White House says Louisiana oil rig explosion should not stop plan to expand offshore drilling

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White House: Oil spill no reason to stop drilling

WASHINGTON — The explosion at an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico is no reason to give up plans to expand offshore drilling, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Friday.

Gibbs said President Barack Obama continues to believe that the United States needs a comprehensive solution to its energy problems — including expanded domestic production of oil and natural gas.

Obama believes most energy production can be done safely and without harming the environment, Gibbs said, but he conceded there will sometimes be accidents.

“In all honesty I doubt this is the first accident that has happened and I doubt it will be the last,” Gibbs told reporters.

The search was suspended Friday for 11 workers missing after the explosion late Tuesday on a drilling rig off the Louisiana coast.

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said no oil appeared to be leaking from a well head at the ocean floor, nor was any oil leaking at the water’s surface. But she said crews were closely monitoring the rig for any more crude that might spill out.

On March 31, Obama called for new offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean from Delaware to central Florida, plus the northern waters of Alaska. He also wants Congress to lift a drilling ban in the oil-rich eastern Gulf of Mexico, 125 miles from Florida beaches.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Friday that the Obama administration’s drilling plan would assess potential risks and benefits of any offshore site before drilling is pursued. No new lease sales are planned before at least 2012.

All proposed drilling sites have to undergo an environmental analysis, with public comments and an examination of the potential risks and spill response capabilities in that area, Salazar said.

Despite those reassurances, New Jersey Sens. Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg said the rig disaster was a tragic example of the dangers of offshore drilling.

“Big Oil has perpetuated a dangerous myth that coastline oil drilling is a completely safe endeavor, but accidents like this are a sober reminder just how far that is from the truth,” the two Democrats said in a joint statement.

Lautenberg and Menendez, who have long opposed offshore drilling, said 509 oil rig fires have broken out in the Gulf of Mexico since 2006.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said the U.S. oil and gas industry is the most advanced in the world. Landrieu said she expects Transocean Ltd., which owns the platform, and BP PLC, which leased the rig, will fully cooperate with any investigation.