Mexico

BP plc began injectivity testing at about 1 p.m. CDT Tuesday and then began static kill operations to rein in its runaway Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, the source of the world’s largest accidental oil spill.

Legislation has been introduced in the Senate and House aimed at speeding up permitting for oil and natural gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico who have complied with the new safety and inspection regulations issued by the Interior Department.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Wednesday visited three Gulf of Mexico drilling rigs — two active and one idle — to receive updates on industry compliance with new inspection requirements and safety specifications for blowout preventers (BOPs) and well construction.

As BP plc and the U.S. government were working to resume relief well drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) following the passing of Tropical Storm Bonnie over the weekend, BP CEO Tony Hayward was about to be ousted, it was widely reported.

With Tropical Storm Bonnie becoming a potential threat to the Gulf of Mexico, BP plc last Friday said it was suspending relief well activities targeting its blownout Macondo well. “Duration of the suspension of relief well activities will be dependent on the weather,” BP said.

Normally a tropical storm aimed at the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) production area is a bullish development, but traders seemed to pay it and forecasts of Southern highs in the 100-degree area little heed as most prices were slightly softer Friday.

Discovery Producer Services LLC is holding a nonbinding open season through Aug. 6 for the Keathley Canyon Connector natural gas pipeline in the central Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

The Interior Department on Friday granted Apache Corp. a permit to drill a natural gas well in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), the producer said Monday.

Producers, oil service firms and end-users slammed the new moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) that the Interior Department issued on last Monday, saying it was no different than the original moratorium despite hints from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that he was considering narrowing the scope of the ban.