Trump Administration Approves BP’s First New Gulf Oilfield Since Deepwater Horizon

Trump Administration Approves BP's First New Gulf Oilfield Since Deepwater Horizon

Ultra-deepwater drilling project in greater depths than BP's 2010 disaster, the worst oil spill in U.S. history

Contacts

Jackson Chiappinelli, Earthjustice, [email protected]

Alex Horn, Healthy Gulf, [email protected]

Andrew Scibetta, NRDC, [email protected]

The Trump administration has approvedthe development of a new, ultra-deepwater offshore drilling project by BP in the Gulf of Mexico, despite significant legal and regulatory shortcomings with BP's proposal, and vocal public opposition about how the project could impact the public health impact Gulf residents, threaten sensitive deep-sea ecosystems and marine life like endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles and Rice's whale, and crater business in the region as Deepwater Horizon did in 2010.

The approval of BP's "Kaskida" project marks the U.K.-based company's first completely new oilfieldin the Gulf since its Deepwater Horizon disaster 16 years ago. Kaskida would be in greater depths than BP's Deepwater Horizon operation, which killed 11 people and remains the worst oil spill in U.S. history. The project would have to contend with extreme pressures and temperatures over six miles below sea-level, relying on technology that is still emerging. Compared with standard offshore drilling wells, ultra-deepwater projects like Kaskida are at least six times more likelyto experience a "loss of well control" incident, the same event that happened with Deepwater Horizon.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved Kaskida even though BP failed to demonstratein its proposal that the ultra-deepwater project can safely operate with the extremely high pressures at such great depths, or that the company will have the equipment available to stop a blowout or contain an oil spill. According to its proposal, BP admittedly lacks the qualifications to operate a high-pressure, high-temperatureproject. And in its proposal, BP incorrectly estimatedthe amount of oil Kaskida could spill and the duration of the spill by half-a-million barrels of oil.

Members of Congress sent a letterto 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. BOEM temporarily heeded the Congressional and public opposition by sending BP's proposal back to the company for modification- a rarity from the federal government. But BP's modified proposal, which was resubmitted to BOEM within a matter of weeks, reflected only minor changes, such as updated references, and left the numerous red flags outlined by Congress unaddressed and unaltered.

Gulf and environmental groups responded to the approval of BP's Kaskida project:

"The approval of BP's Kaskida project is reckless and deeply alarming. Sixteen years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster devastated the Gulf, federal regulators are once again putting industry profits over people, wildlife, and our climate," said Martha Collins, executive director of Healthy Gulf. "BP has shown it can not operate safely under such extreme conditions, yet the agency has given it a green light to gamble with Gulf communities and ecosystems. This decision shows a dangerous disregard for the lessons we should have learned from the worst oil spill in U.S. history."

"Once again, BOEM has approved a deep water well in the Gulf of Mexico. 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. "This project is a threat to our fragile ocean ecosystem, will enflame climate change and threatens the health of coastal 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."

"The Trump administration's callous, rubber-stamped approval of this dangerous offshore drilling project is an insult to the entire Gulf region," said former refinery worker and founder of Port Arthur Community Action Network, John Beard, Jr."Did they not consider the public health impacts from Kaskida or BP's history in the Gulf with Deepwater Horizon as factors in the company's proposal? We are home to some of the largest oil-and-gas polluting facilities in the U.S. and would be directly affected by any oil spill from Kaskida. Do our voices not matter? This mindless, reckless decision will pile on decades of more toxic pollution for people in communities like Port Arthur, for our children, grandchildren and their children. We refuse to be sacrificed; we will not be silenced."

"BP's latest project must be viewed as a matter of public health and not simply a project for economic gain. The Gulf Coast is not an open field for uncertain, novel drilling experiments that can disrupt natural cycles. This is our home," says Coastal Botanist Alease Aloe Lee, The Surfrider Foundation, Louisiana."The technology proposed in the Kaskida project is not developed enough to assure residents that a catastrophe like that of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill won't happen again. The Deepwater Horizon project led to over a decade of environmental degradation and habitat loss, and happened in shallower depths than what is now being proposed for Kaskida. If the regulations that were put in place after BP's fatal oil spill over 15 years ago have been lifted, how can coastal residents trust that this project, in even deeper water, will be safe? The Kaskida project, and lack of preparedness from the administration, is a threat to the stability and safety of the coastline, the Gulf of Mexico, and our own neighborhoods."

"It's deeply disturbing that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved a proposal littered with legal and regulatory flaws, especially given BP's history in the Gulf," said Brettny Hardy, senior attorney for Earthjustice's Oceans Program. "The agency's decision is a threat to the communities that will be harmed by decades of additional oil that gets refined next to their homes and children's schools. It's also an insult to the millions of people and businesses in the Gulf whose lives were changed for the worse by Deepwater Horizon. Neither BP nor the Trump administration should be allowed to elude our laws, and we're committed to fighting the approval of this or any reckless oil project."

"BP's Kaskida project is a reckless gamble that repeats the same dangerous playbook as Deepwater Horizon-only this time in even deeper waters, posing even greater well control challenges," said Irene Gutierrez, Senior Attorney, NRDC."This risky approval comes as the administration rolls back the very safety regulations put in place to prevent another catastrophic oil spill. The last thing Gulf communities and wildlife need is another oil spill disaster from this company."

"Fifteen years ago, BP's Gulf operations were responsible for one of the worst environmental disasters in history," said Devorah Ancel, Senior Attorney with Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program. "Now they want to undertake one of the riskiest offshore drilling projects possible - so risky and complex, the necessary technology isn't fully tested. We all saw what happened after the Deepwater Horizon disaster - destruction of marine ecosystems, devastation of wildlife populations, and deep and lasting harm to the environments and economies of Gulf communities. If the Trump administration approves this project, the Gulf could face the threat of an even bigger disaster in the future."

"The Administration's decision to approve BP's first ultra-deepwater project in the Gulf is disappointing and worrisome. Louisiana knows all too well the consequences when projects like these go wrong-and there is little reason to believe that BP today will be even as well supervised as BP in 2010," said Jackson Voss, Senior Governmental Affairs and Policy Advisor, Alliance for Affordable Energy. "The U.S. is producing more oil and gas than ever before, and yet energy costs for Louisiana families continue to go up and up. This decision in favor of BP, and the choice to prioritize offshore oil and gas while undermining new energy opportunities in the Gulf that could eventually bring down costs, like offshore wind, will do nothing to fix our problems"

"Allowing BP to once again exploit the deep waters of the Gulf, what could possibly go wrong?" said Jeffrey Jacoby, Deputy Director at Texas Campaign for the Environment.

Background

BP has told investors that Kaskida, along with a recently announced sister project called Tiber-Guadalupe, the company will open access to up to 10 billion barrels of oil in deepwater areas of the Gulf.

In the nearly 16 years since the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the oil industry has increasingly moved into deeper water. The NOAA 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 six-to-seven times more likely than for more standard deepwater projects.

From 2017-2023, 78 percent of industry bids have been for deep or ultra-deepwaters in the Gulf; in the three sales since 2023, the percentage rose to 90. This is happening even as companies sit on millions of acresof unused leases and as the U.S. produces more oil than any nation in historyand is the world's largest producer of gas.

Additional Resources

• About the Oceans Program

About Earthjustice

Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people's health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.