A federal judge has overturned the Obama administration’s six-month deep water drilling moratorium within the Gulf of Mexico. The ruling issued Tuesday cited economic hardship as a result of the ban and explained the government overreached by suspending all deep-water drilling operations prepared in the gulf. The ruling was hailed by oil companies. The Department of Justice said they wanted to appeal the decision immediately. Meanwhile, as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010 gushed for the 63rd day, about 106 million gallons of crude and counting have spilled into the sea.
Resource for this article: Drilling moratorium overturned by judge with oil company holdings
Possibility of drilling moratorium judge being invested in oil
The drilling moratorium was overturned by Judge Martin L.C. Feldman after several oil rig service companies filed a complaint. It was reported by ABC News that recent disclosure documents indicate that Feldman, who was appointed to the bench by Ronald Reagan, has had financial holdings in oil companies. Feldman said the Interior Department acted as if it were “arbitrarily and capriciously” when it issued a six-month moratorium on drilling new deep-water wells in the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean. Feldman granted a preliminary injunction to Hornbeck Offshore Services to lift the drilling moratorium, saying that he believed the government “failed to cogently reflect the decision to issue a blanket, generic, indeed punitive, moratorium.”
More deep-water drilling uncertain
The moratorium was imposed to give a presidential panel time to come up with recommendations on how to avoid a repeat of the BP oil spill disaster. It was reported by the Los Angeles Times that it remains uncertain whether the Interior Department would have to start issuing new permits to drill. With an appeal that is certain to come from the Obama administration, some analysts doubt that oil companies would want to start a major deep-water drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico with the possibility it may have to shut down if the appeal succeeds.
Oil companies spin drilling moratorium
The American Petroleum Institute said in a written statement on today's ruling, “The moratorium was an initial reaction to concerns about the safety of offshore oil and natural gas operations. Nevertheless, an extended moratorium would have a tremendous impact on the nation’s energy security – and cause significant harm to the region of the country that was already suffering from the spill – without raising safety or improving industry procedures.”
Containment failure for BP oil spill
In the mean time, it is reported by CNN that government estimates indicate as much as 60,000 barrels (2.5 million gallons) of oil may be flowing to the Gulf every day, and the gusher has already taken a severe toll on tourism and the fishing industry in Gulf Coast states. BP said Tuesday it had succeeded in collecting less than half of the estimated daily output: 25,830 barrels (1.08 million gallons) of oil over the past 24 hours. The amount is probably the most ever collected; the previous record was set June 18 when 25,290 barrels were picked up. BP said it plans to donate all the revenues it receives from the sale of oil recovered from the spill to help the National Fish and Wildlife Federation deal with the oil it won’t be collecting from the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010.
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ABC News
abcnews.go.com/Politics/gulf-oil-spill-disaster-judge-overrules-white-house/story?id=10983980&page=2
Los Angeles times
latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-spill-moratorium-20100623,,7804590.story
CNN
cnn.com/2010/US/06/22/gulf.oil.disaster/index.html?npt=NP1
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