Prosecutors assert the employees may have provided false information to regulators about the risks associated with the well while drilling was in progress, the Journal noted.
By concentrating on areas where considerable progress is possible (rather than on such neuralgic issues as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or increased CAFE fuel-efficiency standards), America - and in particular its gas-guzzling transportation sector - could be made significantly less reliant on oil supplied by unstable or hostile regimes.