The Obama administration is imposing tough new regulations for offshore drilling nearly six years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster vividly illustrated the potential damage when things go wrong. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell unveiled the new rules Thursday, estimating the cost to industry at $890 million over 10 years and insisting it was essential to boost the safety of offshore energy development. Oil and gas companies said the mandates are too rigid and expensive. “These regulations are among the most significant safety and environmental protection reforms that the department has launched,” Jewell told reporters on a conference call. “The final well-control rule seeks to better protect human lives and the environment from offshore oil spills by comprehensively addressing the full ranges of systems and processes involved in well-control operation.” The measure requires oil companies to develop plans for keeping a close watch on distant, deep-water drilling operations, with real-time monitoring […]