NEW ORLEANS -- The Obama Administration is imposing new rules to keep another Deepwater Horizon type explosion from happening in the Gulf.
The tougher regulations take effect immediately.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the country is raising the bar for safety oversight on offshore rigs while beefing up standards for equipment.
Mid-continent Oil and Gas Association President Chris John said the new regs offer a path forward, but little else.
"This is something that obviously we can work through, but the devil is in the details," said John. "The problem is, although they set out a path for these new regulations, it did not set out a path for lifting the moratorium."
The administration imposed a ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf shortly after the BP well blew up off the coast of Louisiana, April 20.
Between then and now government and industry experts have been working on new safety regulations.
Under the new rules, operators are required to comply with tough new standards for well-design, cementing and equipment including blow out preventers.
They also need to develop comprehensive plans to manage risk and improve workplace safety.
Robert Vosbein from the offshore marine company Harvey Gulf said movement on the new rules is something, but there was no need to shut down deepwater drilling in the process.
"I think they overplayed the safety concerns," said Vosbein. "I think it was a horrible event of course, the Deepwater Horizon, but overall the safety record is good."
Michael Hecht from Greater New Orleans Inc. said even with the new rules, he doesn't believe the moratorium will end anytime soon.
"The only question is once those new requirements come down are they enforced in a uniformed way?" said Hecht. "Are permits processed expeditiously once requirements are met? Or, does it end up being a moving target which in fact leads to a defacto moratorium over time?"
Government figures indicate, so far, the moratorium has cost louisiana about 12,000 jobs.
Five of the 33 deepwater drilling ships have already left the Gulf, with eight others currently in negotiations to leave.
