Trump Administration Approves BP's Kaskida Oil Project

The Trump administration approved British energy company BP's long-delayed Kaskida oil drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, marking the firm's first major new development in the region since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The decision by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management clears a key hurdle for the $5 billion venture, which aims to tap into an estimated 10 billion barrels of oil reserves discovered nearly two decades ago.

Located about 250 miles off the Louisiana coast in waters deeper than 5,600 feet, the Kaskida project involves a six-well operation in the Paleogene fields. BP officials stated that production is slated to begin in 2029, with initial output reaching around 80,000 barrels of oil per day, equivalent to roughly 275 million barrels in the first phase. The company first encountered the field in 2006 but shelved development due to technological challenges posed by the site's extreme pressure and high temperatures. Advances in offshore drilling equipment have now made extraction feasible, according to BP.

The approval followed a yearlong review of BP's development and production plans. While it advances the project,...