New Drilling Moratorium

The Obama administration issued a new drilling moratorium within the Gulf of Mexico Monday. Last month a federal court judge, citing oil drilling jobs, overturned the first deep water drilling moratorium. Interior secretary Ken Salazar vowed to come back with one more one courts would accept. The first deep water drilling moratorium singled out drilling for oil at any kind of depths of 500 feet or more. The new drilling moratorium disregards depth and focuses only on drilling scenarios and know-how. The 2010 oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico dumped an estimated 140 million gallons of crude into the sea.
Article resource: New drilling moratorium issued as first drilling rig leaves gulf by Personal Money Store
New drilling moratorium works at all depths
Last week, a federal appeals court rejected an appeal that was given by the interior department to restore its original offshore deep-water drilling moratorium, which halted the approval of any new permits for deep-water projects and suspended drilling on 33 exploratory wells. It was reported by the Washington Post that Salazar made the announcement Monday, arguing that a drilling moratorium is still needed to ensure that oil and gas companies implement safety measures to lower risks – and are prepared to deal with oil spills. Unlike the first moratorium, which applied to drilling rigs in waters of more than 500 feet, the new one applies to any deep-water floating facility with drilling activities.
At risk is apparently oil drilling jobs
The new moratorium is prepared to last through Nov. 30th. Some permits might be allowed before then if drillers prove safety methods are taken. Meanwhile, a New Orleans business group said the economic damage from a drilling moratorium would be worse than the toll taken by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010. Business Week reports that Michael Hecht of Greater New Orleans Inc. told the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Spill and Offshore Drilling at a listening to the six-month drilling ban may affect as much as 24,000 oil drilling jobs in Louisiana. Hecht assumed the economic impact from the BP oil spill would be dwarfed by the impact from the moratorium.
Companies that do oil drilling aren’t trusted
Salazar disagrees with Hecht’s assessment of the outcome. Salazar said in a statement, “A pause on deepwater drilling is essential and appropriate to protect communities, coasts, and wildlife from the risks that deep water drilling at the moment poses. I am basing my decision on evidence that grows each day of the industry’s inability in the deep water to contain a catastrophic blowout, respond to an oil spill and to operate safely.”
To leave the gulf is the first drilling rig
At the national commission listening to, the CEO of a service provider for offshore drillers said drilling rigs will leave the Gulf because of the drilling moratorium. So far, one has proven right. It was reported by the Houston Chronicle that on July 9 Diamond Offshore announced that its Ocean Endeavor drilling rig will leave the Gulf of Mexico and move to Egyptian waters instantly — making it the first to abandon the gulf in the wake of the BP oil spill and also the drilling moratorium being tested within the courts.
Citations:
Washington Post
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/12/AR2010071203003.html?hpid=topnews
businessweek.com
businessweek.com/news/2010-07-12/economic-damage-of-drilling-ban-to-dwarf-oil-spill-hecht-says.html
Houston Chronicle
chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7101738.html