HOUSTON, April 14 (UPI) -- Norwegian energy company Statoil said it joined a company set up in the wake of BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill to respond to future disasters.
Statoil said it joined a growing list of counterparts as a member of the Marine Well Containment Co.
The MWCC was set up in the wake of the oil spill last year in the Gulf of Mexico to respond to any future disaster like the incident at BP's Deepwater Horizon oil platform.
Bill Maloney, executive vice president for North American development at Statoil, said the membership is part of his company's commitment to safe operations in the gulf.
"As part of MWCC, Statoil joins our effort to improve the containment and response capability in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and be continuously ready to respond in the event of a future deepwater well control incident," added Marty Massey, chief executive officer at MWCC, in a statement.
The move to join the MWCC follows a Friday decision by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement to award Statoil a permit to drill a deepwater well about 200 miles off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico.
The BOEMRE is the 10th such permit since a moratorium on deepwater drilling was lifted in October. Washington imposed the moratorium in order to review gulf drilling operations.
