BHP Billiton Ltd., based in Melbourne and Australia’s largest oil and gas producer, is said to be the first operator since BP Plc's spill, to meet the U. S. environmental and safety requirements for their initial Gulf of Mexico exploration scheme.

A six-month ban on deep-water drilling, had been instituted on BP Plc after the explosion of Transocean Ltd. Deepwater Horizon, which was being leased by them, leaving 11 people dead and releasing the largest offshore oil spill recorded in U. S. History.

Though government’s official ban was lifted in October, no drilling permits were issued by regulators until the 28th of February.

However, BHP has commenced drilling in the Gulf's deep waters during late March, then the operations had been stopped and the company was said to have five rigs drilling.

The head of the group’s oil and gas division stated that the government's moratorium on deep-water activity incapacitated their work on 11 wells for the Gulf's third leading producer.

In addition, their new exploration plan entails a single well in 4,468 feet of water 124 miles off Louisiana's coast, as revealed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation Enforcement, where BHP’S proposal was intensely examined.