Deep-water Oil Drilling Is Underway In The Gulf Coast

06:42

April 15, 2011

A view of the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and oil spill, almost one year later, in the Gulf of Mexico, 50 miles off the cost of Louisiana, on Sunday, April 10, 2011. (AP) — A view of the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and oil spill, almost one year later, in the Gulf of Mexico, 50 miles off the cost of Louisiana. (AP)

When BP's Macondo well began spewing 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf coast last year, the Obama administration put a temporary ban on deep-water drilling. That ban was lifted in October, and the Interior Department has issued ten deep-water permits since February. Two rigs are already up and running and another is expected to begin drilling soon.

But there are still major concerns about the possibility of another oil disaster, with new systems designed to contain a spill still taking anywhere from 10 - 17 days to stop the oil. Jennifer Dlouhy covers energy for the Houston Chronicle, and visited an oil rig that is about to begin deep-water drilling.

Houston Chronicle: Offshore officials get in-depth look

This segment aired on April 15, 2011.