【英语国际】奥巴马政府将重新发放浅海石油钻探许可

The Obama administration, facing rising anger on the Gulf Coast over the loss of jobs and income from a drilling moratorium, said Monday that it would move quickly to release new safety requirements that would allow the reopening of offshore oil and gas exploration in shallow waters.

Gulf Coast residents, political leaders and industry officials said delays in releasing the new rules, along with the administration's six-month halt on deepwater drilling -- both issued amid public pressure -- threatened thousands of jobs.

Well-owner BP PLC, meanwhile, faces penalties 'in the many billions of dollars,' for the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster that has been spewing an estimated minimum 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf, said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The costs of the spill will 'greatly exceed' the amount BP could recoup by selling any of the captured oil on the market, he said Monday.

U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who heads the federal response, said BP's latest emergency containment system is on track to capture as much as 15,000 barrels of oil per day. Officials said BP's latest oil capping system, put in place at the end of last week, was so far collecting about 11,000 barrels a day.

The oil industry is awaiting new safety regulations from the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, which canceled some offshore drilling permits last week and has had others on hold since early May. Administration officials say new rules for shallow water oil and gas drilling could be released as soon as Tuesday.

President Barack Obama met with Cabinet officials on the spill Monday and expressed optimism that the spill would be contained, but he pointed to the potential for long-term economic damage. 'What is clear is that the economic impact of this disaster is going to be substantial and it is going to be ongoing,' he said.

The new drilling regulations are expected to require drillers to have independent operators certify that the blowout preventers work as designed to shut off the flow of oil; that independent operators certify the well design plan is adequate, including proper casing, or cement lining; that the driller certifies it is in compliance with all regulations and have done all needed tests.

奥巴马(Barack Obama)政府周一说，将会迅速采取措施公布新的安全法规，以允许在浅水区域重新进行近海油气勘探。美国政府因墨西哥湾漏油事件发布暂缓石油钻探令后，由此引发的就业及收入损失导致公众的愤怒情绪不断上涨。

Reuters野生动物工作者正在为一只褐鹈鹕清洗油污。墨西哥湾的居民、政治领导人及行业高管说，新安全法规延迟发布，加之政府在六个月内暂停深海钻探许可批准(两者均是在公众压力中公布的)，危及到数千个工作岗位。

与此同时，据白宫新闻秘书吉布斯(Robert Gibbs)说，英国石油公司(BP PLC)因深水地平线(Deepwater Horizon)钻井漏油事故面临“数十亿美元”的罚款，漏油事故导致每日至少约12,000 到19,000桶石油涌入墨西哥湾。吉布斯周一说，漏油事故产生的成本远非英国石油公司将收集的漏油出售所能补偿的。

负责联邦政府漏油事故处理工作的美国海岸警卫队司令艾伦(Thad Allen)说，英国石油公司通过最新采取的紧急控油系统，有望每天能收集15,000桶漏油。相关人士说，英国石油公司上个周末新采取的“盖帽法”装置，迄今每天可收集约11,000桶漏油。

石油业正在等待美国内政部(Interior Department) 联邦矿业管理局(Mineral Management Service)发布新的安全法规，上周联邦矿业管理局取消了部分海洋钻探许可，自5月初以来还一直对其它一些许可进行冻结。政府官员说，浅水区域油气钻探新法规可能最早于周二发布。

美国总统奥巴马与内阁官员周一就漏油事件会面，并对漏油会受到控制一事表示乐观，但他指出漏油事故会对长期经济发展产生影响。他说，显然，这场灾难对经济的影响将是重大的，并仍在持续中。

新的钻探法规预计将规定钻探方要求独立勘探运营方保证防爆裂设施带有切断石油溢出功能；并要求独立勘探运营方保证油井设计方案要完备，包括有适当的套管，或水泥护衬；钻探方还要保证遵守所有的法规并按要求完成所有的检测工作。