BILOXI, Miss. — A key U.S. government official said today the moratorium on deepwater oil drilling likely won't be extended past Nov. 30, but whether it is cut short will be entirely up to the industry.

Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, said during a break in a public forum in coastal Mississippi that the industry must comply with current and soon-to-be-imposed safety regulations.

He said the government is mindful of the impact the moratorium has had on communities that rely on offshore drilling. But it must also be concerned about the impact from the April 20 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 workers and led to 206 million gallons of oil spewing from BP PLC's undersea well.

Bromwich hopes to report to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in coming weeks and possibly make recommendations on the scope and duration of the moratorium.