Offshore Drilling Reviewed

Representatives from the offshore oil and gas drilling industry assured Congress that they are improving safety standards for deepwater drilling. The testimony was part of a hearing held earlier this month by a subcommittee of the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space & Technology to review the industry’s efforts in coming up with innovative technologies that are safer and more environmentally friendly. At the hearing, which was held as the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico approaches, committee members highlighted the economic importance of deepwater drilling, citing Department of the Interior estimates for 2009, when 80% of offshore oil production and 45% of natural gas production took place in water depths of 1,000 feet or more. David Miller, standards director of the trade association American Petroleum Institute, and other witnesses said that improved industrial standards and response procedures for oil spills in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon accident are reducing risks. But Democrats on the panel, skeptical of the industry’s progress, stated that more technological innovations and emergency preparations are needed to make offshore drilling safe for workers and the environment.