BP gets 7 year drilling ban

No more drilling for BP?

The big fear impact in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster was that a ban on offshore drilling would heavily impact the US economy with oil rigs along the east coast hauling anchor and potentially moving down to Brazil.

However a US Congressional committee has potentially found a way around the offshore drilling ban - just ban BP.

According to news reports from Washington, the Congressional committee has agreed measures that would ban BP from new offshore drilling for seven years. The House committee also voted in favour of precluding companies with poor safety records from offshore oil exploration permits.

While the proposed law does not specifically name BP, it does ban and apply to to any company that has experienced 10 or more deaths in the last seven years.... which would include the vilified oil company.

As well as the 11 workers killed in the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in April, BP have admitted guilt in a separate accident in Texas in 2005 that killed 15 people. Despite its guilt over the 2005 incident, BP still has has not yet been convicted on any criminal charges or admitted any criminal liability for the Gulf of Mexico spill that has been dubbed the worst environmental disaster in US history on April 20 this year.

"Flagrant history of taking risks"

The new law, that the Committee on Natural Resources also voted to pass, has an amendment that prevents any company from getting new leases unless they pass environmental requirements. However, these laws will not be enacted unless they are approved by the House, Senate and President Barack Obama.

In a statement, representative George Miller said, "British Petroleum has a flagrant history of taking risks to boost profits that has resulted in deaths of workers, destruction of the environment, and economic chaos in local communities."

BP is currently at the centre of a criminal investigation over the oil spill, which has caused further political furore over the company's poor safety record in the US.

Currently tests on a new cap, designed to stop the spill, have been delayed over concerns that the pressure test could further damage the well bore. Relief wells, designed to completely stop the leak, will be completed in August.

Relevant articles:

BP Gulf oil spill: Cap test delayed | Gulf of Mexico oil spill cost: $3.12 billion | Obama's six-month moratorium overturned by federal judge

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