Committee reviews standard of UK oil and gas environmental regulations
Summary
'UK Deepwater Drilling - Implications of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill' (HC 450-I) details a full analysis of the UK oil and gas environmental regulatory regime.
The Energy and Climate Change Committee believes that the UK has high regulatory standards - as exemplified by the Safety Case regime that was set up in response to the 1988 Piper Alpha tragedy in 1988.
On 20 April 2010, a blowout of BP's Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico led to the deaths of 11 workers on Transocean's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, and the release of an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil.
The European Commission called for a moratorium but the UK government decided its regulatory controls were fit for purpose.
The blowout in the Gulf of Mexico could have been prevented if the last-line of defence - the blind shear ram on the blowout preventer had activated and crushed the drill pipe.
Given the importance of this equipment the Committee recommends prescribing specifically that blowout preventers should have two blind shear rams and that simple, potential failures must not be left unchecked.
The Committee also recommends that the Bly report conclusions; BP's internal investigation, be considered alongside observations of other companies involved. They believe that if an oil spill occurs in the UK as a result of drilling activities, there needs to be absolute clarity as to the identity of the responsible party, and that liability legislation needs to ensure prompt compensation.
The Committee concludes that any calls for increased oversight of the UK offshore industry should be rejected in favour of multilateral approaches to regulation and oil spill response.
Found this story interesting?
Spread the news by
clicking below to add it to your bookmarking service: