by Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON – The Obama administration plans to split the beleaguered federal Minerals Management Service (MMS) into two separate parts, the White House confirmed Tuesday, following the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs confirmed that the MMS, which is overseen by the Interior Department, will be divided into two sections: one to regulate the oil industry, and another to provide drilling leases and collect federal royalties on the operations. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was to make a “major announcement” later Tuesday about planned reforms “to toughen oversight of offshore oil and gas operations,” his office said in a statement. Critics said the MMS has a built-in conflict with its two roles regulating offshore drilling, but also arranging offshore leasing contracts and collecting oil and gas royalties. The MMS reaps billions of dollars each year, garnering more revenue for the U.S. government than any other federal agency except the income tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service. Congressional hearings on Tuesday were to examine the causes of the April 20 drilling rig explosion and whether the MMS’s regulatory framework ought to be changed. The Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig exploded, caught fire, and sank last month, sparking an environmental disaster as millions of gallons of oil gush into the ecologically fragile Gulf. Among those set to testify at two Senate oversight hearings Tuesday are top executives of BP, which owned the well, Transocean Ltd., which owned the rig, and Halliburton, a contractor on the rig. Related Links: The Yes Men send an intern to the Bolivia Climate Summit Political fallout from the Gulf oil spill: Hill hearings, climate-bill questions, MMS reorg Louisiana fishermen say media, not oil, killing their business
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Minerals, oil agency to be split in two parts, White House says
