WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Chevron Corp. (CVX) Chief Executive John Watson had some kind words Wednesday for the U.S. agencies that oversees offshore oil drilling, breaking ranks with many of his colleagues in the oil and gas industry who routinely blister the agencies for the pace at which they issue new drilling permits.
While generally critical of the U.S. government's energy policy--and particularly unhappy with efforts to strip the oil industry of certain tax breaks it enjoys--Watson said the Interior Department's offshore agencies are "working very hard" to process drilling applications for companies looking to explore or drill in the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico.
"I think we have civil servants that are working very hard to process the permits," Watson said to reporters following a speech at the Peterson Institute for International Politics.
The pace of permitting has become a hot-button issue among Republican and Gulf Coast lawmakers, as well as oil industry representatives. Following the adoption of new drilling standards, they have routinely accused the offshore drilling agencies of stalling on new permit applications.
Watson also defended Michael Bromwich, the director of Interior's Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement, and a frequent target of the oil and gas industry's criticism.
"I don't believe that Director Bromwich and others are slow-walking permits," Watson said.
Bromwich joined the offshore bureau in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill and played a key role in developing new drilling standards. He also oversees permitting activity.
While acknowledging that the permit process "can be onerous at times," Watson said Chevron has been able to get approvals for its projects. "We have had to adjust our expectations around timing. But all our equipment is busy," he said.
Watson reserved his harsh comments for the Obama administration and some Democrats for proposing to repeal billions of dollars of tax credits currently awarded to the oil and gas industry.
Watson said these efforts amounted to tax increases that were "punitive" and "selective." He said it was unwise to raise taxes on an industry that could create jobs.
On Tuesday, more than a dozen U.S. senators urged the "Super Committee" looking at ways to reduce the federal deficit to repeal more than $21 billion in tax breaks enjoyed by the five largest oil companies, including Chevron.
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