This article was written by Oilprice.com , the leading provider of energy news in the world.
Oil Industry Blasts Latest Rules For Arctic Drilling
The energy industry has been quick to criticize the Obama Administration’s proposed regulations for exploratory drilling in the US Arctic Ocean, calling them “unnecessarily burdensome.”
The Interior Department proposed Feb. 20 its first regulations ever for the US regions of the Arctic Ocean that would require energy companies to have contingency plans and spare equipment to contain any spills in the region. They would apply to the Beaufort Sea off the northern coast of Alaska and the Chukchi Sea over the Bearing Strait between Alaska and Russia.
An Interior Department report said in 2011 that an estimated 22 billion barrels of oil and 93 trillion cubic feet of gas – both technically recoverable – lie beneath these two seas owned by the federal government.