By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Expectations for stricter U.S. offshore drilling regulations following the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will drive energy exploration firms to look elsewhere -- and Asia, with its growing energy market, may be particularly tempting. The oil spill disaster, which reports have referred to as the worst oil spill in U.S. history, began with an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig operated by BP PLC (BP 29.20, -5.48, -15.80%) on April 20 -- and the well it drilled has been leaking oil at an estimated range of 12,000 to 25,000 barrels per day since, according to a report from Platts. See story on hit to BP's shares. In response, the U.S. government has placed a six-month hold on deep-water offshore drilling until a review of offshore regulations for deep wells is complete. "If the deep drilling hold for U.S. waters continues the full six months, at least some of these Gulf deep-water rigs will move to other areas rather than sitting idle," said Charles Perry, president of energy-consulting firm Perry Management. The number of active rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. and Canada stood at 1,506 for the week ended June 4, with the count down 29 rigs from the previous week, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI 38.35, +0.17, +0.45%) "Prime locations where [rigs] could find work include the South China Sea, all through the waters of Malaysia, Australia and Indonesia," he said, adding that some rigs might also go to the Middle East and Nigeria. There's also speculation that if these rigs do move, given that quite a few of the larger rigs are leased on five-year contracts, it will be at least six years before producers in the U.S. waters can get them back, Perry said. Price spike on tap? In Asia's late morning trading Thursday, shares of regional oil majors were mainly higher, finding some support from a more-than-3% gain in oil futures prices in New York. See Wednesday's Futures Movers. And more gains for oil prices may be on tap. An extension on the U.S. drilling ban could eventually translate to sharply higher oil prices, according to analysts at Mirae Asset Securities, led by Gordon Kwan. The drilling ban also covers wells currently drilling, not just permitting for new wells, Kwan said in a note to clients this week. "This will affect oil scarcity down the road, while triggering concerns about potential price spikes in the middle of the hurricane and [U.S.] summer driving season," Kwan said. In Hong Kong, shares of PetroChina Co. (PTR 107.01, +0.08, +0.07%) (HK:857 8.49, +0.07, +0.83%) were down 0.7%, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP 76.84, +0.09, +0.12%) (HK:386 6.05, +0.02, +0.33%) , or Sinopec, fell 0.5%, but Cnooc Ltd. (HK:883 12.86, +0.50, +4.05%) (CEO 159.98, +2.37, +1.50%) added 1.1%, outperforming a 0.3% decline in the Hang Seng. Sinopec's (CN:600028 8.30, -0.10, -1.19%) stock in Shanghai lost 1.4%, with PetroChina (CN:601857 10.58, -0.01, -0.09%) down 0.2%, as the Shanghai Composite fell 0.8%. In Tokyo, Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. (JP:1662 4,000, -70.00, -1.72%) (JPTXF 0.00, 0.00, 0.00%) added 1.4%, and Inpex Corp. (JP:1605 534,000, -8,000, -1.48%) (IPXHY 58.40, -4.00, -6.41%) climbed 2.8%, with the Nikkei Stock Average up 0.3%. Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 index added 0.9% with Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (AU:WPL 43.98, +1.11, +2.59%) (WOPEF 35.50, -0.95, -2.61%) adding 2.4% and Oil Search Ltd. (AU:OSH 5.79, +0.18, +3.21%) (OISHF 4.95, +0.07, +1.43%) up 3%.

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