Obama to announce new safety regulations for oil and natural gas drilling on Thursday:report

The Obama administration will announce Thursday safety regulations for offshore oil and natural

gas drilling to prevent the kind of explosion that happened six years ago on a BP rig in the Gulf

of Mexico, an official told Reuters.

The Department of Interior will unveil the final version of its well control regulations, which will

require more stringent design and operating procedures for well control equipment used in

offshore oil and gas operations, said the official, who is close to the rulemaking process.

The agency first released the proposal last April to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the

deadly Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

The Macondo well blowout and the fire on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20, 2010

killed 11 workers.

BP agreed in October to pay more than $20 billion in fines to resolve nearly all claims from the

oil spill, marking the largest corporate settlement of its kind in U.S. history

Last year, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the rule would build on industry standards for

blowout preventers and reform well design, well control, casing, cementing and real-time well

monitoring.

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