Deepwater drilling doubts rise

3rd February 2011


Rexfeatures 1178841a

Related Topics

Related tags

  • Energy ,
  • Water ,
  • Prevention & Control ,
  • Pollution & Waste Management ,
  • Conventional

Author

IEMA

There are serious doubts that the North Sea oil industry has the capacity to effectively deal with any deepwater drilling emergency similar to last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

That is the conclusion of the House of Commons energy and climate change committee (ECCC).

“The harsh and windy conditions in the North Sea would make an oil spill off the coast of Shetland very diffi cult to contain or clean up,” warned committee chair, Tim Yeo.

Although the ECCC stops short of calling for a moratorium on deepwater drilling and acknowledges that existing safety regulations on drilling in the UK are tougher than they were in the Gulf of Mexico, MPs are concerned that oil companies’ response plans fail to take into account local conditions.

New systems for capping or containing a spill should be designed with the harsh and challenging North Sea environment in mind, they say.

The committee is urging the Health and Safety Executive to consider prescribing the use of the failsafe device (Blind Shear Rams) that failed to operate on the Deepwater Horizon, because its battery was flat, on all UK deepwater rigs.

“Requiring oil rigs to fi t an extra failsafe device, to cut and seal the pipes if a blowout occurs, is an option that must now be considered,” said Yeo.

Meanwhile, the US government is suing BP for the Gulf of Mexico spill, alleging violations of the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act.

“Under the Clean Water Act penalties of up to $4,300 per barrel can be imposed for the 4.9 million barrels spilled. Under the Oil Pollution Act, it can be made to pay for the damages of the spill including all clean-up costs,” comments environment lawyer James Thornton.

Subscribe

Subscribe to IEMA's newsletters to receive timely articles, expert opinions, event announcements, and much more, directly in your inbox.


Transform articles

UK’s CCUS strategy based on outdated assumptions, government warned

The UK government’s carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) strategy is based on optimistic techno-economic assumptions that are now outdated, Carbon Tracker has warned.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s latest Public Attitudes Tracker has found broad support for efforts to tackle climate change, although there are significant concerns that bills will rise.

13th March 2024

Read more

A consortium including IEMA and the Good Homes Alliance have drafted a letter to UK government ministers expressing disappointment with the proposed Future Homes Standard.

26th February 2024

Read more

Global corporations such as Amazon and Google purchased a record 46 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind energy last year, according to BloombergNEF (BNEF).

13th February 2024

Read more

Three-quarters of UK adults are concerned about the impact that climate change will have on their bills, according to polling commissioned by Positive Money.

13th February 2024

Read more

The reality of delivering net zero is that we need solutions tailored to specific areas. Peter Gudde explores models that local authorities could adopt

15th January 2024

Read more

Heat pump installations in UK homes increased by nearly a fifth last year, with over 200,000 now having been installed across the country.

11th January 2024

Read more

Last year was the warmest ever recorded, surpassing the previous annual high set in 2016 by a large margin, scientists have confirmed today.

9th January 2024

Read more

Media enquires

Looking for an expert to speak at an event or comment on an item in the news?

Find an expert

IEMA Cookie Notice

Clicking the ‘Accept all’ button means you are accepting analytics and third-party cookies. Our website uses necessary cookies which are required in order to make our website work. In addition to these, we use analytics and third-party cookies to optimise site functionality and give you the best possible experience. To control which cookies are set, click ‘Settings’. To learn more about cookies, how we use them on our website and how to change your cookie settings please view our cookie policy.

Manage cookie settings

Our use of cookies

You can learn more detailed information in our cookie policy.

Some cookies are essential, but non-essential cookies help us to improve the experience on our site by providing insights into how the site is being used. To maintain privacy management, this relies on cookie identifiers. Resetting or deleting your browser cookies will reset these preferences.

Essential cookies

These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website.

Analytics cookies

These cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors to our website and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works.

Advertising cookies

These cookies allow us to tailor advertising to you based on your interests. If you do not accept these cookies, you will still see adverts, but these will be more generic.

Save and close