Oil giant British Petroleum announced on Friday that it would implement new safety and performance standards in the wake of its massive spill last year in the Gulf of Mexico.
In a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, BP said it would incorporate new safety measures nearly 15 months after an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 workers and spewed nearly 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf. The measures would be in addition to any new government-established safety standards. BP is still awaiting U.S. government permission to resume drilling in the Gulf.
Responding to particular concerns that emerged following the Deepwater Horizon spill, BP said it would require operators to use blowout preventers that employ a twin set of shears and that it would ensure that the devices are tested by third parties. BP's Deepwater Horizon rig had a single set of blind shear rams at the time of the accident. It failed to activate and cut through the drill pipe to close off the well, inhibiting the blowout preventer from doing its job.
And the British oil giant said it would require lab testing for cement mixtures coming from outside cementing contractors, with results provided to “the applicable BOEMRE field office.” The presidential commission that investigated the spill found documents showing that several tests by contractor Halliburton indicated that its cement was "unstable," yet Halliburton did not forward those results to BP.
BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said in a statement that the company was committed “to apply what we have learned to improve the way we operate. We believe the commitments we have outlined today will promote greater levels of safety and preparedness in deep-water drilling."
BOEMRE Director Michael Bromwich said at a House Natural Resources hearing on Friday, "BP has clearly been through a lot. I certainly applaud what they are doing here.”
BOEMRE, which has been working on its own safety standards for all offshore operators since the April 20, 2010, spill, welcomed the news from BP, but said the company’s enhancements do not exempt BP from BOEMRE’s industry-wide standards.
BP's standards, he said, are higher than that which BOEMRE is proposing for the whole industry.
House Natural Resources ranking member Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., asked Bromwich whether BP’s standards should be adopted across the industry, after the presidential spill commission determined that problems were “systemic.”
Though Bromwich said that any of BOEMRE's standards would need to face public comment, he added that the biggest oil companies should be able to take on the higher level of safety standards proposed by BP. “I think the majors would be able to do this,” Bromwich said.
Want to stay ahead of the curve? Sign up for National Journal’s AM & PM Must Reads. News and analysis to ensure you don’t miss a thing.
Join the Discussion