NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A federal judge says he'll rule tomorrow on a

request to overturn a six-month moratorium on deepwater oil and gas

drilling.

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman heard two hours of arguments

yesterday in a lawsuit filed by Hornbeck Offshore, a Covington,

La.-based oilfield service company.

The moratorium was ordered by the U.S. Department of the

Interior. It affects 33 projects that were under way when the

BP-operated rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11

workers, and sank two days later.

Hornbeck, which operates offshore vessels, was joined in the

suit by other companies that service offshore rigs. The suit claims

the moratorium is arbitrary and the Interior Department did not

have proof that the projects pose a threat.