This is a step in the right direction. Big Oil is responding to the change in attitude by moving their rigs overseas where they can find governments who aren't as bothered with pollution and environmental disasters. Although the courts have so far blocked progress on halting the offshore drilling, the industry understands that the mood has changed and any investment today is highly questionable for the future. While the GOP is still fully supporting Big Oil, for the rest, people finally see the risk outweighing the benefit. Reuters:
The Obama administration promised on Friday it would announce a new deepwater oil drilling moratorium shortly, and a U.S. company became the first to pull a rig out of the Gulf of Mexico because of uncertainty surrounding the ban.
Diamond Offshore Drillings said it was moving its Ocean Endeavor rig to Egypt from the Gulf, where deepwater drilling has been halted because of the 81-day-old BP oil spill.
A federal court in New Orleans on Thursday refused to reinstate the six-month ban on drilling below 500 feet , which the Obama administration imposed after BP's Macondo undersea well blew out on April 20.
