U.S. regulator facing new clock for oil?

WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- Oil representatives are frustrated with delays in getting new permits to drill for oil off the U.S. coast as lawmakers consider a measure to hasten the process.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, is facing pressure for delays in issuing permits to work in the Gulf of Mexico.

Royal Dutch Shell won the only new exploration permit in the area since the Deepwater Horizon accident in April 2010.

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are to vote this week on a proposal that would force the BOEMRE to act quicker in the permit process by imposing a 30-day deadline for processing new applications, the Platts news service reports.

Advocates said imposing a deadline is the right thing to do. Erik Milito, a director at the American Petroleum Institute, charged the BOEMRE was imposing de facto delays through a lengthy revision process.

BOEMRE Director Michael Bromwich told lawmakers in March, however, that his agency wasn't "interested in delaying" work in the gulf.