Deepwater Horizon report: Better testing instrumentation needed offshore
In a 136-page report released today on the 2010 oil spill, the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council make a series of recommendations designed to prevent a repeat of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Here are some of their conclusions about the lethal blowout of BP’s Macondo well and their recommendations for the offshore drilling industry and the regulators who police it.
Findings:
The flow of hydrocarbons that led to the blowout of the Macondo well began when drilling mud was displaced by seawater during the temporary abandonment process. The decision to proceed to displacement of the drilling mud by sea water was made despite a failure to demonstrate the integrity of the cement job even after multiple negative pressure tests. This was but one of a series of questionable decisions in the days preceding the blowout that had the effect of reducing the margins of safety and that evidenced a lack of safety-driven decision