US terms reports of BP resuming Gulf of Mexico drilling as ‘misconception’
April 5th, 2011 - 4:29 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Apr 5(ANI): US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has rejected claims that British petroleum giant BP has reached an agreement to restart drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
Media reports have said that BP will resume work in July at 10 sites in the Gulf, all in deep-water locations.
However, Salazar said that the reports are a “misconception”.
“There is no such agreement, nor would there be such an agreement,” the BBC quoted Salazar, as saying.
Earlier, last April, an explosion at BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig had killed 11 men working on the platform and injured 17 others.
The oil spill that stemmed from the explosion had caused the US’s worst environmental disaster.
On July 15, the leak was stopped by capping the gushing wellhead, after it had released about 4.9 million barrels, or 205.8 million gallons of crude oil.
It was estimated that 53,000 barrels per day were escaping from the well just before it was capped.
The spill caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats as well as the Gulf’s fishing and tourism industries.
The US Government has named BP as the responsible party, and officials have committed to holding the company accountable for all cleanup costs and other damage.
After its own internal probe, BP had admitted that it made mistakes, which led to the spill. (ANI)
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- Leaking US oil well capped; tests to show how effectively - Jul 13, 2010
- US allows BP to drill new Gulf deepwater wells - Oct 22, 2011
- BP To Start Top Kill To Stop Oil Spill Further - May 25, 2010
- Gulf of Mexico gusher can spew 100,000 barrels of oil a day: BP document - Jun 21, 2010
- US to lease out Gulf of Mexico chunk for oil drilling - Jan 27, 2012
- BP attempts another test to contain the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico - May 17, 2010
- BP to install tighter cap on oil well - Jul 10, 2010
- Legal fight between Kevin Costner and Stephen Baldwin over BP deal for oil spill clean-up device - Jun 05, 2012
- US sets deadline for BP on answers to capping oil well - Jul 08, 2010
- BP seeks to resume drilling in Gulf of Mexico - Apr 04, 2011
- US to hold major auction of oil and gas leases - Dec 15, 2011
- BP to pay $7.8 bn to victims of oil spill - Mar 05, 2012
- BP's oil cap holding amid tense wait for test results - Jul 17, 2010
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