EnergySafety procedures have not kept up with new, deeper offshore oil drilling operations
Just five years after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, which leaked roughly 134 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, federal agencies have approved even deeper series of next-generation wells, which critics cite as too new to be properly regulated. Concerned scientists and industry officials are arguing that the recently allowed wells have not yet developed proper corresponding safety procedures to prevent a disaster similar, or worse, than the one which befell the Macondo well.
Just five years after the British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, which leaked roughly 134 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, federal agencies have approved even deeper series of next-generation wells, which critics cite as too new to be properly regulated.
As Fox Business reports, concerned scientists and industry officials are arguing that the recently allowed wells have not yet developed proper corresponding safety procedures to prevent a disaster similar, or worse, than the one which befell the Macondo well.
The average ocean depth of all wells has increased since 2010 to roughly 1,757 feet, a difference of 40 percent in just five years. Additionally, drillers are exploring a “golden zone” of oil and natural gas wells that lie 20,000 feet beneath the sea floor, including through 10,000-feet of prehistoric salt — considerably deeper than the Macondo well. The technology that would make this possible is incredibly advanced, and very new.
“It’s not rocket science,” said Matthew Franchek, the director of the University of Houston’s subsea engineering graduate program. “Oh, no, it’s much, much more complicated.”
An engineering study cited by Fox Businessconcluded that an explosion of super-deep wells could likely be far worse than the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
“We’re generations behind the airline industry,” said David Pritchard, the petroleum engineer behind the study. He worries that the industry is not doing enough to ensure that another catastrophic spill does not happen. “There is a management culture that wants to make money. It counts speed over reliability.”
“Ultimately the proof is in the results, and our safety metrics since the spill put us in line with or leading the industry,” said Geoff Morrell, a spokesman for BP, in defense of deeper wells.
With the inefficiencies of industry regulation already made apparent during the Deepwater Horizon spill, however, many continue to worry about the willingness of federal regulators to allow continued drilling developments. Famously, a wide range of problems presented themselves in 2010, including the fact that the Coast Guard and other agencies relied heavily on industry equipment, emergency plans were outdated, and the authorities did not estimate the scale of the leak appropriately.
“We’re setting the stage for the next Macondo blowout, and even worse,” said Richard Charter, a senior fellow with the Ocean Foundation, an industry watchdog.
Since the BP disaster, regulators and industry officials have encouraged and supported new safety procedures, citing them as a top priority. However, many say that it is still not enough and that the conversation will have to continue despite the escalation.
Along with BP, other oil companies such as Chevron, Statoil, Shell, and Conoco-Phillips have received the blessing from federal authorities, including the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, to construct increasingly deeper wells.
