Moratorium litigation faces challenges

Louisiana Attorney General James “Buddy” Caldwell has declined making an official comment regarding an effort by the Obama administration to get U.S District Judge Martin Feldman to dismiss claims failed against the federal government in connection to alleged damages suffered by oil industry companies during the deepwater drilling moratorium, which was lifted last week.

According to an e-mail explanation from Caldwell’s staff to the Tri-Parish Times, it would not be “appropriate” for the attorney general to comment on the cases involved at this time as he has already filed an injunction in the litigation of Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc., and other drilling companies that had responded to the forced work stoppage with legal action.

Ensco Plc. was among the drillers involved in an undisclosed number of similar cases that claim the moratorium had not been properly thought out regarding its far reaching impact on the oil industry and economy as a whole.

Ensco had filed its claim against the U.S. Department of Interior in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Louisiana one day after the moratorium had been lifted.

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman had previously overturned the initial drilling ban initiatives issued by the U.S. Department of Interior after Caldwell filed two separate amicus briefs this past summer. The federal government’s motions are currently pending before Feldman.

Telephone calls made to Ensco and other drilling companies, as well as calls and emails sent to the Department of Interior were not returned by press time.