Federal officials have said any company that wants to resume drilling in the gulf would have to meet the new safety requirements.

But granting permission to BP would be more controversial because the British oil company is still paying for costs related to the oil spill, the cleanup and the continuing civil and criminal investigations into the accident. BP so far has set aside more than $40 billion to cover those costs.

The administration has pressed BP to ensure that victims of the spill are compensated, but the company has said publicly it needs to resume drilling in the gulf in order to have the financial resources to pay the claims submitted by federal and state officials, and individuals and businesses.

The Obama administration has spent 11 months dealing with the aftermath of the Macondo well blowout and writing new rules to try to prevent similar accidents.

Allowing BP to resume operations in the gulf would send a mixed message — that even as the administration was trying to increase the safety of offshore drilling and punish bad actors, it was responding to critics in Congress and the oil industry who say the administration is choking off production and driving up energy prices.

What seems clear is that the gulf will not return to full production until all the major players are allowed to resume drilling.

BP is eager for that to happen, and its chief executive, Robert Dudley, has repeatedly said the company remains committed to its operations in the United States. Mr. Dudley has pledged to make improving BP’s safety record his priority. He set up a new division last year to monitor safety and suspended some operations in Alaska and the North Sea after the projects failed to meet the new standards.