Russia's environmental watchdog has opened a series of probes into off-shore drilling projects in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Yury Trutnev said Friday. "I think they have begun checks already," Trutnev said of the Federal Inspection Service for Natural Resources Use. "But I think the question is bigger than just checks — we need to analyze international practice of reacting to such situations. We studied legislation, and it seems that international agreement practice exists for pollution from sea ships but not from platforms," he said, adding that such massive accidents require a new instrument of international cooperation.
For his part, Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said he has spoken with top oil and gas companies about the need for a full investigation into the causes of BP’s drilling accident in the Gulf of Mexico, the London-based Times said Friday. Miller said it was important to discover the cause of the April 20 explosion because of the increasing importance of off-shore drilling, according to the Times.
