BP looking to get back into Gulf

BP is looking to ramp up activity in the Gulf of Mexico in the coming months and is applying for new well permits there this quarter, an executive said yesterday, as the firm looks to move on from the huge oil spill last year.

By The Newsroom

Published 7th Sep 2011, 07:00 BST

Elsewhere, the firm, which has failed to convince investors of its post-spill strategy, could take up to two years to increase output from a key gas field of India’s Reliance Industries.

BP, Europe’s second-largest oil company by market capitalisation, has struggled since President Barack Obama banned drilling in the Gulf from late May to mid-October last year after BP’s deepwater Macondo well ruptured.

“We are the largest piece holder in the Gulf of Mexico and hence containment activities had a disproportionate impact on BP,” Executive Vice President Steve Westwell said on the sidelines of a conference in New Delhi.

“We will get back to drilling new wells. Our first focus is to secure wells that have been drilled. We will, in the course of this quarter, be applying for permits for new wells,” Mr Westwell said.

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