BHP Billiton Wins U.S. Deep-Water Drilling Permit as Oil Surges
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BHP Billiton Ltd. won the second U.S. deep-water permit to drill in the Gulf of Mexico since BP Plc’s oil spill last year, after lawmakers criticized the Obama administration for delaying domestic exploration.
BHP will be able to resume work halted after BP’s disaster on April 20. The Melbourne-based company, Australia’s biggest oil and gas producer, will use equipment from Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. in case of a blow out, Melissa Schwartz, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, said yesterday in an e-mail.