Hello and Happy Hump Day aka Wednesday!
Well did anyone read The Houston Chronicle or Yahoo!News today, April 5, 2023 called,” Study: Gulf drilling is safer, but risks linger.” The article is about how it has been 13 years since Deepwater Horizon the BP oil rig which had an explosion that killed many people and was the worst oil spill in America’s history which dumped 130 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. A study was done on the progress made in the Gulf of Mexico for offshore oil and gas since the Deepwater Horizon spill. The progress which was made is the US government created the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) which focuses on safety and required safety and environmental management systems (SEMS), the deepwater wells are capped, and there are better industry and government standards regulating offshore drilling, and more data collection as well as creation of the Center for Offshore Safety. With all the good things that have been improved or learned along the way since that 2010 disastrous incident the report states there is a long way to go in safety. While some companies embrace the safety and reward good judgement, when there are potential dangers, others don’t embrace the safety culture! The study speaks about how the regulators only have authority over the operators not the other workers on the rigs which are the majority of people. They also speak of the oil spill law which hasn’t been updated. The industry may have made improvements, but not enough especially when it comes to safety. If you would like to read the article, check out The Houston Chronicle or Yahoo!News.
If you would like to read the article from The Houston Chronicle or Yahoo!News for free, please click the link: Oil drilling in Gulf safer, but concerns linger, report says (yahoo.com)
If you would like to read the news release from National Academies Sciences, Engineering, Medicines, please click the link: Measurement and Management of Systemic Risk in Gulf of Mexico Offshore Oil and Gas Operations Have Improved Since Deepwater Horizon Disaster, But Progress Lags in Some Areas | National Academies
Don’t forget to check out our ESC website!
We hope you have a great night!