US Interior Dept renames offshore drilling agency

* Minerals Management Service renamed Bureau of Ocean Energy

* Former Justice Dept Inspector General heads agency

By Ayesha Rascoe

WASHINGTON, June 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Minerals and
Management Service, the troubled regulator that has been blamed
for failing to adequately police the drilling industry ahead of
the Gulf oil spill, will change its name, the Interior
Department said on Monday.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signed am order renaming the
agency the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and
Enforcement, or the Bureau of Ocean Energy.

The Obama administration has been overhauling the offshore
drilling agency, blamed for not doing enough to prevent the
Gulf oil spill disaster.

Plagued by numerous scandals, the agency is being broken up
into three separate divisions overseeing royalty collection,
energy leasing and safety enforcement. [ID: nN19223644]

In addition to the name change, Salazar on Monday also
swore-in former Justice Department Inspector General Michael
Bromwich to lead the reorganization effort. [ID:nN16184809]

The department announced last week that Bromwich had been
tapped to reform the agency.

"The BP oil spill has underscored the need for stronger
oversight of offshore oil and gas operations, more tools and
resources for aggressive enforcement, and a more effective
structure for the agency that holds companies accountable,"
Bromwich said in a statement."We will move quickly and
responsibly on our reforms."

The former head of MMS, Liz Birnbaum, abruptly resigned last
month in the wake of criticism of the agency's lax oversight of
the Deepwater Horizon rig and overall offshore drilling.
(Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid)