Legislative Background on Offshore Oil Drilling
Recent Action in Congress
Three weeks after the explosion and fire on the oil drill-ing rig Deep Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, Congress began to move on several fronts to address issues relating to the accident and its aftermath. On May 11, the first of a series of congressional hearings took place in two Senate Committees — Energy and Natural Resources and Environment and Public Works. Senators heard testimony from executives of the three main companies connected with the accident — BP, Transocean, and Halliburton — as well as representatives of the Minerals Management Service of the Department of the Interior, and representatives…
