Monday, April 4, 2011

BP (BP) Waiting on Gulf Drilling Permits

Responding to a report in the Sunday Times of London alleging BP (NYSE:BP) has landed a permit to resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar refuted the statement today, saying that's not the case at this time.

“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 conference 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.”

Reports that BP was seeking permits was also apparently shot down, this time by Melissa Schwartz, a spokeswoman for Interior Department’s agency regulating offshore drilling, who said, “There are no ongoing talks. We issue permits based on the merits of the application.”

The term "ongoing" could be interpreted to mean that BP has indeed applied for permits (a certainty), but at this time they're simply waiting to wind through the process, as Salazar said, which wouldn't involve ongoing talks.

From the comments of the two, it seems to imply there have been permit requests from BP, but they're being treated like all others.

This is another way of saying they don't want to have to deal with the inevitable uproar that comes when BP is awarded a permit to continue drilling in the Gulf. It could also be a trial balloon to measure media and public response.

BP was trading at $45.73, up $0.07, or 0.15 percent, as of 1:55 PM EDT.

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