Obama administration says it will continue to push improvements at drilling agency

Interior: More changes needed at drilling agency

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration says it will reinforce and expand reforms being carried out by the beleaguered agency that oversees offshore drilling.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says a report issued Wednesday provides a blueprint to solve problems at the agency formerly known as the Minerals Management Service.

The report recommends that the agency — now known as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement — should increase the number and training of inspectors; conduct more surprise inspections; and stiffen fines and civil penalties on companies found to violate federal rules.

Salazar and Michael Bromwich, the drilling agency’s new director, said the report builds on efforts already under way — including ethics and structural changes they said will transform the agency.