BP PLC doesn’t have an agreement with the U.S. to resume drilling in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.
Salazar spoke on a conference call with reporters Monday, denying a report in the Sunday Times of London that cited unnamed sources saying the London-based company had reached a deal with the U.S. to resume drilling.
“There is no agreement with respect to BP, nor will there be any agreement with respect to BP or anybody else that isn’t within the normal process that we have,” Salazar said on a call from Mexico City.
“We receive applications for wells, and those applications will be taken through the same process, with the same rigorous review that we are requiring of any other company,” he said.
Companies that want to explore for oil in the Gulf of Mexico’s deep waters have to apply to the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.
They must demonstrate access to equipment to contain spilled oil, and meet higher safety and environmental standards introduced after BP’s Macondo well exploded last April, causing the biggest U.S. offshore oil spill.
