Federal Government Rejects Development Plan for BP’s First Completely New Oilfield in Gulf of Mexico Since Deepwater Horizon

Washington, D.C. —

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) did not approve BP’s proposal for a new ultra-deepwater offshore drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico due to its failure to meet basic requirements under the law. Instead, the company will be required to make modifications to its proposal. If BP can address the serious flaws, the company will then have to re-submit its proposal and the agency will have to make a new decision.

The ”Kaskida” project would be the U.K.-based company’s first completely new oilfield in the Gulf since its 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster and could recklessly open access to 10 billion barrels of oil in high-risk waters.

Members of Congress sent a letter to BOEM urging the agency to reject BP’s proposal, citing these and other red flags with Kaskida. Tens of thousands of people also submitted public comments to BOEM demanding the agency disapprove the project.

BP’s Kaskida project would need to handle more extreme conditions in greater depths than its Deepwater Horizon operation, which killed 11 people and remains the worst oil spill in U.S. history. But the company’s proposal failed to meet clear legal and regulatory standards. BP could not demonstrate that Kaskida would safely operate given the extremely high pressures and temperatures at such great depths, or that the company would have the equipment available to stop a blowout or contain an oil spill. Also, BP has not demonstrated that it is qualified to operate a high-pressure, high-temperature project. And the company incorrectly estimated how much oil Kaskida could spill by half a million barrels of oil, and how long a spill could last.

“While it is the right decision to send BP back to the drawing board, this proposal should never have gotten this far,” said Martha Collins, executive director of Healthy Gulf. “The fact that BP attempted to push forward a project with such glaring safety and environmental risks shows yet again that the oil industry cannot be trusted to put public safety ahead of profit. Gulf communities deserve stronger protections, not further reckless oil and gas expansion in our waters”

“Today’s decision is a temporary relief for Gulf communities whose families and children are living on the frontlines of pollution tied to offshore drilling,” said former refinery worker and founder of Port Arthur Community Action Network John Beard. “We fully expect and demand the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to be transparent about the shortcomings in BP’s proposal for Kaskida, and to keep the public abreast when BP attempts to address them. We remain opposed to any reckless offshore drilling project that sacrifices Gulf communities.”

“The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is correct in sending back BP’s ultra-deepwater drilling proposal, which was littered with blatant legal and regulatory flaws,” said Brettny Hardy, senior attorney for Earthjustice’s Oceans Program. “Given its history in the Gulf with Deepwater Horizon, BP’s proposal was an insult to millions of people including commercial fishermen and the many whose livelihoods are tied to tourism. We will closely monitor for any new proposal from BP and are prepared to challenge oil projects that fail to meet the well-established legal and safety standards for drilling in our public waters.”

“BP should definitely have to account for the gaping questions about safety and environmental risks Kaskida poses, but it’s already clear this plan shouldn’t go any further,” said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Kaskida is a dangerous project that puts people and wildlife in the Gulf in harm’s way. After a disaster as horrible as Deepwater Horizon, BP shouldn’t be given the chance to use the Gulf for even riskier drilling. If there’s another explosion or spill, people could lose their lives, the Rice’s whale could go extinct, and countless dolphins, sea turtles, birds, and fish could die.”

“BOEM was correct to send BP back to the drawing board for the Kaskida project. Marine wildlife and communities along the Gulf coast were devastated by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill 15 years ago,” said Joanie Steinhaus, Ocean Program Director for Turtle Island Restoration Network. “The Kaskida project is a threat to our fragile ocean ecosystem, will inflame climate change and threatens the health of coast residents. BP has not adequately demonstrated the capacity to operate and handle an oil spill in the high-pressure, high temperature conditions of this project and this project should have been rejected.”

“BOEM was correct to turn away this dangerous proposal,” said Devorah Ancel, Senior Attorney with Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program. “We saw what happened with Deepwater Horizon 15 years ago — destruction of marine ecosystems, devastation of wildlife populations, and deep and lasting harm to the environments and economies of Gulf communities. With that track record, the last thing BP should be allowed to do is undertake one of the riskiest offshore drilling projects ever attempted.”

Background

In the 15 years since the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the oil industry has increasingly moved into deeper water. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries has determined that the likelihood of uncontrolled oil spills arising from offshore drilling operations increases “exponentially” with depth, making deepwater and ultra-deepwater drilling particularly risky. For high-pressure, high-temperature deepwater projects like Kaskida, the chance of a blowout occurring — which is what happened with Deepwater Horizon — becomes seven times more likely than for more standard deepwater projects.

But in the last five offshore lease sales BOEM held, more than 60% of new industry bids went for deep or ultra-deepwater. This is happening even as oil companies sit on millions of acres of unused leases and as the U.S. produces more oil than any nation in history.

Meanwhile, climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels is contributing to more powerful hurricanes in the Gulf, making drilling there more dangerous.