The Obama administration on Wednesday gave BP its first drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April 2010.
The decision was expected after the administration approved the company’s drilling plan for four exploratory wells last week, but it still was an important achievement for the company, which is counting on gulf wells to expand its oil and gas reserves.
The approval is for one well off the Louisiana coast in the Kaskida
field, at a depth of about 6,000 feet.
“BP has met all of the enhanced safety requirements that we have implemented and applied consistently over the past year,” said Michael R. Bromwich, the director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, in a statement. “In addition, BP has adhered to voluntary standards that go beyond the agency’s regulatory requirements.”
BP hopes to drill several new wells next year. The company now has three rigs in the area working on the plugging and abandonment of old wells, but its chief executive, Robert Dudley, said this week that he hoped to have as many as eight rigs drilling in the gulf next year if permits are forthcoming.
The company released a statement on Wednesday saying, “We are pleased to have received a permit to drill.” It characterized the decision as “another milestone in our steady return to safely drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.”
The administration also announced this month that BP would be allowed to bid on new oil leases in the gulf in a December lease auction, the first auction scheduled since the Deepwater Horizon accident, which left 11 workers dead and spilled millions of barrels of oil into the gulf.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=3d7c67e70f929f4255523996b2e15a02
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.