The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Monday urged the U.S. to reconsider legal moves and ditch a ban on deep-water drilling slapped on the oil industry in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

"We should not really ban it and we should not jump to conclusions without serious study," OPEC secretary general Abdullah al-Badri said after meeting with European Union energy chiefs in Brussels .

He said the oil business was re-examining its methods after an April 20 explosion at a rig leased by BP PLC (BP) rig off Louisiana killed 11 workers, with the cost to BP pegged Monday at $2.65 billion.

The EU itself wants to take a closer look at drilling at depth in the North Sea off Scotland , where most of the bloc's oil reserves are to be found, and al-Badri said OPEC would engage with the EU where relevant.

Across the board, he said that "if there is any adjustment that has to be made to present operations we should make that, but we should really be very careful" about rushing in, with an eye on supply levels and the effect on price and the global economy.

However, he said: "I'm sure that the United States government is in limbo because they don't know what's going on in their operation and that's why they stopped their offshore operation. We hope they will look again at their decision."

Despite desperate efforts, BP is still not capping all of the 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil estimated to be spilling into the sea every day, saying it is managing to contain about 25,000 barrels daily.

BP's share price has collapsed by more than 50 percent since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig which the company operated sank on April 22, two days after the deadly blast.

The environmental damage, safety concerns and now economic fears with oil workers and executives saying the ban is driving business out of the Gulf and costing them their livelihoods has turned the disaster into a political nightmare for U.S. President Barack Obama.

A U.S. judge ruled last week against the six-month freeze imposed on deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico , which the White House immediately said it would appeal.

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