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strict new safety rules announced after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, but in most cases won't be subjected to new environmental reviews. The announcement means that some drilling could resume within weeks, although the exact timing remains unclear. But the policy doesn't affect the more than a dozen permit requests that were pending when the moratorium took effect or have been filed since. Those must still undergo enhanced environmental reviews. Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, the newly formed federal agency in charge of offshore drilling, said projects that were interrupted by the moratorium deserved special consideration. " For those companies that were in the midst of operations at the time of the deep-water suspensions, today's notification is a significant step toward resuming their permitted activity, " Bromwich said. Oil companies in recent weeks had become increasingly pessimistic about a quick resumption of drilling in 2011, with some predicting that the wait could last until the second half of the year, so the new decision has been welcomed by the oil industry. " It appears to be a step in the right direction, " said Randall Luthi, president of the trade group National Ocean Industries Association. However, " there are still major questions and some confusion among the companies about what is being required. " Meanwhile, analysts believe that this year Greenland authorities will grant the go-ahead for drilling off the country's coast two months earlier than previously. Cairn Energy is expected to be able to begin drilling for oil as early as April in a search in waters off the south coast before restarting later drilling in Baffin Bay, further north. Greenpeace, which opposes the opening up of the Arctic to oil exploration said: " Conditions, whether in April or August, mean drilling is going to be a huge risk for the environment and investors. " British parliamentarians are also concerned about the potential cost of an oil drilling disaster in UK waters. They are concerned that taxpayers would have to pay the bill as current rules would allow oil companies to avoid environmental costs if a disaster happened now. A group of MPs investigating the Gulf of Mexico disaster have warned the government about the potential problem, as companies are looking to expand deep drilling in the North Sea as more accessible sites are beginning to run out of oil. They also …