Noble Energy Inc. won the first U.S. deep-water drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico since BP Plc’s oil spill 10 months ago, and regulators said they expect to approve more applications.
The Obama administration halted deep-water exploration after BP Plc’s Macondo well exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April, causing the biggest U.S. offshore oil spill. The top U.S. drilling regulator said today that Houston-based Noble Energy was the first company to meet new requirements for safety and spill control.