The oil drilling ban: Two takes on how long it might last

Companies that ferry people and supplies to offshore oil rigs asked a federal judge Monday to lift a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling projects imposed in the aftermath of the massive Gulf spill.

Hornbeck Offshore Services of Covington, La., claims the government arbitrarily imposed the moratorium without any proof that the operations posed a threat. It says the moratorium could cost Louisiana thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in lost wages.

Government lawyers said the Interior Department has demonstrated that industry regulators need more time to study the risks of deepwater drilling and identify ways to make it safer.

Judge Martin Feldman asked why the Interior Department didn't bar oil tankers from Alaskan waters after the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 or take similar actions in the wake of other industrial accidents.

"The Deepwater Horizon blowout was a game-changer," said Justice Department attorney Guillermo Montero. "It really illustrates the risks that are inherent in deepwater drilling."

Feldman said he will decide by Wednesday whether to overturn the ban.

Yet also on Monday, William Reilly, co-chairman of the bipartisan commission set up to study the oil spill and the future of U.S. offshore drilling, said it was unlikely that the panel would recommend lifting the moratorium before it completed its report, which he predicted would take until next year.

"I would be very wary of encouraging more deepwater development until I was confident that the response plans were more realistic," Reilly said. "They are not realistic at this time."

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