The judge in New Orleans who granted a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the federal government’s six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico owned shares of Transocean Ltd. and other offshore companies.

A 2008 financial disclosure report of U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman, published by JudicialWatch (a conservative watchdog over government, legal and judicial systems), showed that the judge received dividends from Transocean stock that he held. Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded on April 20 and ultimately sank off the southeastern coast of Louisiana. British oil giant BP plc leased the rig from Transocean.

Feldman’s financial disclosure reports for 2009 or this year were not available, so it was not known whether he still owns the Transocean stock.

The 2008 filing and other financial reports dating back to 2003 showed that Feldman has or had holdings in several other energy companies, including Hercules Offshore, Quicksilver Resources, Prospect Energy, Peabody Energy, Halliburton Co., Parker Drilling, El Paso Corp. and Chesapeake Energy. Halliburton was also involved in the Deepwater Horizon incident. Feldman reported last year that he sold his stock in Halliburton. It appeared however, that Feldman did not have any holdings in the more than 20 small companies that filed the suit.

The White House Tuesday said it planned to immediately appeal the judge’s decision. The fact that Feldman has a financial interest in energy companies, including two that are involved in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, could give the Obama administration a leg up in its appeal.

Associated Press reported early this month that 37 of the 64 active or senior federal judges in the Gulf states of Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and Florida have links to oil, natural gas or related industries.

In his ruling Tuesday, Feldman said the Interior Department failed to justify its decision to impose a prolonged ban on deepwater drilling in the wake of the explosion on board the Deepwater Horizon rig, and essentially sought swift retribution against an entire industry for the actions of one company — BP (see Daily GPI, June 23).

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