Offshore oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico (United States) and part of offshore Alabama, since 1995. In March 2010, President Barack Obama announced plans to allow drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, in federal waters greater than from the coasts of Alabama and Florida. In December 2010, following the "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill, the Obama administration reversed its plans to open the eastern Gulf, and imposed a moratorium on new drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico for at least seven years. The "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the BP oil disaster, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and the Macondo
Oil spill governance in the United States oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico suggest more can and should have been done in this area. Evidence of this fact is present in the recommendations and investigations present in the January 2011 report by the recently established National Oil Spill Commission. A further sign of lack of proper governance is implicit in the action of the federal government to rename and reform the Minerals Management Service (MMS) into the now Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. The 1989 "Exxon Valdez" oil spill served as a major focal point in oil spill governance and reform. Prior to