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The story explored how the cost of dismantling run-down oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico had been ignored by both the regulators and the energy industry for decades. This September the responsible government agency reversed a dangerously lenient policy that had allowed the vast majority of operators forgo setting aside any financial collateral to pay for future so-called plugging and abandonment (P&A). Now companies in the Gulf have up to 9 months to find roughly $37 billion to meet these new P&A obligations.