Deepwater Horizon Owner Slams Drilling Ban

Industry could get back to work tomorrow, says Transocean boss
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 22, 2010 5:45 AM CDT
Deepwater Horizon Owner Slams Drilling Ban
The Transocean Deepwater Discoverer drilling rig operates over the site the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Sunday, June 13, 2010, in Gulf of Mexico.   (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

The owner of the busted rig spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico is itching to get back to work. Transocean chief Steven Newman slammed the Obama administration's 6-month moratorium on deepwater drilling at an oil conference today, the AP reports. There are things the administration "could implement today that would allow the industry to go back to work tomorrow without an arbitrary 6-month time limit," Newman said.

The government says the ban is needed to give regulators time to study ways of making deepwater drilling safer. A group of companies that supply the offshore drilling industry have filed a lawsuit challenging the ban and a New Orleans judge has promised a decision by tomorrow, CNN reports. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's office has filed a brief supporting the lawsuit. "This is an environmental disaster. Let's not make an economic disaster," an attorney for the state said. (More Deepwater Horizon stories.)

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