NEW YORK — The United States has approved the first deep-water drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico since last year’s massive oil spill.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement said yesterday that it issued a permit to Noble Energy Inc. to continue work on a well about 70 miles southeast of Venice, La.
Noble started drilling the well four days before the Deepwater Horizon exploded. Drilling activity was suspended on June 12 under a moratorium the United States placed on exploration in waters deeper than 500 feet.
