Obama extends offshore drilling ban

US President Barack Obama today extended a ban on new deepwater oil drilling permits for another six months while a presidential commission investigates.

Controversial lease sales off the coast of Alaska will be delayed pending the results of the commission’s investigation, and lease sales planned in the Western Gulf and off the coast of Virginia will be cancelled.

Those steps, along with new oversight and safety standards, are the results of a 30-day safety review of offshore drilling.