Mr. Lars Herbst is the Regional Director for the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region of Minerals Management Service. As the Regional Director, Mr. Herbst manages the leasing of the OCS lands for oil, gas, and other mineral development, and supervises the regulation of operations and protection of the environment on those leases which involve 4,000 platforms. This area covers the five Gulf Coast States. He manages a staff of 550, which includes geologists, geophysicists, petroleum engineers, biologists, and environmental scientists.

Before his selection as Regional Director, he served as Acting Regional Director and as Regional Supervisor for Field Operations. The Field Operations office evaluates and approves operator proposals to install and modify platforms and pipelines on Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leases, evaluates new technology to be used in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), reviews and approves exploration and development plans, and administers the GOM accident investigation and civil penalty programs. He managed 180 employees, including District Offices in Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and New Orleans, Louisiana, and Lake Jackson, Texas.

Mr. Herbst began his career with MMS in 1983 as a staff engineer in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region’s Technical Assessment unit. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Louisiana and holds a BS degree in petroleum engineering from Louisiana State University.

MMS’s mission is to manage the ocean energy and mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf and Federal and Indian mineral revenues to enhance public and trust benefits, promote responsible use, and realize fair value.

ABSTRACT:
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is the Federal agency in the Department of the Interior that manages oil, natural gas, and renewable energy resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in Federal waters offshore. The MMS works diligently to build a successful program that provides for OCS energy development for the benefit of the American people in a manner that promotes efficient use of the resources, prevents injury and loss of life and property, protects the environment, and reduces conflicts with other uses of the OCS. As the steward of OCS mineral resources on the OCS, the MMS is responsible for all phases of mineral resource management including leasing, regulating operations, and providing resource information and forecasts.

In carrying out these responsibilities, the MMS has established a regulatory framework that provides both prescriptive requirements and general performance standards for the companies that conduct OCS operations. In addition, MMS issues guideline documents to clarify and provide more detail about these requirements as technology changes and unforeseen issues arise.

The presentation provides general information on the ongoing activities in the Gulf of Mexico and issues that are currently being addressed by the MMS. Topics include:

• General information including production forecasts, the latest deepwater discoveries and development projects, evolution of development technologies, and renewable energy initiatives.

• Lease sale information including recent trends, changes in length of lease terms of deepwater leases beginning with Sale No. 213 in March

• Overall safety performance including information on inspection results, annual performance reviews, safety alerts, incident investigations, and proposed SEMS regulations.

• Guidelines and proactive measures that provide a consistent and systematic approach to determine the future utility of idle infrastructure on active leases.

• Incentives that encourage drilling for deeper deposits of natural gas in the shallow water depths.

• Supplemental Rigs-to-Reefs policy to encourage better State and Federal agency coordination and improve industry planning regarding their decommissioning programs.