BP is seeking federal approval to proceed with parts of its Kaskida project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico after regulators declined to approve an earlier version of its development plan in 2025. Environmental advocates and some members of Congress argue the project’s high-pressure, deepwater conditions heighten blowout and spill risks, while BP says advances in equipment and design will support safe operations.
In April 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 workers and triggered the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Federal agencies estimate that about 3.19 million barrels—roughly 134 million gallons—of oil were released over the 87 days it took to stop the well from flowing.
Now BP is moving ahead with Kaskida, a deepwater oil project in the Keathley Canyon area of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico that the company has described as its sixth operated “hub” in the region. BP made a final investment decision on Kaskida in July 2024 and has said the initial development phase is designed to produce up to 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day from six wells, with first production expected in 2029. BP has also said Kaskida will be its first Gulf development to use 20,000 psi-rated well equipment, reflecting the high-pressure conditions associated with reservoirs in the Paleogene.
The project has also drawn scrutiny from environmental groups and some lawmakers because of the technological and operational demands of high-pressure, high-temperature drilling at significant water depths. In August 2025, Earthjustice said the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) did not approve BP’s proposed development plan for Kaskida, concluding the submission failed to meet legal and regulatory requirements and directing the company to make modifications and resubmit for a new agency decision.
Earthjustice and other critics have argued that BP’s earlier submission did not adequately demonstrate safe operations under the site’s extreme pressures and temperatures or show that the company had appropriate equipment available to stop a blowout or contain a major spill. The same advocacy group said members of Congress urged BOEM to reject the proposal and raised concerns that BP’s modeling understated potential spill volumes and duration.
BP, for its part, has framed Kaskida as a long-planned expansion of its Gulf portfolio and part of a broader effort to develop resources in the Paleogene. In its July 2024 announcement, BP said the Kaskida and Tiber area contains an estimated 10 billion barrels of “discovered resources in place,” a figure that refers to resources believed to exist rather than proven reserves, and that technology advances and standardized designs can improve safety and reduce complexity.
The project’s trajectory comes as offshore production in the Gulf remains central to U.S. oil output and continues to generate debate over spill risks and regulatory oversight more than a decade after Deepwater Horizon.
