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The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that President Obama "is expected to announce on Thursday that the government will impose tougher safety requirements and more rigorous inspections on offshore drilling operations."

The president plans a speech Thursday, after he receives a Department of Interior report on what led to the April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which touched off the oil flow. Mr. Obama is expected to detail changes to offshore-drilling permits.
Administration officials say those changes will include new permitting procedures to ensure rig safety. Additional inspections of the rigs will be required, in part to verify that safety features and environmental precautions accepted during the permitting process were in place.
Those regulatory changes are detailed in a 30-day review ordered by the president last month and due on his desk on Thursday. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is expected to reveal many of the review's recommendations during congressional testimony on Wednesday.