Isra-Mart srl:BP oil spill caused by management failure, says White House commission

www.isra-mart.com

Isra-mart srl news:

A White House investigation into the root causes of last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill has blamed the "overarching failure of management" for the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling yesterday published an advanced chapter of its report, which will be released in full next week, concluding that most of the mistakes and oversights on the Macondo well can be traced to "a single overarching failure of management".

Significantly, the latest report contradicts the commission's initial findings in November, which supported BP's claim that it did not sacrifice safety to save money.

Commission co-chairman William K Reilly said the new findings suggested a systemic failure across the oil industry to protect its workers and the environment.

"A key question posed from the outset by this tragedy is, do we have a single company, BP, that blundered with fatal consequences, or a more pervasive problem of a complacent industry?" he said. "Given the documented failings of both Transocean and Halliburton, both of which serve the offshore industry in virtually every ocean, I reluctantly conclude we have a system-wide problem."

However, the commission also apportions some of the blame for the disaster to a lack of government authority or technical expertise to enforce a safety-first culture on the rig.

"This disaster likely would not have happened had the companies involved been guided by an unrelenting commitment to safety first," said commission co-chairman Bob Graham in a statement. "And it likely would not have happened if the responsible governmental regulators had the capacity and will to demand world-class safety standards."

The chapter highlights a series of engineering mistakes and management failures, including a poor evaluation of risk and management of late-stage well design decisions, a flawed design for the cement slurry used to seal the bottom of the well and an ineffective response to the blowout once it began, including the failure of the rig's blowout preventer to close off the well.

The commission's full report will be released next Tuesday, containing its examination of the blowout and its official recommendations to president Obama, Congress and the oil industry to help avoid future spills.

The report came as British MPs published the findings of their own investigation into how the UK could avoid a repeat in British waters of the deepwater drilling disaster. It urges the government to tighten up its safety regulations and clarify liability rules so taxpayers would not have to foot the bill for clean-up and compensation if such an incident occurred.