Gulf of Mexico Oil Well Approved

While it is quite true that to err is human, if we do not learn from our mistakes, we really are doomed to repeat them.


By STEPHEN POWER
WASHINGTON - Federal regulators approved the first new Gulf of Mexico oil well since President Barack Obama lifted a ban on drilling in shallow water last week, angering environmentalists even as business groups urged his administration to relax a moratorium on new deepwater projects.

The Minerals Management Service said on its Web site Wednesday that it had granted a permit sought by Bandon Oil and Gas, LP to drill at a site about 50 miles off Louisiana's coast and about 115 feet beneath the water's surface.

Mr. Obama announced last week that the Interior Department would extend a moratorium on wells in more than 500 feet of water. At the same time, the administration said it would allow drilling projects to continue in less than 500 feet of water, provided they satisfy new safety and environmental requirements identified in a report that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gave to Mr. Obama last week.

Environmental groups criticized the MMS, however, saying a 2007 study by MMS of all wells drilled between 1992 and 2006, found that most blowouts occurred in water less than 500 feet.

"This is like putting a drunk back in the driver's seat after handing him a cup of coffee," Mike Gravitz, a spokesman for Environment America, said.

At the same time, a group that represents the nation's offshore oil and gas operators said Wednesday that the administration's continuing moratorium on deepwater drilling warned will result in tens of thousands of job losses. The National Ocean Industries Association said the moratorium would halt work on 33 exploratory wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

"At a time when the spill is already causing economic stress for key industries in the region, the president's action will make things much worse by putting more Gulf citizens out of work," Burt Adams, the group's chairman, said.

An Interior spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for a response to the industry group. In announcing details of the new restrictions this week, Mr. Salazar said they are a "prudent" step that will provide the government time to implement new safety requirements while a recently-appointed presidential commission investigates the cause of the April 20 Deepwater Horizon accident.

Write to Stephen Power at stephen.power@wsj.com
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