The US is setting up a new national research facility centred on Houston with the purpose of reducing the risk of offshore drilling oil spills and disasters.
A kick-off purse of $4million, drawn from monies paid by BP to the State of Texas as a result of the Macondo disaster has been made available to get the Subsea Systems Institute established.
That funding will be channelled through the RESTORE Act (Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States), which is intended to provide funding for similar centres in the five states that were harmed by the BP oil spill.
The University of Houston (UH) will lead the collaborative effort with Rice University, Texas Southern University, Houston Community College, Lone Star College and the Johnson Space Center.
A further centre is to be established at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christie, on the US Gulf coast.
The SSI is being designated a portfolio of responsibilities, including serving as a go-between for the offshore industry and regulatory agencies; equipment validation and testing; working with standards organisations; creating relevant policies; and taking a supervisory role in training the industry’s workers, according to UH.
In addition to its technical work, the institute will work on issues relating to training future subsea engineers to work at depths and temperatures previously unexplored.
As the home of the nation’s only subsea engineering programme, according to its president for academic affairs, Paula Myrick Short, the University of Houston is “uniquely positioned” to lead not just the United States but the world in developing educational programmes “to ensure future leaders are able to safely and efficiently discover and develop future sources of energy” in the Gulf of Mexico and other deepwater oil & gas provinces.
The US is setting up a new national research facility centred on Houston with the purpose of reducing the risk of offshore drilling oil spills and disasters.
A kick-off purse of $4million, drawn from monies paid by BP to the State of Texas as a result of the Macondo disaster has been made available to get the Subsea Systems Institute established.
That funding will be channelled through the RESTORE Act (Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States), which is intended to provide funding for similar centres in the five states that were harmed by the BP oil spill.
The University of Houston (UH) will lead the collaborative effort with Rice University, Texas Southern University, Houston Community College, Lone Star College and the Johnson Space Center.
A further centre is to be established at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christie, on the US Gulf coast.
The SSI is being designated a portfolio of responsibilities, including serving as a go-between for the offshore industry and regulatory agencies; equipment validation and testing; working with standards organisations; creating relevant policies; and taking a supervisory role in training the industry’s workers, according to UH.
In addition to its technical work, the institute will work on issues relating to training future subsea engineers to work at depths and temperatures previously unexplored.
As the home of the nation’s only subsea engineering programme, according to its president for academic affairs, Paula Myrick Short, the University of Houston is “uniquely positioned” to lead not just the United States but the world in developing educational programmes “to ensure future leaders are able to safely and efficiently discover and develop future sources of energy” in the Gulf of Mexico and other deepwater oil & gas provinces.
For more oil and gas news from the Americas click here.