Imagine a parachute on a high-performance jet. The pilot wears
it but hopes to never use it. And he's not in the clear even if
he does. Offshore oil and gas drillers should have the same
attitude about blowout preventers.
Another version of that metaphor has been invoked since BP's Macondo oil spill, but the head of a National Academy of Engineering committee used it particularly well today in explaining the group's findings on the disaster.
Donald Winter, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan and former US Navy secretary, said offshore operators put "misplaced confidence" in blowout preventers before Macondo. They wrongly considered them insurance policies.
"They are safety measures, but the principle way of accommodating or providing safety is not to just sit back and depend upon your parachute, in this case the blowout preventer," he told reporters after the NAS panel released its Macondo findings.
Another version of that metaphor has been invoked since BP's Macondo oil spill, but the head of a National Academy of Engineering committee used it particularly well today in explaining the group's findings on the disaster.
Donald Winter, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan and former US Navy secretary, said offshore operators put "misplaced confidence" in blowout preventers before Macondo. They wrongly considered them insurance policies.
"They are safety measures, but the principle way of accommodating or providing safety is not to just sit back and depend upon your parachute, in this case the blowout preventer," he told reporters after the NAS panel released its Macondo findings.
Winter hopes Macondo erased the earlier attitude.
"The blowout preventer becomes a mechanism of affording an additional measure of safety," he said. "For that reason, we would like to see that improve. But in the end, the principal, the primary means of well control is associated with the design and construction of the well itself."
Roger McCarthy, another engineer who sat on the NAS committee, suspects offshore drillers get it now.
"The hard way, the industry has gained a much better appreciation of the limitations and the performance envelope of the current design," he said.
The study recommends companies entirely overhaul blowout preventers and their policies for maintaining them. For the wonks out there, jump to page 55 for those very detailed BOP findings.
Finally, the question always comes up when the national media revisit Macondo: If things still need to improve, why are companies out there drilling? Is the Gulf of Mexico really safe?
The NAS panel thinks it is.
"Given all of the improvements that have already been made, some of the technological changes that have been implemented such as the cap-and-containment technologies and the work that is ongoing, that we think that it is in fact a reasonable process to continue drilling at this point in time," Winter said. "That said, we believe in the long term, further improvements in safety can and should be made."
"The blowout preventer becomes a mechanism of affording an additional measure of safety," he said. "For that reason, we would like to see that improve. But in the end, the principal, the primary means of well control is associated with the design and construction of the well itself."
Roger McCarthy, another engineer who sat on the NAS committee, suspects offshore drillers get it now.
"The hard way, the industry has gained a much better appreciation of the limitations and the performance envelope of the current design," he said.
The study recommends companies entirely overhaul blowout preventers and their policies for maintaining them. For the wonks out there, jump to page 55 for those very detailed BOP findings.
Finally, the question always comes up when the national media revisit Macondo: If things still need to improve, why are companies out there drilling? Is the Gulf of Mexico really safe?
The NAS panel thinks it is.
"Given all of the improvements that have already been made, some of the technological changes that have been implemented such as the cap-and-containment technologies and the work that is ongoing, that we think that it is in fact a reasonable process to continue drilling at this point in time," Winter said. "That said, we believe in the long term, further improvements in safety can and should be made."
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