The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) has approved Statoil to resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The approved permit is a revised permit to drill a new well for Statoil Gulf of Mexico LLC Well #1 in Walker Ridge Block 969 in 7,813 feet water depth, approximately 219 miles off the Louisiana shoreline, south of Houma, Louisiana.

Statoil’s Well #1 is a new well. The operator had a rig under contract and an approved permit to drill a new well when activities were halted due to the temporary drilling suspensions imposed following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Statoil has contracted with the Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) to use MWCC’s capping stack to stop the flow of oil should a blowout occur.