Judge Rules Against U.S. Government on Oil Drilling

According to a Sept. 1 report from Reuters, a federal judge rejected the U.S. government's request to dismiss an industry lawsuit challenging its deepwater oil and gas drilling moratorium, dealing another blow to the Obama administration. Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc. and other drilling companies sued the administration on June 7 after it first ordered a halt to deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico following BP Plc's well ruptured. As a result of the lawsuit, a U.S. District Court Judge in New Orleans blocked implementation of the drilling ban on June 22. The Obama administration then issued a reworked second drilling moratorium and asked that the Hornbeck lawsuit be thrown out because the first ban was no longer relevant.

(Source: Reuters)