U.S. wants more oil, gas oversight

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. lawmakers pushed through legislation that formally dissolves one federal agency in favor of three distinct ones to handle offshore energy.

Democratic lawmakers in the House Natural Resources Committee last year pushed legislation through that, according to one official, would permanently dismantle the "scandal-ridden" Minerals Management Service and divide it into three separate entities.

The U.S. Interior Department inspector general issued a 2010 report concluding that MMS inspectors accepted hunting and fishing trips, tickets to football games and meals from companies operating offshore oil rigs.

U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, said a measure passed through his committee and is on the way to the full House in order to replace the MMS with three distinct agencies.

"In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon accident it became apparent that the structure of the regulatory agency charged with oversight of offshore energy production was inadequate," he said in a statement.

Hastings' measure would replace the MMS with a Bureau of Ocean Energy, the Ocean Energy Safety Service and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue.

The State Department this week created a new agency, meanwhile, to oversee the geopolitical aspects of oil and natural gas.