BP Share News (BP.)

By Corey Boles Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Two U.S. House panels approved bills Thursday that would overhaul the regulation of the U.S. oil-drilling industry, including most notably a provision that could prevent BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) from winning new offshore drilling licenses until it cleans up its safety record. House Democratic leaders met Thursday afternoon to discuss the strategy as to whether to move forward with one or several separate pieces of legislation, but aides said no decisions had been reached yet. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said after the meeting in her office that she was pleased with the presentations of the committee chairmen on the legislative initiatives they were pursuing. The House Natural Resources Committee voted to approve a bill that would replace the existing industry regulator--the Minerals Management Service--with three distinct regulatory agencies. That step was widely expected and has been strongly backed by the Obama administration. Lawmakers on the panel added language to the bill this week that would prohibit oil companies with subpar safety records from being awarded new licenses for exploratory drilling. Any company that over the preceding seven-year period had a safety record that was five times worse than the industry average would be banned from winning new licenses until they brought their safety record back into line. According to congressional aides, BP would currently fail that test. Also, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bill that would set in place detailed safety requirements for firms operating drilling operations in the future. There would be much more onerous obligations on the companies in order to be allowed to continue drilling. Lawmakers on the House Ways and Means panel, meanwhile, are considering a third legislative effort that would seek to use the tax code to stimulate job growth in the renewable energy sectors. House lawmakers want to be seen moving forward with an aggressive response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. They could decide as soon as next week how and at what pace to move forward with legislation. -By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601; corey.boles@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 15, 2010 15:48 ET (19:48 GMT)