BP Adopts New Safety Standards for Gulf Drilling
- Posted on July 15, 2011 at 9:11am by
Scott Baker
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ATLANTA (AP) — A year after it capped its out-of-control well in the Gulf of Mexico, oil giant BP PLC said Friday it is taking new steps to improve the reliability of the cement used to seal its wells and the fail-safe devices used to prevent blowouts.
The U.S. government welcomed the voluntary measures announced by the British firm — which seemed to target shortcomings addressed in several investigations of the disaster — but also noted that it has already established what it believes are strong safety and environmental standards that all operators are required to meet in order to operate in deep waters.
Eleven men were killed when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded off Louisiana on April 20, 2010, leading to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The well was capped on July 15, 2010, and permanently sealed from the bottom two months after that. The government estimates that some 206 million gallons of oil were released by BP’s Macondo well a mile beneath the sea. Tens of billions of dollars have been spent or committed by BP on cleaning up the devastation and compensating victims.
BP said that with regard to its drilling operations in the Gulf in the future it will:
—Require that one of its engineers or an independent third-party monitor conduct lab testing of the cement used to seal its deepwater wells. It will provide the results to government officials.
—Require extra precautions be taken with blowout preventers used on rigs it leases to drill its wells. The measures involve using blowout preventers with extra shearing devices that would cut through drill pipe and seal a well in the event of a mishap.
—Include in its oil spill response plan information about enhanced response measures based on lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The cement and blowout preventer used with BP’s well and the oil spill response plan it employed during the disaster all came under fire in numerous investigations of the disaster by the government, Congress and the companies involved.
New drilling rules have been imposed, a high-tech system for capping a blown-out well and containing the oil has been built, and regulators have taken steps to ramp up oversight of the industry.
But industry experts have said that despite the extra measures taken by government and industry since the Deepwater Horizon explosion, they believe another disaster could happen again.
They have noted that the effectiveness of the much-touted containment system has been questioned, and a design flaw in the blowout preventers widely used across the industry has been identified but not corrected.
In Washington, U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, said that if BP can adopt voluntary safety standards that go above what is required by regulators, the rest of the oil and gas industry can, too.
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http://www.facebook.com/HarryRWeberAP
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The Gooch
Posted on July 16, 2011 at 1:11pmBS PR. To the best of my knowledge no one from either BP or the govt. lost his/her job or went to jail for knowingly engaging in unsafe activity that was noted but not stopped. Yeah, what either entity states should REALLY be trusted or heeded at this time. Every time you start your car or flip on a light, say a brief prayer for the men and women who make your life easier, make a few greedy bastards filthy rich and are used as excuses for more meaningless govt. positions while they pull oil and coal from the earth for our energy. BP… like govt…. will put on the kinder, genter facade… while engaging in business as usual.
Report Post »Here in WV, mining regulations are a joke. Govt. stands by while bullies tell miners “ignore that crap or WE’LL close down the mine” and then when the crap hits the fan, both govt. and management skates while families are paid off with blood money.
2010 was deemed a stellar year for safety by BP. No kidding. They actually awarded bonuses to executives for their great safety record. 11 dead who? Oops….
Atokaite
Posted on July 16, 2011 at 8:25amBP will never get a permit to drill, off shore or on land while the Obama EPA rules.
Report Post »Engineering fixes go on all the time. A casual survey of the Oil Engineering sites, on the NET, reveal such. Fracturing drilling is a good example, it works, so EPA is nitpicing the process. Soon, that too will end. Oil pipeline coming down from Canada, is encountering a conflict on the North Platte river, concerning a nesting area. AGAIN, EPA, DOE are tight on permiting another foot, till they do their endless research on the impact a dozer will make.
The Cloward Piven goal to shut down the processes of production is in full sway. We have an anemic 1.5 % Growth per qtr of the GNP, almost there folks. When it hits .5% and the Dole/Aid/dependency hits 55%, the Cloward Piven society will be with us.
2012 election, the Left will never go quietly into the night.
end
Semper Fi
boca_chica
Posted on July 15, 2011 at 10:02pmThis regime won’t let them drill on land….why would they even consider underwater? BP’s been lazy for a lomg time (see exxon valdiz story about the oil spill response contract) so this is just their way to placate the governments and news media around the world. The U.S. could have made more stringent rules….but they don’t need too….nobody’s going to get a permit.
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on July 15, 2011 at 8:18pmI believe that no safety precautions will ever satisfy the Obama administration. They may as well twiddle their thumbs till this man is thrown out of office.
Report Post »The Gooch
Posted on July 16, 2011 at 1:14pmAll the safety precautions in the world don‘t mean squat when they’re just lip service. Compare BP’s citations to each competitors. Business as usual…
Report Post »thegreatcarnac
Posted on July 15, 2011 at 6:47pmYep….BP‘s safety plan is to ’drill somewhere else’. AMERICAN MOM beat me too it.
Report Post »An AmericanMom
Posted on July 15, 2011 at 4:02pmBP Adopts New Safety Standards for Gulf Drilling—-it‘s called Obama and he won’t let ANYBODY drill!
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