Overview of US minerals management service activities in deepwater research

The US Minerals Management Service (MMS) is responsible for safe and environmentally sound management of offshore oil and gas resources. In recent years, there has been a tremendous increase in both activities and plans for deepwater development of these resources in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). As the industry meets the enormous technical challenges involved, there is a concomitant effort to assure environmental protection of deep-ocean and coastal resources. This paper will outline the research planning and program currently underway to assess impacts, identify potential problems, and discover more about unknown resources of the deep ocean.