Gulf Oil Spill? What Gulf Oil Spill? BP Wants To Drill Again, Transocean Touts “Best” Year For Safety

As the one-year anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill approaches this month, the companies deemed responsible by a presidential commission for what could end up being the worst environmental disaster in United States history are aggressively trying to put the incident behind them.

As oil thought to be from the ruptured Macondo well continues to wash ashore along the Louisiana coast, the New York Times is reporting that BP will ask the federal government for permission to drill in the Gulf again. And Transocean, the operator of the doomed Deepwater Horizon rig, celebrated 2010 as its “”best year in safety performance.” 11 workers, 9 of them Transocean empoloyees, died in the rig explosionthat caused the spill last April.

BP’s looming return to drilling would mark a turning point in offshore oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico since the spill last April. After an initial moratorium on all exploration in the immediate wake of the catastrophe, the Obama administration has given out an increasing number of permits for drilling in 2011, including one to Shell for a location off the Gulf coast of Louisiana.

BP has not been green-lighted to restart its Gulf operations, however, as investigations and legal questions still surround its role in the Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill. That may soon change.

The British oil giant is reported as making “progress” on its request to the federal government to recommence drilling at several existing sites in the Gulf, on the supposed condition that “stricter” safety regulations would be in place. The government is said to me amenable to the proposed deal. Considering the partial cause of last year’s disaster was the failure by BP and the rig operators to adhere to existing safety rules, “stricter” guidelines could be worthless.

BP has asked United States regulators for permission to resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, two company officials said on Sunday, creating a delicate situation for the Obama administration as it seeks to balance safety concerns with a desire to increase domestic oil production.

he petition comes less than 12 months after a rig BP had leased there exploded, causing a huge oil spill and killing 11 workers. The accident tarnished BP’s image and raised questions about its safety procedures.

Just last week, the Justice Department confirmed that it was considering a range of civil and criminal penalties against BP, including potential manslaughter charges for the deaths of the rig workers, as part of its ongoing investigation into the accident.

At the same time, President Obama, in a major statement on energy policy last week, said the administrations was seeking to reduce dependence on imported oil in part by increasing domestic production, both onshore and off. BP was one of the major producers in the gulf before the accident.

BP is seeking permission to continue drilling at 10 existing deepwater production and development wells in the region in July in exchange for adhering to stricter safety and supervisory rules, said one of the officials. An agreement could be reached within the next month but would not include new drilling, the official said.

The other official said, “We’re making progress but it’s not a yes yet.” Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity because talks on a possible agreement were continuing.

In a speech last week, President Obama pledged to cut the country’s energy imports by one-third with an agenda that included increasing “domestic” oil and gas production. The president mostly touted the possibilities of natural gas, but oil exploration — including offshore drilling — is also supported in the proposal. And allowing a company like BP to resume drilling in the Gulf is seen by the White House as a way to hit back at critics that have charged the president is averse to domestic energy and contributing to high gas prices at the pump.

The official response from the Obama administration to the reports that they are “striking a deal” with BP to return to Gulf exploration has been a full denial. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar insisted that “there is absolutely no such agreement” to let BP drill again.

The controversy over such a decision would be intense. Besides lingering questions over whether BP will pay all of the damage claims it promised to take care of after the disaster, there is doubt over BP’s corporate responsibility for the spill.

A “sustainability report” issued by the company that details the size of spills incurred during its operations conveniently leaves out all data from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The company gave the excuse that there is “”no accurate determination” of how much oil leaked from the Gulf spill. So BP reported nothing.

Transocean, the operator of the actual Deepwater Horizon rig and a nearly equal partner in blame for the failures that led to the fatal explosion last April, also is participating in a fair share of corporate spin and a general cover-up a year after the spill. The company announced that its executives would get safety-based bonuses after concluding that 201 was their ““best year in safety performance.”

Transocean’s statement on the issue reads like satire (emphasis added):

In a filing on executive pay, Transocean said, “Notwithstanding the tragic loss of life in the Gulf of Mexico, we achieved an exemplary statistical safety record.” Based on the total rate of incidents and their severity, “we recorded the best year in safety performance in our company’s history.”

A spokesman for Transocean said, “The statements of fact in the proxy speak for themselves, but they do not and can not adequately convey the extent to which everyone at Transocean is keeping the families of the men who lost their lives at Macondo in their thoughts and prayers as we approach the first anniversary of the incident.” Nine of the 11 dead worked for Transocean.

UPDATE – Speaking with ABC News on Monday, Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) welcomed the news that the government was working with BP to let the oil company drill again in the Gulf of Mexico, Rep. Richmond, who represents the New Orleans area, said that “we don’t want to penalize BP for the incident,” referring to the aftermath of last year’s Gulf spill.