BP Wins U.S. Approval for First Drilling Plan Since Macondo

BP Plc received U.S. permission for oil exploration in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the first approval since the company’s Macondo well caused the nation’s worst offshore spill last year.

The company must obtain a permit before drilling begins in a field about 192 miles (309 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which announced approval of BP’s plan today in an e-mailed statement.