BP faces seven year ban on US drilling

BP faces seven year ban on US drilling


A US congressional committee has passed a bill to stop BP from drilling for offshore oil or gas in the US for seven years.

The amendment, passed by the House Natural Resources Committee in the US yesterday, would ban BP ‘or any other company with a significant history of violating worker safety or environmental law’ according to Representative George Miller, who first tabled the amendment.

Under the law, which would have to be passed by the House and Senate and does not specifically name BP, a company would be banned from drilling if it showed five times the industry average for wilful or repeat worker safety violations at their oil and gas facilities, if more than 10 fatalities occurred at any of its facilities, or if it incurred fines of $10 million or more under Clean Air or Water Act within the preceding 7 years.

BP shares were down 1.38% in early trade to 395p.

BP faces a criminal investigation over the accident at the Deepwater Horizon well on April 20 that killed 11 rig workers. However, it has not been convicted of any criminal charges and has not admitted any criminal liability. In 2007, BP admitted it was guilty for failing to have adequate procedures in place before a March 2005 explosion and fire at a Texas City refinery.

Miller said: ‘Companies with a history of being dangerous to workers or to the environment should not have the privilege of drilling off America’s coastline for our natural resources. It is a privilege to be able to drill for the valuable resources that belong to the American people. And the American people have a right to insist that only the companies of the highest caliber and with the best records be permitted to drill off our shores for oil and gas.’

However, in addition to the threat to its drilling license, the company also faces an investigation into charges that it lobbied for the release of the Lockerbie bomber as part of an oil-for-terrorist deal, according to reports. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has said she would look into the claims.

source: citywire.co.uk