The U.S. government ordered a temporary halt to drilling at 33 deepwater exploration rigs on Thursday, part of a broader response to the massive BP oil spill that threatens efforts to tap offshore fields seen as crucial to increased U.S. oil output. The move may potentially delay project development plans by companies like Chevron Corp in the Gulf of Mexico, where rising production has helped offset shrinking domestic onshore supply. Unlike the administration’s six-month extension of its ban on new deepwater drilling permits, and cancellation of a much-anticipated lease sale offshore Virginia, the pause for existing deep-sea exploratory rigs threatens to affect proven oil discoveries rather than untested areas.

Follow this link:
U.S. to halt 33 exploration rigs in deepwater review

Related Issues:

• Bahamas’ Blue Holes harbor strange lifeforms
  Clues to how life evolved, not only on this planet but also possibly on alien worlds, might be found in underwater caves in the Bahamas, researchers say. The caves in question are called "blue holes," so-named because from the air, their entrances appear circular in shape, with d...
• Tel Aviv Water Wells Polluted from Contamination
  A recent study discovered that many Tel Aviv wells are polluted beyond suitability as drinking water sources. Data collected by the Health Ministry and Water Authority showed that 96 of a total 166 wells in the Tel Aviv area were closed due to contamination. Nearly two-thirds of ...
• Nuclear Power – environmental advantages
  Renewable energy and nuclear power increasingly factor into the evolving American energy equation to replace polluting coal. Even some environmentalists acknowledge that nuclear is a viable emissions-free option to dirty coal while renewable-energy technologies continue to advanc...
• Ancient Lake Vostok
  After 20 years of drilling, a team of Russian researchers is close to breaching the prehistoric Lake Vostok, which has been trapped deep beneath thick ice layers (2 miles thick) in Antarctica for the last 14 million years. Lake Vostok is actually the third largest lake in the wor...
• Study Reveals Impacts of Environmental Changes on Southern Ocean Food Web
  In January of this year, a comprehensive study of animals in the Southern Ocean was completed, showing that the region is under threat from climate change. The scientific journal Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography featured the findings of an international ...