The Obama administration announced today that the offshore drilling moratorium enforced following the BP Oil Spill earlier this year has been lifted.

According to Associated Press reports, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which regulates oil and gas exploration in the Outer Continental, announced the end of the moratorium in a conference call with reporters. The six-month moratorium, which was imposed in June, was otherwise due to end Nov. 30.

“The truth is there will always be risks associated with deepwater drilling,, but we have significantly, in my view, reduced those risks,” said Salazar in the conference call.

Although the ban is lifted, questions still remain regarding when idled workers can return to their posts. Operators must file for new permits and satisfy a number of safety regulations before work can resume, according to the Associated Press report