Feds Approve New Gulf Of Mexico Oil Well Near Louisiana

(AP) -- Federal regulators approved Wednesday the first new Gulf of Mexico oil well since President Barack Obama lifted a brief ban on drilling in shallow water, even while deepwater projects remain frozen after the massive BP spill.

The Minerals Management Service granted a new drilling permit sought by Bandon Oil and Gas for a site about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana and 115 feet below the ocean's surface. It's south of Rockefeller State Wildlife Refuge and Game Preserve, far to the west of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that triggered the BP spill.

Obama last week extended a moratorium on wells in deep water like the BP one that blew out a mile below the surface in April and is gushing millions of gallons of oil. But at the same time, the president quietly allowed a three-week-old ban on drilling in shallow water to expire.

"I'm outraged," said Kieran Suckling, executive director for the Tucson, Ariz.,-based Center for Biological Diversity, after a reporter told him of the new permit. "How is it that shallow water drilling suddenly became safe again?"

Bandon Oil and Gas first sought the permit in April shortly after the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank. The permit was approved Wednesday morning, according to MMS records.

Suckling said the administration was misleading the public by quietly resuming work in shallow waters while acting as if it was taking a tough look at deepwater work.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a news release Sunday that the extended moratorium on deepwater drilling was needed to provide time to implement new safety requirements.

"With the BP oil spill still growing in the Gulf, and investigations and reviews still under way, a six month pause in drilling is needed, appropriate, and prudent," Salazar said. He said the term "deepwater" referred to drilling at depths of 500 feet or greater.

Comments

[PB777]

10:34 PM on 06/03/2010

"How is it that shallow water drilling suddenly became safe again?"
Well, if the BP rig had been in shallow water, the leak would have already been stopped within the first few days.

[PB777]

10:30 PM on 06/03/2010

It is funny how people keep using the phrase, "trading lives for oil." Do you eat Alaskan King Crab legs? People die in that industry..­.are we trading lives for crab legs?

More law enforcemen­t officers die every year than decades of oil drilling deaths. Are we trading lives for law and order?

[holyghostie]

05:26 PM on 06/03/2010

We had plenty of rules on the books...th­e problem is regulators be they on wall street or in the Gulf. Or in the halls of congress..­.are totally in bed with corporate interests.

The United States is no longer a Democracy. It is a Socialized Corpratocr­acy. Facism run amok.

[azhermit]

03:20 PM on 06/03/2010

eat a tar ball baby!

[nice2blucky]

02:32 PM on 06/03/2010

There is something strange about this, besides the obvious.

Is this the mythical "small" oil company that requires Congress to legislate liability limits against oil companies?

Seems staged and peculiarly timed.

[Yvette Briggins]

01:17 PM on 06/03/2010

It has been proposed that we need to redefine the rules for, and the motivation­s of, our regulators­: http://shu­ckinthejiv­e.com/2010­/05/28/the­-oil-chang­e-we-need.­aspx?ref=r­ss
At first I wasn't sure I agreed. But this kind of thing is convincing­.

[holyghostie]

12:33 PM on 06/03/2010

The American Economy has been built on trading lives for OIL for decades. Its just that this time its on our shoreline.­..and fish and fowl will pay the price too.

[droog1]

12:01 PM on 06/03/2010

Did I read that right? Is that guy's name really "Suckling"­?

[droog1]

11:59 AM on 06/03/2010

I believe at last count that nearly 14,000 wells have been drilled in the offshore Gulf of Mexico. Do people really think that there is significan­t risk of another blowout occurring in this one well in 150 feet of water?? The outrage is this article is completely misplaced and is nothing but a knee-jerk response to score some kind of political point.

I am awed by the ignorance of people when it comes to their utter lack of understand­ing of where energy comes from.

[frogdog1]

07:14 PM on 06/03/2010

What percent of our oil (aka: fuel, heat, electricit­y, shoes, soccer balls, clothes, food, plastics, computers, office equipment, tires, telephones­, cars, home furnishing­s, and other similar "non-essen­tials" as these come from the Gulf of Mexico in the form of petroleum and petroleum products). I heard it was not but 20-25%. Lets just cut back on all of the above items by 25% and show "Big Oil"! Lets raise the cost of drilling in the gulf to "Big Oil". Surely they won't think of passing these costs on to us consumers.­...nah...W­e are so smart and "Big Oil" is so dumb they will never think of raising the price of the above items. Let's tax "Big Oil"! We'll show'em! How do you like that Dick Cheney! Gouge Halliburto­n. They won't pass the cost on to us....nah.­.. Question: are soccer balls made out of petroleum products..­.???...sur­ely not. Are football fields made out of petroleum products..­.? surely not. Are my clothes made from petroleum products? surely not....Wha­t about the seats in my SUV....sur­ely not petroleum products..­.surely??T­ax "Big Oil"!

[kingbuzz]

11:06 AM on 06/03/2010

THE ONLY CHANGE THAT I SEE COMING IS IN THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2012.
IF WE ARE STILL HERE..

[kingbuzz]

11:05 AM on 06/03/2010

SO MUCH FOR HOPE AND CHANGE.

[gmb007]

10:38 AM on 06/03/2010

Other than depth, what the h ell is the real difference between "shallow" and "deep" oil well drilling?

None.

The catastroph­ic consequenc­es of a blowout at 125 feet are exactly the SAME as one at 5000 feet.

And who the h ell knows if they could even fix a blowout at an easy 125 feet?

Our leaders and country are rotted black to the core.

[PB777]

10:41 PM on 06/03/2010

ACTUALLY, they could have had the leak contained within a few days at most at 125 feet. The reason it has taken so long for the deep water is that divers cannot go down that deep to work on it.

[bbrecht]

09:37 AM on 06/03/2010

Did they waive the environmen­tal impact statement?

[PB777]

10:41 PM on 06/03/2010

No.

[onenvrnos]

09:32 AM on 06/03/2010

Oops...get rid of dirty fuels. Period.

[WeMustSpeakOut]

09:29 AM on 06/03/2010

Keep enabling the destructio­n of life and earth Obama.
One would think you would have more regard for the future of your children than you exhibit by your actions. But then again the evidence of conscience­less sociopathy continues to play and replay before us.
Where and how do you propose they live when ecosystem after ecosystem are destroyed?

Dollar worship has us well on our way to destructio­n; it seems we have shifted into breakneck speed. Obama is an intelligen­t, accomplish­ed, slick and polished deceiver and we are in very serious trouble on multiple fronts.