The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) has approved a drilling permit for the fifteenth deepwater well to comply with rigorous new safety standards implemented in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. This includes satisfying the requirement to demonstrate the capacity to contain a subsea blowout.

The approved permit is for BHP Billiton Petroleum (GOM) Inc. to drill a new development well in Green Canyon Block 653 in 4,232 feet water depth, approximately 120 miles off the Louisiana shoreline, south of Houma. Today's approval is for a new well being drilled under a Development Operations Coordination Document that was approved on May 31, 2011, for which BOEMRE completed a site-specific Environmental Assessment.

Tags: BHP Billiton, The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management