Less than a year after one of the biggest oil spills in history, BP has petitioned U.S. regulators for permission to resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The beleaguered oil company would like to continue drilling at ten existing deep-water spots. In exchange, they promise to adhere to stricter safety rules. Officials with the company said they believed an agreement to resume drilling in existing wells could be reached within the next month, but Melissa Schwartz, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, the federal agency that overseas the development of resources in the gulf, seemed doubtful. Schwartz said on Sunday that there was no deal with BP, and an official with BP said “We’re making progress but it’s not a yes yet.”
