Oil spill panel calls for increased regulation

The US presidential commission has called for increased oil drilling regulations and the creation of a drilling safety agency to prevent a repeat of last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling recommended increasing the budget for the US agency regulating offshore drilling and increasing companies' exposure to damage liabilities when they drill for oil.Last year's oil spill resulted from an explosion at the Macondo deep water well that killed 11 people and resulted in huge environmental damage around the Gulf Coast of the US."Our exhaustive investigation finds that none of the major aspects of offshore drilling safety - not the regulatory oversight, not the industry safety standards, not the spill response practices - kept pace with the push into deep water," the panel's co-chairman William Reilly said. Last week a White House panel said that decisions taken by the three main contractors involved in the BP oil spill to save both money and time contributed to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.A 48-page report blasted safety standards across the industry, but reserved special attention for BP, Halliburton and rig-owner Transocean.