A federal judge has granted a 5-month extension to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to update a key environmental assessment, averting a potential shutdown of U.S. oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
The order, issued by Judge Deborah Boardman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on Oct. 21, means that drilling activities can continue while NMFS revises its 2020 biological opinion, which governs the impact of offshore fossil fuel extraction on endangered species.
