Deepwater Rigs Leaving The GUlf

The number of deep water rigs leaving the Gulf is rising.

More and more deep water oil & gas rigs are leaving the Gulf of Mexico, raising questions of the industry's future in the Gulf. Louisiana Oil & Gas Association president Don Briggs says 7 rigs are gone; leaving 26 deep water rigs--still inactive and waiting for federal permission to resume. He says time is running out for them, though. Seven deep water rigs have left for places like Egypt, the Congo, Nigeria and the Mediterranean Sea. Briggs says more will follow, as the remaining rigs lose big dollars every day they're prevented from drilling in the Gulf. (The federal drilling moratorium officially ended in October. Feds have issued just 2 drilling permits since then.) Briggs says it's plain to see that the current administration is "unfriendly to fossil fuels", and is intentionally hobbling domestic oil & gas exploration. He says the Federal Interior Department's lawyers will have their work cut out for them in the months and years ahead.