Six years after BP spill, U.S. sets new offshore oil safety rules

By Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) - The Obama administration onThursday unveiled new oil well control rules to prevent the kindof blowout that happened six years ago on a BP Plc rig inthe Gulf of Mexico.

The Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and EnvironmentalEnforcement announced the finalized regulations, which includemore stringent design requirements and operational proceduresfor offshore U.S. oil and gas operations.

The new standards come nearly six years after a deadlyexplosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the costof Louisiana, which led to the worst oil spill of all time.

The Macondo well blowout and the fire on the DeepwaterHorizon drilling rig on April 20, 2010, killed 11 workers.

"The well control rule is a vital part of our extensivereform agenda to strengthen, update and modernize our offshoreenergy program using lessons learned from Deepwater Horizon,"said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

To improve the "culture of safety" on oil rigs and preventfuture spills or blowouts, the new rule tightens requirementsfor blowout preventers, well design, well control casing,cementing and sub-sea containment.

It also calls for real-time monitoring, third party reviewsof equipment, regular inspections and safe drilling marginrequirements.

"We listened extensively to industry and other stakeholdersand heard their concerns loud and clear," said AssistantSecretary for Land and Minerals Management Janice Schneider."This rule includes both prescriptive and performance-basedstandards."

Ocean protection advocacy group Oceana said that sinceCongress did not enact legislation to improve offshore drillingsafety, the new standards by the Interior Department were "asignificant improvement over the status quo."

Oceana Vice President Jacqueline Savitz said many measuresin the final rule were standards already used by industry.

The Interior Department bureau has reported that offshoredrilling caused at least 1,066 injuries, 496 fires andexplosions, 22 losses of well control, 11 big oil spills and 11fatalities since the Deepwater Horizon accident.

"The only way to truly ensure there will never be anotherdisaster of the magnitude of Deepwater Horizon is to stopdrilling offshore," Savitz said. (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)