A US Federal judge has refused to hold-off his judgement overturning President Barack Obama's six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling.
US District Judge Martin Feldman rejected the Justice Department's request to dely the ruling pending a Court of Appeal Reviews. The judgement effectively states that the drilling ban, rushed into place after the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, has no legal effect and rig operators are already receiving letters to that effect.
Judge Feldman's argument was that the ban was based on the Obama Administration's assumption that because one rig had exploded, other rigs were also dangerous. The Justice Department claimed that delaying the ruling would elminate the risk of another accident. The hearing was brought by a number of oilfield service companies.
Image: US Coastguard |
Meanwhile BP's costs continue to rise in handling the fallout from the Horizon spill and have now reached $2.35bn, with almost $125m paid out in claims from local communities and businesses. Almost 74,000 claims have been filed and some 39,000 payments made.
Efforts to stem the flow from of oil from the broken riser on the Gulf of Mexico seabed continue, with two containment systems now in place which are estimated to have gathered or flared around 364,500 barrels of oil. A daily rate of around 36m cubic feet of gas is also being burned off.