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Posts in Gulf of Mexico

Safety of Blow-Out Preventers “Just Hot Air”
Andy Rowell
Mar24
One of the final puzzles of the Deepwater Horizon disaster has been solved. It is a mystery no more. A question that continues to haunt many in BP and in the oil industry is why did the supposed fail-safe mechanism to prevent a blowout, called the blowout preventer (BOP), actually fail. And fail so spectacularly….
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BP Spill: 50% of Residents Suffered Adverse Health Effects
Andy Rowell
Mar07
One of the most unreported legacies of the Exxon Valdez oil spill was the devastating long-term health impact of many of the clean-up workers and communities. Thousands of people suffered short-term and long-term effects from the spill. An unknown number have died. It was in part this lethal legacy that was a shadow of fear…
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Drilling Resumes, but Doubts Remain
Andy Rowell
Mar01
Yesterday the US Interior Department approved the first new deepwater drilling permit since BP’s Deepwater disaster last April. The permit for Noble Energy to drill about 70 miles southeast of Venice, Florida, comes more than four months after the Interior Department lifted its deep-water drilling moratorium, and nearly a year after the disaster. “This permit…
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“Insufficient Consideration of Risk” on BP Rig
Andy Rowell
Nov17
If the oil industry is about one thing and one thing only it is not really about oil, it is about risk. How a company manages the geological, technical, safety and financial risk of its daily decisions determines whether the company stays ahead of its cut-throat competitors. Oil just happens to be the commodity that…
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Spillcam Enters the Psyche
Andy Rowell
Nov16
In another signal of the legacy of BP’s spill, it has emerged that “Spillcam” was one of the top words of 2010, reflecting the impact the spill had around the globe. Along with words such as “vuvuzela”and Sarah Palin’s “Refudiate” — a morph of refute and repudiate – Spillcam made the annual Global Language Monitor…
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Hayward: “We Created Deepwater Mess”
Andy Rowell
Nov10
So finally we get a bit of humility and contrition from Tony Hayward, ex-CEO of BP. Speaking for the first time since he resigned, Hayward has admitted that the Deepwater Horizon accident was BP’s fault, that he made mistakes and that BP was woefully unprepared for a disaster on this scale. So compare what Tony…
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BP Disaster Adds to Oil Major “Identity Crisis”
Andy Rowell
Nov01
Its not a new concept that the oil majors are struggling to come up with new reserves, but its not often that it is written in black and white. Well pink, actually. Today’s Financial Times has one of its special reports on Energy. It combines two of the recurring themes I have written about on…
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BP: Stilling Passing Blame
Andy Rowell
Oct27
Out with the old. In with the new. When BP ceremoniously dumped bumbling gaffe-prone Tony Hayward after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and ushered in smooth-talking Bob Dudley, it was meant to herald a new era in the troubled giant’s history. But the disaster still wrangles BP badly. And it is no surprise therefore that…
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Gulf Coast Faces $350 Billion Threat
Andy Rowell
Oct22
It’s a region that has seen its fair share of disasters in recent years. Hurricane Katrina. The BP oil spill to name the big two. But the Gulf Coast cumulative losses of $350 billion by 2030 if it fails to address climate change, according to a new $4 million study. And the warning comes not…
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Safety Versus the Bottom Line
Andy Rowell
Oct19
Slowly but surely BP is trying to rebuild its battered image and rebuild the way it does business. Part of that process is rebuilding its internal processes and values and the way it rewards success. In an innovative move, the company has announced that performance to be judged solely on improving safety in the fourth…
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