IADC applauds senators’ leadership in opposing drilling moratorium

IADC issued a news release on 20 July applauding the leadership of three US senators, David Vitter (La.), John Cornyn (Texas) and Roger Wicker (Miss.), who are opposing the federal moratorium on offshore permitting and drilling activities announced on 12 July by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. The three Gulf Coast senators sponsored legislation (S. 3588) the previous week to lift the offshore drilling and permitting moratorium for companies that have complied with new safety and inspection requirements issued by the Department of the Interior.

“The men and women whose livelihoods depend on the offshore oil and gas exploration and production industry in the Gulf of Mexico deeply appreciate the efforts of our legislators to lift the drilling moratorium,” said IADC president Dr Lee Hunt. “Industry representatives have communicated to the Interior Department and Congress our industry’s strong commitment to rigorous requirements for well design, enhanced training, and adoption of safety case requirements for mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs). We are dismayed by the continued blanket suspension of deepwater drilling in the US Gulf of Mexico. Lifting the moratorium is critical to tens of thousands of jobs in the deepwater industry and to the oil and gas service sector in the Gulf Coast region and throughout the country.”