Drilling To Start at Macondo Reservoir

The drilling rig, in waters about 45 miles (72.4 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast, was engulfed in flames. Eleven workers were killed, 17 were seriously injured and more than 100 had to be evacuated.

BP, its contractors and federal regulators struggled to contain the blowout and kill the out-of-control well over the next 87 days. In all, the federal government calculated that about 172 million gallons (651 million liters) spilled into the Gulf. BP put the number much lower, closer to 100 million gallons (379 million liters).

Richard Charter, a senior fellow with the Ocean Foundation and a longtime industry watchdog, said drilling into that reservoir has proved very dangerous and highly technical, and it raises questions about whether a small company like LLOG has the financial means to respond to a blowout similar to BP's.

Eric Smith, associate director of the Tulane University Energy Institute in New Orleans, dismissed those concerns. He called LLOG "an extremely well-financed and well-organized" company.

"If I were to pick anyone to go into that field after so many problems, I would pick LLOG," Smith said. "They have demonstrated their ability to drill in the area."

Since 2010, LLOG has drilled eight wells in the area in "analogous reservoirs at similar depths and pressures," Fowler said. The company has drilled more than 50 wells in the Gulf since 2002, he said.

He said the company has studied the investigations into the Macondo disaster and "ensured the lessons from those reports are accounted for in our design and well procedures."