Oil explorers should be ready to overhaul a crucial piece of deepwater-drilling safety equipment, bringing their requirements up to aerospace standards, Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said today. The Interior Department will issue a proposed rule by September updating regulations for blowout preventers (BOPs), the last-ditch safety devices perched on deepwater wellheads to prevent leaks. The agency has discarded its earlier plan to request additional information from the industry, which would have delayed action for months.

The Interior Department today finalized the terms of a June lease sale in the central Gulf of Mexico that it said could yield more than 1 billion barrels of oil. The June 20 sale in New Orleans will be the Obama administration's first in the central Gulf since the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident killed 11 people and spilled nearly 5 million barrels of crude.

PERDIDO SPAR, Gulf of Mexico -- Work aboard the world's most isolated offshore oil production platform and drilling rig is loud, dangerous and often unpredictable. Still, each day begins in a mundane way. A 6 a.m. briefing starts with a rundown of all the work to be performed over the next 12-hour shift with notes on where to avoid danger. Next, there's a discussion of small safety hazards people noticed the day before. What sets work on Perdido apart from many other locations is the constant repeating of a message that all on board must maintain close attention to their and each other's safety. Rushing is forbidden. It's all part of a stringent safety training regimen not seen in other facets of the energy industry.