Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Administration Lifts Drilling Moratorium; Landrieu Won't Lift Hold

Rachel Slajda | October 12, 2010, 2:26PM

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar

The Obama administration announced today that it is lifting the moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

But Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), who has been holding the nomination of a new director for the Office of Management and Budget in protest of the moratorium, said she will not release her hold.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who announced the early end to the moratorium today, said that oil companies who comply with new, stricter safety rules will be able to apply for permits.

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

WH: Drilling Moratorium Will Be Lifted Soon

Rachel Slajda | October 12, 2010, 11:03AM

Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling platform sinks during Gulf Oil Spill Disaster

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters today that the deepwater drilling moratorium will likely be lifted soon, and as early as this week.

That's earlier than the original Nov. 30 end-date for the moratorium, which bars oil and gas companies from drilling new deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico during the ongoing investigation of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent, massive oil spill.

Reuters today is also reporting that the head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the new department which oversees drilling, will make an "imminent" announcement about the moratorium.

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Offshore Drilling Head Admits Agency Got Regulations From Industry

Rachel Slajda | August 13, 2010, 9:55AM

Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling platform sinks during Gulf Oil Spill Disaster

The director of the government's newly reorganized offshore drilling agency conceded yesterday that the agency has relied too heavily on the oil and gas industry when creating regulations.

"I think there is the perception and the reality that we have been heavily reliant on the domestic oil and gas industry in setting standards," Michael Bromwich, the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said Thursday, the WSJ reports. "We're going to be exploring borrowing from alternative models."

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