US House Votes to End Six-Month Deep-Water-Drilling Ban

30th Jul 2010 22:53

By Siobhan Hughes Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. House of Representatives Friday voted to end a six-month ban on deep-water drilling, challenging the Obama administration's response to a BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) oil spill that is the worst in U.S. history. By 216-195, the House voted to add the measure to a broader offshore drilling bill. Under the amendment, the U.S. Interior Department would have to allow drilling permits to go forward when rigs show they are complying with safety standards enacted after the spill. The ban is currently in place until Nov. 30. "The dangerous actions of one company shouldn't shut down an entire sector of our economy," said Rep. Charlie Melancon (D., La.) "We need to fix the problems that led to this disaster in the gulf without paralyzing America's domestic energy industry in the process." Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has defended the deep-water-drilling ban, saying that the government needs to understand what went wrong in order to ensure safety. But he has also indicated that drilling could resume early if issues involving safety, the capacity of the industry to respond to oil spills, and the capacity to contain oil when it does spill are addressed. The Democratic leadership allowed the vote amid efforts to reach out to oil-state Democrats within their own party. The oil-state Democrats have threatened to break ranks and vote against the offshore-drilling bill, warning that the measure would put independent offshore oil and gas producers out of business. Shallow-water drillers are finding that efforts to comply with the new safety standards won't necessarily allow new wells to go forward. Since early June, when the Interior Department rolled out new safety standards, the government has approved only one permit to drill a new well. Companies say meeting one requirement, which involves independent certification of safety devices known as blowout preventers, has been manageable. The sticking point involves how to meet environmental-review requirements. -By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; (202) 862-6654; [email protected] (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires July 30, 2010 17:53 ET (21:53 GMT)