Administration's Drill Ban Draws Blast from Judge

A federal judge Wednesday blasted the Obama administration for "determined disregard" of his order to lift a ban on offshore oil and gas drilling last year, giving fresh ammunition to the oil industry and its allies on Capitol Hill who want the Interior Department to speed approvals of new offshore drilling projects.

The ruling by Judge Martin Feldman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana means the Interior Department could have to reimburse Hornbeck Offshore Services LLC, a Louisiana drilling company, for the costs of litigation that the firm brought last year challenging the legality of the drilling moratorium.

The drilling halt was first ordered last May after the April 20 Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, in which 11 workers died, and the resulting oil spill. Judge Feldman struck down the initial ban in June, and the Interior Department quickly ordered a second one.

In his ruling, Judge Feldman said Hornbeck was owed the money because the government's conduct amounted to contempt of court.

A spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar declined to comment late Wednesday. In a written statement, Hornbeck's general counsel, Sam Giberga, said "What is striking about today's ruling is that it holds the government, acting through its highest levels, in contempt of a federal court order."

Judge Feldman's slap at the Interior Department comes as some lawmakers are pressing the administration to speed up granting new permits for offshore exploration, pointing to the recent run-up in oil and gasoline prices. Gulf Coast lawmakers of both parties attacked the moratorium, and the Interior Department's subsequent slow pace of issuing new drilling permits since the moratorium was officially lifted in October.

The government has not issued any new permits to drill oil or gas wells in deep water since the moratorium formally ended.