[Iran Press TV] The B.O. regime has announced plans to lift a moratorium on offshore oil drilling imposed after the catastrophic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.The White House announced on Tuesday that it will likely lift the current ban on offshore oil drilling "very soon," AFP reported.
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B.O.Obama issued a six-month freeze shortly after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in late April, killing 11 workers and contaminating the Gulf with an estimated 4.9 million barrels (206 million gallons) of oil.
The moratorium is set to expire on November 30, but speculation is running high that the ban could be lifted as soon as the end of this week.
Head of the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Michael Bromwich has been working on a report due to be published later in the week, outlining the new procedures and rules that oil companies will be obliged to follow.
The six-month moratorium was lifted by a New Orleans federal judge in June following mounting pressure from oil companies and politicians. However,
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the ruling was annulled by a court in July and promptly reinstated by the government.
While environmentalists support the moratorium, politicians have expressed strong opposition to it, arguing that the ban would impose economic hardship on the region.
The White House has warned that companies will have to comply with the new drilling rules before any such projects can resume.