BP (NYSE:BP), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Transocean (NYSE:RIG), Exxon (NYSE:XOM), Conoco (NYSE:COP), Shell (NYSE:RDS-A), Diamond (NYSE:DO), Hercules (Nasdaq:HERO) Have 100s of Wells Waiting for Approval in Gulf

Although BOEMRE director Michael Bromwich has said ther are only 10 new wells waiting for permits in the Gulf of Mexico, companies like BP (NYSE:BP), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Transocean (NYSE:RIG), Exxon (NYSE:XOM), Conoco (NYSE:COP), Shell (NYSE:RDS-A), Diamond (NYSE:DO) and Hercules (Nasdaq:HERO) in fact have hundreds of wells waiting to be approved.

The disingenuous figures put forth by Bromwich are so small because hundreds of wells haven't been approved to enter into the permitting process.

There are 69 exploration and development plans are backlogged, just sitting there awaiting action, with each one including three to five wells, according to senior vice president and general counsel of Hercules, James W. Noe. And that was as of August 17. Since then no figures have been released, suggesting far more waiting to have decisions made.

Since the moratorium was lifted on October 12, there have only been six permits approved by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and

Enforcement, and those were only in shallow-water areas, not the deepwater sections which allegedly have had the moratorium lifted.

I say allegedly because the regulations and permits are effectively having the same results as if a moratorium were still in place for deepwater drilling.

After BP (NYSE:BP) Spill, US Wants All Idle Gulf Wells Plugged

In what appears to be a ridiculous proposal, the interior department has ordered all idle Gulf of Mexico oil wells to be plugged, in response to the BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill.

According to offshore oil regulator Michael Bromwich, the oil infrastructure poses an environmental threat to the area, although natural release of oil in the Gulf on an annual basis is greater than that released by the BP accident.

There is also the credible belief that oil replenishes naturally, and is perpetual as far as the oil wells are concerned. If that is true, they could be plugging oil wells that could be producing wells indefinitely.

At this time there are about 3,500 non-producing wells in the Gulf of Mexico, along with about 650 oil and gas platforms not in use, which would also be required to be dismantled, although it wasn't clear what risk they pose in any way.

Parameters of the order are for wells that haven't been used in the last five years, along with their structures and pipelines.

The new regulations will be implemented in October.