans to contact Malaysia's Petronas, Venezuela's PDVSA or any of the other companies that will drill deepwater wells of Cuba's coast after Repsol.
