The drilling could rank as the first attempt for a deepwater drilling permit since the US government lifted its moratorium on drilling implemented following BP's Macondo crisis over the summer.
"We expect that through the permitting process we will gain additional clarity on the new requirements, and we will continue to submit additional applications in the near future," a spokesman said in an email.
Although the Chevron spokesmen declined to identify the project for the first permit, a survey of pending Gulf projects found four Chevron projects on hold due to the moratorium. Those locations include Moccasin at Keathley Canyon 736, Tahiti at Green Canyon 640, Genesis at Green Canyon 205 and Petronius at Viosca Knoll 786.
Moccasin is the only exploration project on the chart with the others set for development drilling at existing fields.
Besides confirming the plans for a drilling application, Chevron also announced plans Thursday for sanctioning of its much anticipated Jack and St Malo prospects in the deepwater Gulf (story 1224 GMT).
The US Interior Department lifted its Macondo moratorium October 12. But the industry has been watching closely to determine how new regulations for operators might slow the permitting process, predicting that they might not see a resumption of drilling until late this year or into 2011.
The government implemented the moratorium after BP's Macondo exploration well blew out on April 20, killing 11 workers, destroying Transocean's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and creating the largest marine oil spill in US history.
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