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highplainsdem

(61,672 posts)
Sat Mar 14, 2026, 12:38 PM 14 hrs ago

Trump Administration Approves Ultra-Deepwater Oil Drilling Plan

Last edited Sat Mar 14, 2026, 03:32 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: NYT

The Trump administration on Friday approved a $5 billion oil drilling project in ultradeep waters of the Gulf of Mexico over protests from Democrats and environmental activists who said the venture posed significant risks to wildlife and communities.

The project by the British energy giant BP would be about 250 miles off the coast of Louisiana and is expected to start producing oil in 2029. The company projects it will deliver up to 10 billion barrels of oil by the end of this decade.

Known as Kaskida, it would be the company’s first new deepwater project in the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010, which set off the worst oil spill disaster in U.S. history.

-snip-

Opponents said the extreme pressure and high temperatures required to operate in waters deeper than 5,600 feet heighten the risk of a blowout that could endanger Gulf communities and the marine ecosystem.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/14/climate/trump-bp-gulf-of-mexico-drilling.html



EDITING to correct the "56,000 feet" mistake the NYT originally had to "5,600 feet" which they changed it to later.
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LilElf70

(1,537 posts)
5. Oil and gold?
Sat Mar 14, 2026, 12:53 PM
14 hrs ago

Yep. It's all about the benjamins. Always has been. He could care less about humanity. He's proven it over and over and over again.

I'm pretty sure the king thinks he will die someday. You think about it more often in your latter years.
Even more reason to make it all about the money. He want's it all. And he wants it now while he's still here.

Lonestarblue

(13,453 posts)
7. Trump is obsessed with anything that makes him richer.
Sat Mar 14, 2026, 12:56 PM
14 hrs ago

I wonder how much of a secret kickback he got to approve this deal.

Ponietz

(4,290 posts)
3. If one theorized that MF47 intended to destroy this nation ALL the facts would be consistent with it
Sat Mar 14, 2026, 12:45 PM
14 hrs ago

AZJonnie

(3,644 posts)
8. Sloppy work by the NY Times here
Sat Mar 14, 2026, 01:25 PM
13 hrs ago

56,000 feet deep is not accurate, not that this changes the overall point. That should read 5,600 feet.

This is also wrong: "start producing oil in 2029. The company projects it will deliver up to 10 billion barrels of oil by the end of this decade."

That should be century, not decade.

highplainsdem

(61,672 posts)
10. I checked the Times article again and they'd changed 56,000 to 5,600, so I edited the OP. Re what they
Sat Mar 14, 2026, 04:03 PM
11 hrs ago

said in the sentence ending "by the end of this decade" - that's wrong, but it I don't know if they'd be estimating production more than 70 years in the future.

I did some googling. 10 billion barrels is the estimated total of the oil there. The company is predicting they'll get 80,000 barrels a day from 6 wells. That won't get them close to 10 billion by the end of the century. They'd need to get about 5x as much per day.

BP admits there could be a blowout doing as much damage as Deepwater Horizon.

https://earthjustice.org/feature/kaskida-bp-oil-drilling

In its proposal, BP’s math shows that a loss-of-control incident at Kaskida could spill up to 4.5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf and take 100 days to stop.

To put that in perspective, the blowout that caused the Deepwater Horizon disaster led to the release of 4.9 million barrels and took 87 days to stop. Additionally, the company did not provide the calculations behind their projection, precluding the public from independently verifying the data.

AZJonnie

(3,644 posts)
11. Yeah I didn't do all the math but instantly knew the 'decade' number couldn't even be remotely close to right
Sat Mar 14, 2026, 04:12 PM
11 hrs ago

Century sounded possible if it was overall really pumping it out. Thanks for the additional research, HPD

highplainsdem

(61,672 posts)
14. Thanks for catching that! I got 4 hours' sleep a night the last couple of nights and am not as
Sat Mar 14, 2026, 04:59 PM
10 hrs ago

alert as I wish I were.

Roy Rolling

(7,597 posts)
15. BP?
Sat Mar 14, 2026, 05:10 PM
10 hrs ago

Here in New Orleans we remember the expertise and safety of BP.

They famously produced all of the authentic B-roll for the film Deepwater Horizon if you know what I mean.

Vinca

(53,831 posts)
16. Meanwhile, the sun is shining and the wind is blowing and energy can be had for a fraction of the price.
Sat Mar 14, 2026, 05:18 PM
9 hrs ago
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