EG: Oil Natural Gas Chairman: BP Oil Spill To Have Global Impact
MUMBAI -(Dow Jones)- India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. (500312.BY) Wednesday said the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will be a "gamechanger" for the industry, and it may lead to tougher regulatory clearances and operating procedures.
"It is going to impact the industry's functioning worldwide in a major way," ONGC Chairman R.S. Sharma told reporters at a press conference.
He added that regulatory approvals for offshore and deepwater exploration projects in several countries will become more difficult.
The mile-deep oil leak off the U.S. coast began in April when a deepwater drilling rig exploded and sank. Repeated attempts by BP PLC (BP) to staunch the spill, the largest in U.S. history, have failed.
Sharma said also that ONGC is satisfied with its agreements with offshore drilling company Transocean Ltd. (RIG), which owned the rig that caught fire in the Gulf Of Mexico incident.
"We are quite satisfied that they are meeting all contractual requirements. It's a well-established, well-recognised company which has a majority of the world's offshore drilling. This was a freak accident," Sharma said.
-By John Satish Kumar, Dow Jones Newswires; 91-22-6145-6110; eric.yep@dowjones.com
