Serpo
31st March 2011, 01:50 AM
Federal regulators have granted a permit for a deepwater well in a new area of the Gulf of Mexico located about 137 miles off the Louisiana coast. Last week the government approved Shell Offshore's exploration plan for the new area. On Wednesday, the first well in that new area was given the go-ahead.
Associated Press archive
Vessels operate near the Q4000 drilling rig at the site of the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. June 13, 2010
The approved permit gives Shell the green light to drill a new well in Garden Banks Block No. 427, about 2,721 feet below the seabed, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement said in a statement.
BOEMRE said Shell has contracted with the Marine Well Containment Company to use its capping stack to stop the flow of oil if a well control event occurs. As part of its approval process, BOEMRE said it reviewed Shell's containment capability available for the specific well proposed in the permit application and confirmed that the capabilities of the capping stack met the requirements specific to the proposed well's characteristics.
"Today's permit approval represents a culmination of a broad and comprehensive review process involving an exploration plan, a site-specific environmental assessment, and the application for the drilling permit - all of which complied with our rigorous safety and environmental standards," BOEMRE Director Michael Bromwich said. "The completion of this process further demonstrates that we are proceeding as quickly as our resources allow to properly regulate offshore oil and gas operations in the most safe and environmentally-responsible manner."
All offshore wells are identified in either an exploration or development plan, which must be approved before drilling permits can be issued. On March 21, Shell's exploration plan, which seeks drilling permits for three new wells, became the first approved since last year's Macondo blowout.
This marks the seventh deepwater drilling permit issued under the new regulatory system, put in place after last year's oil spill.
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2011/03/feds_approve_deepwater_drillin.html
Associated Press archive
Vessels operate near the Q4000 drilling rig at the site of the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. June 13, 2010
The approved permit gives Shell the green light to drill a new well in Garden Banks Block No. 427, about 2,721 feet below the seabed, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement said in a statement.
BOEMRE said Shell has contracted with the Marine Well Containment Company to use its capping stack to stop the flow of oil if a well control event occurs. As part of its approval process, BOEMRE said it reviewed Shell's containment capability available for the specific well proposed in the permit application and confirmed that the capabilities of the capping stack met the requirements specific to the proposed well's characteristics.
"Today's permit approval represents a culmination of a broad and comprehensive review process involving an exploration plan, a site-specific environmental assessment, and the application for the drilling permit - all of which complied with our rigorous safety and environmental standards," BOEMRE Director Michael Bromwich said. "The completion of this process further demonstrates that we are proceeding as quickly as our resources allow to properly regulate offshore oil and gas operations in the most safe and environmentally-responsible manner."
All offshore wells are identified in either an exploration or development plan, which must be approved before drilling permits can be issued. On March 21, Shell's exploration plan, which seeks drilling permits for three new wells, became the first approved since last year's Macondo blowout.
This marks the seventh deepwater drilling permit issued under the new regulatory system, put in place after last year's oil spill.
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2011/03/feds_approve_deepwater_drillin.html