NEW YORK-BP PLC is asking US regulators to let it resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a report that The New York Times published on its Web site yesterday. The move comes almost a year after a rig that the British oil company leased exploded. According to the newspaper, BP is asking permission to continue drilling at ten existing deep water production and development wells in the region in July in exchange for embracing stricter safer and supervisory rules. The New York Times quoted two unnamed sources with direct knowledge of the application.
An agreement covering existing wells could be reached within the next month but would not include new drilling, one of the officials told the newspaper. The other official said, "We're making progress but it's not a yes yet." Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity because talks on a possible agreement were continuing. Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico was halted last summer as a result of the accident involving BP's Macondo well, which spilled 4.9 million barrels of oil into the ocean. The ban was lifted in October. Melissa Schwartz, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, the federal agency that overseas the development of resources in the gulf, said yesterday that there was no deal with BP.
Toby Odone, a spokesman for BP, declined to comment. The regulator had recently started to permit some deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Royal Dutch Shell won approval on Wednesday to drill off the coast of Louisiana on the condition that rigorous new safety standards were met. Other companies that have been allowed to continue drilling in the region include Exxon Mobil, Chevron and BHP Billiton
The New York Times said that granting permission to BP would be more controversial because the British oil company is still paying for costs related to the oil spill, the cleanup and the continuing civil and criminal investigations into the accident. BP so far has set aside more than $40 billion to cover those costs. The Deepwater Horizon explosion last April 20 led to the release of more than 200 million gallons of oil from BP's well a mile beneath the sea, according to government estimates that BP disputes. (AP)