It'll be interesting to see what impact this has on KEY's off-shore Italy plans.
If none of our applications are affected it could actually be a positive creating additional demand on unaffected application/exploration areas.
ITALY TO SET DRILLING RESTRICTIONS AFTER GULF OIL SPILL
(ANSA) - Rome, June 30 - Italy is to stop energy companies drilling for oil within five miles of its coast as part of measures to prevent an oil spill like the one wreaking havoc in the Gulf of Mexico, the government said Wednesday.
Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo said the drilling ban will be further extended around protected marine areas to create a 12-mile buffer zone.
Drilling requests for other areas will be subject to extremely stringent environmental impact assessments, Prestigiacomo said, adding that the Cabinet-approved restrictions will also affect applications currently being processed.
''We have introduced clear regulations (in a decree) to defend our sea and Italy's natural gems, filling a legislative gap that recently had prompted fears in local communities in these areas,'' the minister commented.
''The Italian government is fully committed to defending our natural riches''.
Last week environmental association Legambiente said it was worried about the high number of requests to search for oil off Italy's coast, noting 41 had been presented over the last two years to search a total area of 23,408 square kilometres.
''There is a lot of concern about drilling following the tragedy that has hit the Gulf of Mexico over the last two months,'' Legambiente said in its annual report on the state of the nation's sea.
It said most of the prospecting, which requires the drilling of an exploration well in the latter stages, was being done in the Adriatic and the Ionian seas and in areas off Sicily's southern and western coasts.
Experts in the Gulf of Mexico are still struggling to stop oil gushing from a leak created by an explosion that killed 11 people in April on the Deepwater Horizon rig, which was drilling in a BP oil field.
The resulting oil slick threatens to devastate the area's fishery and tourism industries and the habitat of hundreds of wildlife species.
United States President Barack Obama last month imposed a six-month ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in the light of the disaster. photo: part of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
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