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Oil company has set aside over $40bn to cover claims and damages over the Deepwater Horizon disaster
Environmentalists reacted angrily after BP predicted it would be back drilling in the Gulf of Mexico within months despite facing billions in financial penalties over the Deepwater Horizon disaster – and despite balls of tar still washing up on beaches.
The oil giant's finance director, Byron Grote, told City analysts: "We expect to be back and actively drilling during the second half of the year." Such a return would be a major victory for BP – which last summer was threatened by a proposed law to ban the company from the Gulf for up to seven years.
"BP's reckless approach led to the worst oil disaster in American history, but one year later they're off the hook and ready to take more risks," said Phil Radford, director of Greenpeace USA. "It's a testament to the political influence of these big oil companies that right now Tony Hayward is sailing his luxury yacht rather than facing criminal charges," he added.
BP wants to resume drilling at its Thunderhorse and Atlantis fields, but the American regulator told the Guardian that nothing had been decided yet. "They have not received any shallow or deep water permits," said Melissa Schwartz, spokeswoman for the government's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.
Another regulatory official said privately that BP expressions of confidence were "pissing people off" in the Obama administration and would not influence any decision on new drilling permits.
BP has already set aside over $40bn to cover claims and damages over the blowout whose first year anniversary was marked last week by a raft of lawsuits. These were both from and against BP as blame for the disaster in which 11 workers lost their lives continues to be pinned on a variety of parties including rig operator, Transocean, and services company, Halliburton.
Meanwhile some environmentalists remain concerned that the damage to the gulf still runs deep, with large amounts of oil continuing to cause damage.
