BP HAS said oil had started pumping from a new project in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico, its first development to come onstream since the Macondo disaster in 2010 caused the largest offshore spill in US history.

BP said yesterday the Galapagos development started initial production this month, with oil flowing to a nearby platform 140 miles southeast of New Orleans.

The Galapagos project was named by BP as one of a handful of major projects which will help demonstrate its return to work in the Gulf of Mexico, where it is the largest producer of oil and gas.

Last October US regulators granted BP its first permit to drill a new well since the April 2010 disaster which spewed more than 4 million barrels of crude into the basin and killed 11 people.

“The Galapagos development marks another significant step forward for BP in the Gulf of Mexico, and reflects the potential we continue to see in this world-class basin,” said James Dupree, regional president of BP’s US Gulf of Mexico business.

A spokesman for BP added that production at Galapagos would ramp up over the next four to six weeks. – (Reuters)