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January 7, 2011

BP oil spill- Process safety and its Management

A news article mentions the following from the report of the presidential commission set up to investigate the BP oil sill disaster:
"A "complacent" attitude to safety and a cost-cutting culture by BP's management and that of its partners contributed to the oil spill that ravaged the Gulf of Mexico last year, the official US inquiry has ruled.
A pre-released chapter from the final report of the White House oil spill commission set up by President Barack Obama is scathing in its attack on management failure, warning that the cause of the crisis was "systemic" and that without reform of the industry a similar disaster "might well recur".
"Most of the mistakes and oversights at Macondo can be traced back to a single overarching failure – a failure of management. Better management by BP, Halliburton, and Transocean would almost certainly have prevented the blow-out," the report said.
It added: "Whether purposeful or not, many of the decisions that BP, Halliburton, and Transocean made that increased the risk of the Macondo blowout clearly saved those companies significant time (and money)."
BP staff are accused of making several critical mistakes, including the misinterpretation of a vital "negative pressure test" to check that the well had been properly sealed before removing the rig. The report said BP's "fundamental mistake" was its failure to exercise caution before relying on the cement as a barrier to the flow of oil and gas up the well.
BP's US partners, Halliburton and Transocean, do not escape censure either. Halliburton is criticised for failing to ensure the cement used to seal the well had been tested properly. Transocean, which owned and ran the rig, is attacked for not learning the lessons of a similar incident that almost led to an accident in the North Sea four months prior to the Macondo disaster".

Read the full article in this link.

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