US agencies now in Deepwater
7 Sep 2010
London – After months of solely blaming BP and its chief executive officer Tony Hayward for the Gulf of Mexico disaster, investigators have finally shifted the spotlight onto the US regulatory authorities that gave the initial go-ahead for the deep-sea drilling operation.
An estimated five million barrels of oil, equivalent to 53,000 barrels/day (b/d), were leaked from the Macondo well after the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling unit, which was leased to BP, exploded on 20 April.
The volume of oil released from such a major blowout should not have been a surprise to the US authorities: BP had projected to the US Minerals Management Services (MMS) that its exploration activities potentially could result in a worst-case spill of 162,000 b/d, when it initially sought permission for drilling.
Moreover, MMS officials did not challenge a submission in BP’s exploration plan that the company was equipped to handle a worst-case spill of 300,000 b/d - a crucial oversight given the actual difficulties experienced in bringing the spill under control.
Before approving the go-ahead for drilling, MMS referred to a Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Operations and Activities Environmental Assessment (the Deepwater EA) prepared in May 2000. This described the risk of major blowouts and the problems associated with controlling them when in deep water.
Tellingly, the Deepwater EA identified that further studies were needed to address issues and data gaps. Its recommendations for additional study highlighted two important considerations: the consequences of a blowout in deepwater and the fate of hydrocarbons released in deepwater environments.
MMS allowed drilling to proceed based on its available information as the decision document that finalised the Deepwater EA concluded that, “none of the suggested studies, research, or information synthesis represents a critical information need requiring suspension of decisions on specific deepwater activities”,
The Deepwater EA noted that none of the 901 wells drilled in deep water between 1971 and 1995 had resulted in a major blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. However, it acknowledged that water depths would be likely to hamper operations if a blowout did occur and stated that drilling a relief well would be likely to take “anywhere from 30 to 90 days” and that relief operations “could require up to 120 days to complete”- as BP proved.
Previous environmental reports prepared by MMS had concluded that oil from deepwater spills would be expected to “weather” and degrade by the time it reached shore, thus having “minimal” impact on the environment.
