THE oil industry is in dangerous waters. In 2007, one-third of all crude oil came from offshore sources, according to the International Energy Agency. Last week saw a find off the Falkland Islands – in waters three times as deep as the source of the ongoing Gulf of Mexico spill – and it is clear that rigs will increasingly operate in abyssal marine environments.
Yet the oil industry has been complacent about the risks of deep-water drilling (see “Under pressure, in the dark and all at sea”). To focus minds, White House officials and Democratic lawmakers in Congress are seeking to…
