U.S. energy behemoth Chevron Corp. (CVX - Analyst Report) has got the green light for conducting oil and natural gas exploratory drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The approval by the U.S. regulators is the first for ‘completely new exploration’ in the region – i.e. tapping a reservoir from which oil or gas has never been produced – since British giant BP plc’s (BP - Analyst Report) oil rig disaster in April last year.
Chevron’s exploration plan will see the super major drill a new exploratory deepwater well in 6,750 feet of water in Keathley Canyon Block 736, located 216 miles off the Louisiana coastline.
Chevron began initial drilling on the well in March 2010 but was forced to stop midway (in early June) when the Obama administration imposed a deepwater drilling ban because of the oil spill. The revised permit – the fifth approved by the federal agency since the deepwater Horizon rig explosion but the first that provides for exploratory drilling into a new field – will now allow the company to complete the well in the offshore reservoir.
According to the U.S. Interior Department, which oversees offshore drilling, the project has been given the go-ahead only after the fulfillment of strict safety and environmental requirements for offshore operations that have been imposed in the aftermath of the BP oil spill.
Thats good news. Thanks.