Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindu

A string of eight serious failures within the Deepwater Horizon oil rig led to its explosion and the subsequent large-scale pollution of the Gulf of Mexico, said an internal investigation report by BP.

The findings of the "Accident Investigation Report" released by BP this week, may be considered compelling evidence for an overhaul of both BP’s internal systems as well as regulatory oversight for the oil industry.

In the report, the investigators said, "No single factor caused the Macondo well tragedy. Rather, a sequence of failures involving a number of different parties led to the explosion and fire which killed 11 people."

Further the report concluded that decisions made by "multiple companies and work teams" contributed to the accident which it says arose from "a complex and interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgments, engineering design, operational implementation and team interfaces".

Among the key failures that led to the explosion, the report cited cement and shoe track barriers at the bottom of the well that failed to contain hydrocarbons within the reservoir; the results of negative pressure tests being accepted by BP and Transocean despite well integrity not being established; the Transocean rig crew failing to recognise and act on the influx of hydrocarbons into the well; gas being vented directly on to the rig rather than being diverted overboard; gas flowing into the engine rooms through the ventilation system created potential for ignition; and the rig’s blow-out preventer not activating automatically to seal the well.

Role of other parties

Emphasising the role of other parties besides BP, its current CEO Bob Dudley said: "We have said from the beginning that the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon was a shared responsibility among many entities." He said the report made that conclusion even clearer, presenting a detailed analysis of the facts and recommendations for improvement both for BP and the other parties involved.

However, Mr. Dudley said, "We have accepted all the recommendations and are examining how best to implement them across our drilling operations worldwide," reiterating that BP "deeply [regretted] this event [and] sought throughout to step up to our responsibilities".

The report also proposed 25 recommendations designed to prevent a recurrence of such an accident, BP said, and they were directed at strengthening assurance on blow-out preventers, well control, pressure-testing for well integrity, emergency systems, cement testing, rig audit and verification, and personnel competence.

The company said it expected a number of the investigation report’s findings to be considered relevant to the oil industry more generally and for some of the recommendations to be widely adopted.

Labels: BP oil spill, disaster management, environmental pollution, Gulf of Mexico