Just under six months ago, a BP-leased oil well in the Gulf of Mexico suffered a blowout that leaked thousands of gallons of crude oil into the waters off the coast of the United States.  It took forever to seal the leak, and some say it’s still kind of leaking a little oil, but that hasn’t stopped the Obama Administration from repealing the offshore drilling ban it imposed in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon blowout.  Six months is more than enough time for everyone to forget about BP’s PR disaster, right?

“The policy position that we are articulating today is that we are open for business,” declared Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.  “Operators who play by the rules and clear the higher bar can be allowed to resume.”

Under the new rules, there are a host of new safety regulations.  For example, the CEO of a company is now responsible for certifying that a well meets the new regulations, which means the guy at the top would be responsible for any blowouts on his watch.  It makes a business maven responsible for physical equipment, not just managing bad PR via concerted ad buys.  It is expected to take several more months for the drilling operations to resume, leaving an estimated 8-12,000 oil industry workers jobless until things get rolling again.

Tags: oil wells, oil drilling, oil industry, Gulf of Mexico, offshore oil drilling ban lifted, offshore oil drilling resumes, Ken Salazar, oil regulations, new oil drilling rules, oil drilling resumes in the Gulf of Mexico, BP oil spill, energy, oil

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