Court refuses stay on drilling ban

Tranoscean Development Driller III: at Macondo spill site

BP/Transocean

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By News Wires

 09 July 2010 04:14 GMT

A US appeals court dealt the Obama administration a setback when it refused to halt deep-water oil drilling, but analysts said they did not expect companies to begin operations soon.

The White House sought to suspend deep-water drilling of new oil wells in the area temporarily while it investigated the 20 April rig explosion that unleashed BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and adopted new, stricter safety regulations, Reuters reported.

It will also likely prompt the Interior Department to quickly issue a revised moratorium order on deep-water drilling below 500 feet to address concerns raised by the federal courts, which could set off more legal battles.

A department official said earlier Thursday that such an order would be issued "immediately" to…

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