Interior's Salazar: Drilling Moratorium 'May Be Adjusted'

20th Jul 2010 20:40

By Siobhan Hughes Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on Tuesday that the newest moratorium on deep-water drilling might be modified, the latest effort to show that the Obama administration is sensitive to concerns that the ban is causing job losses. "It may be that the moratorium could be adjusted based on zones of risk," Salazar said in response to a question at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing. He said that "there may be a possibility of doing something" to distinguish "wells being drilled from production platforms" from exploration wells where "we don't know anything at all" about the geological formations being explored. The Interior Department recently issued a new order banning most deep-water drilling to address concerns raised by a federal judge that an initial moratorium was too broad. Instead of banning drilling in waters of 500 feet or more, drilling is now suspended at any wells using subsea blowout preventers or surface blowout preventers on a floating facility. The ban is to expire on Nov. 30. -By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; (202) 862-6654; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 20, 2010 15:40 ET (19:40 GMT)