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Diamond Moves Second Drilling Rig Out of Gulf
Diamond Offshore Drilling said Monday it would move a second deepwater rig out of the Gulf of Mexico to waters off the Republic of Congo due to a U.S. drilling moratorium, and the industry expects others to follow.
The U.S. government issued a revised moratorium on deepwater oil drilling on Monday, which it said would last until Nov. 30. An earlier drilling suspension, issued on May 27, was lifted by a U.S. Appeals Court on July 8.
The government had imposed the six month moratorium on drilling in water more than 500 feet deep after the April 20 blowout on a Transocean-owned RIG that caused a catastrophic oil spill.
Diamond's move is with the same customer, Murphy Oil, but the old four-year contract running to March 2012 has been restructured into a one-year Gulf of Mexico commitment set to restart when Murphy feels it can get permits and meet regulatory requirements.
On Friday, Diamond became the first company to pull a rig out of the Gulf of Mexico because of the deepwater moratorium.