The pace of deep-water permits has accelerated since the first such permission was granted to Noble Energy Inc.  (NBL 97.42, +1.34, +1.39%) on Feb. 28. Statoil's permit is third that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement has issued this week.

Chevron Corp. (CVX 106.78, +1.40, +1.33%) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM 83.62, +0.89, +1.08%) also won drilling permits this week.

Five of the six permits, including Statoil's, have been issued to companies that were either drilling or lining up equipment to do so when the government shut down deep-water operations.

In all 16 companies had permits to drill wells at depths greater than 1,000 feet when the government announced its moratorium in May.

Statoil had hired a rig but not yet begun drilling its new well in 7,134 feet of water 216 miles offshore of Texas City, Texas, when the ban was enacted, according to regulators. According to federal offshore lease data, Statoil is a 90% owner of the well, with OOGC America Inc., a subsidiary of China's national offshore oil company, CNOOC Ltd. (CEO 241.05, -2.49, -1.02%) , holding the remaining 10% interest.

Michael Bromwich, who heads the offshore agency, said on Tuesday that while regulators would issue more permits in the subsequent week, he could not predict the pace at which permits would be issued thereafter.

"Some say we are now proceeding too quickly; some say we are still proceeding too slowly," Bromwich said Friday. "The truth is, we are proceeding as quickly as our resources allow to approve permit applications that satisfy our rigorous safety and environmental standards."

Source: www.ordons.com