Nick Snow
OGJ Washington Editor
WASHINGTON, DC, July 9 -- A federal appeals court in New Orleans rejected the Obama administration’s request to reinstate a 6-month deepwater drilling moratorium, which a federal district judge blocked on June 22. The July 8 ruling is not final since the same appeals court is expected to hear arguments in the case in late August or early September.
“As the court recognized, the secretary can seek a stay on an emergency basis in the event that an operator seeks to resume deepwater drilling activity in the gulf,” a spokeswoman for US Interior Sec. Ken Salazar said on July 9. “We continue to believe that it is not appropriate to drill new deepwater wells in the gulf until we can be assured that future drilling activity can be conducted in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.
“Based on what we have learned since the BP oil spill, it has become increasingly clear that companies may not have adequate containment and response capabilities to respond to a spill and therefore as the Secretary has said previously, he will be issuing a new moratorium,” she told OGJ via e-mail.
Salazar has called the moratorium, which he announced on May 27, a “pause” while investigators determine why BP PLC’s Macondo well blew out on Apr. 20, leading to an explosion that destroyed Transocean Ltd.’s Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible rig and killed 11 people. Lines that ruptured as the rig sank set off a massive spill into the gulf which BP and federal agencies are trying to stop, contain, and clean up.
In a July 9 statement, the National Ocean Industries Association said it was pleased by the appeals court’s ruling but said US Interior statements that the appeal would continue and that a new moratorium is being prepared add confusion and uncertainty to the offshore oil and gas industries at the worst possible time.
“The environmental and economic impacts of the Deepwater Horizon accident are devastating, but the imposition of the original moratorium and ensuing litigation has already idled exploration for 43 days,” NOIA’s statement continued. “Now, the promise of a ‘new and improved’ moratorium will continue to put more people out of work and unnecessarily compound the economic plight of those living in the gulf. All this, and the president’s commission has not yet begun work on its 6-month review tied to the original moratorium.”
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