Oil Companies Welcome Deep Water Drilling Again

Posted: Oct 13, 2010 5:42 PM by Melissa Hawkes
Updated: Oct 13, 2010 5:43 PM

Oil companies in Acadiana say the lifting of the moratorium is the first good news the industry has had in months.

Operation Manager of Huntington Oil Field Services, Lamont Growe, said " It would have been nice to happen a little bit earlier, but I was pleasantly surprised."

President of Lafayette Threaded Products, James Thomas, said "we consider it to be good news, but naturally when you are dealing with the federal government and new regulations, its a natural instinct to be skeptical."

The approval to lift the moratorium comes seven weeks earlier than expected, but Thomas says it doesn't erase some of the damage that has already been done.

He said, "it basically effected the industry over-night. It shut it down a month after the blow-out. We've been trying---the industry as whole-- has been trying to recover from that moratorium ever since."

Growe added, "the moratorium has definitely been a killer. It has slowed down and in some cases stopped work completely. We've gone three months with very little work."

Growe said he hopes the lifting of the moratorium will mean steady business again.

"I'm excited about it because we think the permits will come quicker and probably give us an opportunity to work a little bit more," he said.

Both Thomas and Growe agree that the BP disaster and the moratorium has likely forever changed the oil industry... but to what degree? Only time will tell.