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Washington (AFP) Dec 1, 2010 President Barack Obama has reversed a decision to expand oil exploration off US coasts and, in the wake of the BP spill, will extend a deepwater drilling ban in certain areas through 2017, an official said Wednesday. The move, to be announced by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, would extend a ban on deepwater drilling in the Atlantic, Pacific and the eastern Gulf of Mexico for five more years, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The policy shift, which should please environmentalists, also amounts to the partial reversal of a decision in October to lift a moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico that was imposed after the spill. The tragic April 20 explosion on the BP's Deepwater Horizon rig spewed a record 4.9 million barrels, or 185 million gallons, of toxic crude into the sea. It crippled local fishing and tourism industries in Louisiana and other Gulf coast states and caused untold damage to the Gulf of Mexico's fragile eco-system. Obama's new five-year-plan would allow deepwater drilling to continue in the western part of the Gulf of Mexico, where the explosion actually happened and where the worst-affected parts of the Gulf coast are. In March, Obama announced a plan to expand oil drilling off US coasts, drawing protests from green groups but charges by Republicans it did not go far enough. The decision was a reversal of Obama's early 2008 campaign strategy, when he argued that lifting curbs on offshore drilling would take years to have an impact and would not provide enough sufficient extra supplies to be justified.
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BP sells another $7 billion in assetsLondon (UPI) Nov 29, 2010 BP said it's selling its $7 billion stake in an Argentinian energy company as the European oil giant is eager to off load some $30 billion in assets by the end of next year. BP said it would sell its 60 percent stake, worth $7.06 billion, in the Pan American Energy, active in oil and gas exploration as well as production to Bridas Corp., which already owns 40 percent of PAE. Bridas is ... read more |
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