Regulators Suspend Deep Sea Oil Rigs On Faulty Bolts

U.S. regulators have suspended work on oil rigs due to faulty bolts used in deep water drilling discovered after the worst U.S. maritime crude spill. The suspension  of operation has been given to oil rigs that use General Electric devices connecting drilling tubes to safety gear at  the sea floor.  Chevron Corp, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Transocean Ltd operations have been suspended by regulators.

“This certainly will be costly for the industry,” Craig Pirrong, director of the University of Houston’s Global Energy Management Institute said in a telephone interview yesterday. “This is a result of increasing government scrutiny of deep-water activities. The question is, will the increased costs be so onerous that they discourage some companies” from searching the deep oceans for crude?  Read more for details.