White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says president Barack Obama strongly believes that drilling at such depths does not make any sense and puts the safety of workers at risk.
The court order was a big victory for offshore energy producers including BP, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell, whose operations have been hamstrung by the ban.
The companies have been considering relocating their giant drilling rigs to other basins, like Brazil.
The Obama administration says it will appeal against the judge’s decision, and offshore oil operators say they will wait until the outcome of that appeal before they restart drilling operations.
The April 20 explosion of the Transocean Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 people and has since caused the worst oil spill in US history.
The well is majority-owned by BP.
– ABC/AFP