DOI Urges Higher Fines On Offshore Drilling Violations

By Elaine Meyer

Law360, New York (September 08, 2010, 3:56 PM ET) -- The current civil penalties for unsafe offshore drilling practices are too weak to deter oil and gas companies from committing violations, the U.S. Department of the Interior said in a report Wednesday.

Fines are currently capped at $35,000 per violation per day, which does not come close to the cost energy companies pay for exploration, according to a report by the Outer Continental Shelf Safety Oversight Board, a group of DOI officials that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar tasked with providing recommendations after the Deepwater...
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