For America’s oil and gas industry, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM’s) responsibilities as defined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) are significant. They extend over approximately 1.76 billion acres of America’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), and include resource assessments; providing appropriate access to energy and mineral resources; environmental, economic, and fiscal reviews; scientific research; and leasing, plan approvals, and lease management throughout the lifecycle of OCS energy projects.
BOEM is responsible for the development of the National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program (National OCS Program), which establishes a five-year schedule of oil and gas lease sales in federal waters. The schedule includes the size, timing, and location of potential oil and gas leasing activity as precisely as possible
As of May 1, 2021, BOEM manages about 2,287 active oil and gas leases on approximately 12.1 million OCS acres. BOEM’s oil and gas energy programs fall roughly into three categories: Scheduling oil and gas lease sales; holding lease sales and managing the subsequent leases; and reviewing exploration and development plans of private industry operators.
The agency maintains a number of valuable tools for the oil and gas industry, including a variety of maps and Geographic Information System (GIS) data, and geological and geophysical data (G & G).
Below are links to some of these tools.
The RED Bluebook is an annual publication that provides an inventory of BOEM’s total OCS data purchases, expenditures, and permits issued. This publication tracks the data by region (Alaska, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific) and by year.
The National Archive of Marine Seismic Surveys (NAMSS) is a collaborative effort of BOEM and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that provides a public interface for the release of seismic data on the OCS. As of February 2021, the Archive contains 320 3D surveys covering 335,569 square kilometers, and 577 2D seismic surveys with 33,691 tracklines covering 2,370,635 line kilometers.
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MarineCadastre.gov — This online interactive map viewer has integrated submerged lands information consisting of legal, property ownership (cadastre), physical, biological, ocean uses, and cultural information from multiple agencies in a common reference framework. Users can create, view, and print maps from this free, easy to use viewer, or can directly link these GIS data layers (web map services) into their own GIS applications. Most data are downloadable directly from the data registry. Additional map mash-ups are available to use or for simple viewing.
Other tools such as OceanReports and the Environmental Studies Program Information System – ESPIS can also be found from the MarineCadastre.gov site. |
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GIS Data/Shapefiles — Download GIS data files for BOEM Offshore block grids, boundaries, active leases, wells, pipelines, and more. |
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OPD, SOBD, CBD, & Lease Map Diagrams — Official Protraction Diagrams (OPDs) and Lease Maps show the OCS block grids and other boundaries for a given area. Supplemental Official Block Diagrams (SOBDs) are created for individual blocks which are intersected by offshore boundaries. The zip files may contain both current and historic SOBDs. The older SOBDs are provided for historical reference, but all future activities will be based on the most current SOBDs. Composite Block Diagrams (CBDs) show NAD 27 lease information portrayed on the NAD 83 cadastre, or show other boundaries that have changed over time. Not all OPDs have SOBDs or CBDs associated with them. Click on the individual Region names: |
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BOEM Map Gallery — Direct links to a selection of national, regional, local and special purpose maps which are spread throughout BOEM’s web site. |
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OCS Boundary Policies and Procedures — This page contains court decisions, treaties, legislation, policies, procedures, and other documents that guide the boundary making process on the Outer Continental Shelf. |
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Additional Data Sources — links to additional (external) GIS data sources. |
Guice Offshore Vessels — Part of the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Toolbox
Guice Offshore’s mini supply vessel fleet is a trusted partner in offshore oil and gas operations. Our support vessels play a necessary and critical role in the offshore exploration and production (E&P) environment and are utilized in almost every phase of the extraction process from survey and drilling, to production and abandonment.
Guice Offshore (GO) maintains a strong presence in the northern Gulf of Mexico E&P sector. our vessels are most often employed in support of Platform and Pipeline Operations (production activities, logistics, diving, ROV, inspection, maintenance, repair, plug and abandonment). We also participate in certain early phases of operations like surveying.
Geotechnical and Geologic Ocean Seabed Surveys
Utilizing vessels like Guice Offshore’s 150 ft. DP1 GO Liberty or the 170 ft DP1 GO Discovery, geotechnical companies can perform detailed survey activities for their oil and gas industry clients, such as seabed mapping, soil investigations and core sampling.
Depending on their equipment installed, Guice Offshore vessels can work in a variety of coastal or offshore environments and water depths. Open cargo decks, ample accommodations, excellent maneuverability and station-keeping, all coupled with an efficient cost of operations, makes the GO fleet a consistently reliable choice for the offshore oil and gas industry.
Oil Rig Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (IMR)
GO vessels facilitate the inspection, maintenance and/or repair of offshore pipelines, subsea structures, floating and fixed platforms and drilling rigs in a range of water depths. Our IMR support activities extend well beyond traditional oil and gas roles, and can include any number of industries such as offshore wind turbines, power cables, subsea or surface commissioning of structures, and sustainable energy equipment.
Often, IMR activities are conducted with Remotely Operated Vehicles (“ROVs”). Our GO Fleet possesses the accommodations, dynamic positioning (DP) station-keeping technology and removable side cargo rails necessary to support these operations.
