US Orders Firms to Plug Gulf Oil Wells

The US has ordered oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico to permanently plug nearly 3,500 nonproducing wells in a bid to prevent future oil leaks.

The US Department of the Interior will also oblige firms to dismantle 650 production platforms that are no longer in use, the Washington Post reported.

"We are notifying offshore operators of their legal responsibility to decommission and dismantle their facilities when production is completed," US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said in a statement on Wednesday.'

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