Oil Drilling Safety Neglected for Too Long

After the explosion of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, oil continues to flow from the seabed 1500 feet below. New oil fields are being built deep at sea, far from any landmass. As a result of neglecting safety, the development of oil fields on the ocean floor has come to a dead end.

The explosion occurred on April 20 — three weeks after President Obama unveiled plans to expand offshore drilling for oil and gas. Certain members of the ruling Democratic Party who had been supporters of the policy have backtracked, and revisions to the bill that are necessary for expanded drilling are now in jeopardy.

The developer of the maritime oil field, British oil giant BP, switched management in 2007 after incidents that included an explosion at a Texas oil refinery and an accident at an Alaskan oil pipeline. When he assumed office, CEO Tony Hayward said he would manage the company with “safety and reliability.” The Democrats, feeling that promise was betrayed, were bound to rise in opposition.

It was 80 kilometers off the coast of Louisiana. The semi-submersible offshore oil rig exploded, rupturing the pipeline running along the sea floor. The flow of oil has reached 5,000 barrels a day. Because the oil slick has made landfall, oyster and shrimp farming has been banned, and the local economy has begun to be seriously impacted.

As efforts to place a giant box over the rupture and siphon the oil off in that way have failed, it is said that repairs will take another three months. Moreover, what has surprised specialists in oil field development is that the safety valve meant to prevent an eruption of crude oil did not function properly.

World crude production is approximately 87 million barrels a day. Large producers such as Saudi Arabia extract it mainly from land, but since land drilling is now unable to keep up with demand, almost a third of oil production depends on offshore drilling. One-tenth of that represents deep sea oil fields at depths greater than 300 meters. Multiple safety measures should have been required, but it is doubtful that the head of BP’s had laid out “reliable” plans.

Quite the opposite. At a hearing before the House of Representatives, the management of BP and of the company contracted for the drilling blamed each other for trying to secure vast sums in compensation. It has also emerged that the responsible organs of the U.S. Department of the Interior allowed the drilling to take place without following the necessary legal procedures.

It must be said that those who pollute the ocean and put the ecosystem in jeopardy while prioritizing their own profits are not qualified to assume responsibility for offshore oil drilling.

Japan has also begun offshore oil drilling off the coast of the Sakhalin Islands in cooperation with Russia and Europe. If an oil spill were to happen there, Hokkaido fisheries would face serious damage.

We ought to learn from the heavy oil spill caused by the Russian-registered Nakhodka tanker in the Sea of Japan in 1997 and anticipate emergencies by preparing oil fences and oil recovery systems.