US oil spill commission considers nuclear industry safety model

Washington (Platts)--2Dec2010/604 pm EST/2304 GMT

The staff of the National Oil Spill Commission recommended Thursday that the oil and natural gas industry form a separate, independent organization to dramatically raise safety standards and police the companies drilling on the US Outer Continental Shelf.

The staff concluded that the April 20 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico could have been avoided if managers from BP, Transocean and Halliburton had followed procedures that placed safety above cost cutting, speed, and other priorities.

"The commission's investigation team found that most of the mistakes and oversights that led to the blowout were the result of management failures by BP, Halliburton and Transocean," the staff report presented to commissioners stated.

Staff member Richard Sears, a senior science and engineering adviser, put it more bluntly.

"To think that these three companies screwed up like this bothers me, but it is the conclusion of our work," Sears said.

The commission, appointed by President Barack Obama to investigate the causes of the Macondo blowout and spill, is meeting Thursday and Friday to deliberate on its staff's recommendations. Its final report is due in January.

The staff detailed the errors made by all three companies and criticized the decisions regarding safety made in the days and months before the accident.

"BP safety lapses appear to be chronic," staff member Nancy Kete told the commission after outlining the company's past missteps, including the 2005 Texas City refinery accident.

The other two companies made critical errors in judgment regarding safety as well, the staff said. Halliburton failed to adequately test the cement used to secure the well casing. Transocean, which the staff said has its own "safety culture problems" also failed to adequately communicate with its partners on the rig, the staff said.

The staff recommended that the oil and gas industry create its own version of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, which would have an independent staff that would hold all offshore players to the highest safety standards.

Industry groups have resisted this suggestion in the past when commission members discussed it. The American Petroleum Institute, which represents more than 400 oil and gas companies, has suggested it could fill that role. The group already publishes standards for many aspects of offshore drilling, some of which have been adopted by federal regulators.

But the commission's staff said API cannot fill that role.

"We think this safety institute should do nothing but promote excellence in safety," Kete said. "We think for credibility, this institute can't lobby. One thing API does is lobby."

--Gary Gentile, gary_gentile@platts.com

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