Asia-Pacific

Judge to rule on lawsuit on ending Gulf drilling ban

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-22 11:41

HOUSTON - A US federal judge said Monday he will rule on a lawsuit filed by companies seeking to reverse the Obama administration's six-month ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico soon.

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"The court will issue a decision no later than noon on Wednesday," US District Judge Martin Feldman said in a court hearing in New Orleans, Louisiana. The judge heard two hours of arguments on Monday.

The lawsuit, filed by Louisiana-based Hornbeck Offshore Services LLC and joined by other companies engaged in offshore drilling, is the first legal action sought to reverse the drilling ban, according to US media.

The six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling projects was imposed by the US Department of Interior in the aftermath of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The plaintiffs' lawyers said the ban could be more harmful than the spill itself, leading to lost jobs and revenues.

The "Deepwater Horizon" drilling rig, owned by Swiss-based Transocean and leased by BP, sank on April 22 some 52 km off Venice, Louisiana, after burning for roughly 36 hours.

A team of government scientists charged with studying the spill rate estimated that between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels of oil a day are emanating from the ruptured underwater wellhead.