Australia on Monday gave BP permission to explore for oil and gas off its south coast, saying the company had agreed to integrate lessons learned from the Gulf of Mexico spill in its operations. The troubled energy giant was among a group of companies awarded seven new permits to explore for oil and gas off South and Western Australia.
Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said BP had agreed to "fully integrate lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon incident into its systems and processes", referring to the April 2010 blow-out at BP's Macondo well. The accident left 11 workers dead and spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
"I am satisfied that we have put in place the appropriate safeguards and note BP's commitment to work with government and regulators to ensure the highest possible safety standards as they carry out this work," Ferguson said. Australia is offering new leases as it attempts to meet its growing energy demands and Ferguson said increasing exploration was "essential to finding Australia's next offshore petroleum province".
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