Gov’t ready to set new rules for offshore drilling, a step toward lifting deepwater ban

New offshore drilling rules coming Thursday

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is set to release new rules for offshore oil drillers as it prepares to lift a ban on deepwater drilling.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is expected to announce the new rules, including some that address workplace safety, at a speech on Thursday.

The rules are likely to include many of the recommendations made in a report Salazar released in May, including requirements that rigs certify that they have working blowout preventers and standards for cementing wells. The well and blowout preventer failed in the massive BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Salazar has said new rules must be in place before the Interior Department lifts its temporary ban on exploratory drilling. The ban is set to expire Nov. 30, but officials have said they hope to end it early.