- Australia’s oil and gas regulator is expected to rule this week on BP’s proposal to begin deepwater exploration drilling in the Great Australian Bight, a pristine stretch of ocean that is a sanctuary for whales and other protected species.
- BP, Statoil (STO) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) are among several companies with permits to explore the area, which could contain up to 1.9B boe.
- Critics warn that BP's presence would risk another “Deepwater Horizon-style” oil spill; Australia’s oil and gas regulator already has twice denied BP’s environmental plan for the area.
- But even as the oil majors have de-emphasized high-risk deepwater frontier exploration wells in favor of lower-risk opportunities close to existing infrastructure, BP is under pressure to find new resources after underperforming peers in terms of booking new oil reserves during recent years, and the Great Australian Bight is one of the world's largest untested deepwater basins.