Blaming the massive BP oil spill on government and industry complacency, a White House panel on Tuesday called for a dramatic overhaul of the way the US regulates offshore drilling. The White House oil spill commission, in its final report of the BP drilling disaster, said the US government needs to expand its drilling regulations, as well as set up an independent drilling safety agency.
But the report was immediately criticised by the main industry lobby, the American Petroleum Institute, and calls for more regulation will likely be opposed by resurgent Republicans in US Congress who have long been calling for an expansion of offshore drilling, despite the spill.
Commission co-chair Bill Reilly said it is time for Congress "to exercise serious oversight" of offshore drilling. As a first step, he demanded that Congress provide the funding to hire additional government inspectors of drilling rigs. The seven-member commission also pushed for the oil industry to create a self-regulating entity to help enforce standards and called on Congress to raise liability limits on offshore drilling operators.
The commission was created by President Barack Obama after an April 20 explosion ruptured BP's underwater Macondo well, unleashing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over the summer. "Like it or not, oil and gas companies are in this together, and they must adopt rigorous standards through an industry-wide safety institute, or risk losing access to these leases and resulting profits," Reilly said.
The commission is the first government-sanctioned group to wrap up its probe of the causes of the BP accident. Although the commission lacks the authority to establish drilling policies or punish companies, its findings could influence future court proceedings and legislative efforts. The House Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee are both slated to hold hearings on the commission's report this month.
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