Oil giants prepare spill contingency plans
A coalition of energy companies is spending $1 billion to develop spill-response plans and set up containment equipment in the Gulf of Mexico.
The coalition comprises Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron. The four companies are among the world’s largest private energy producers, and all have drilling operations in the Gulf. Notably, though, the largest Gulf driller – BP – is not included in the coalition.
There are questions about BP’s competence as an offshore driller, and it may not even be allowed to return to Gulf drilling following the Deepwater Horizon debacle. The company has been faulted in the past for noncompliance with safety rules, and in the wake of the ongoing spill, regulators could simply pull the plug on the company’s offshore drilling permits.
The four oil companies working on contingency measures are creating a nonprofit, dubbed the Marine Well Containment Corp., to manage the spill-containment system that they are developing. The system will, the companies hope, be able to capture 100,000 barrels of oil per day in water up to 10,000 feet deep.
The Macondo well that was connected to the Deepwater Horizon, by contrast, is just 5,000 feet deep. It’s releasing an estimated 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil daily.
The oil giants’ backup plans come as debate over the spill moves into the political realm. As ABC News reports this week, spill-related rhetoric is appearing in a number of campaigns – even those outside oil-producing regions. Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Paul Hodes of New Hampshire, for example, stated his support for a ban on offshore drilling in New England, even though the ban has been in place there for some time.
"I will … never support lifting the ban on offshore drilling in New England, which provides an essential safeguard for our Seacoast region," he said.
Related posts:
- Fallout from oil spill may challenge energy companies The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico should be...
- House, Senate develop tougher offshore drilling rules Separate bills introduced in the House and Senate Tuesday would...
- Oil spill results in Congressional inquest, presidential rebuke The oil spill caused by the explosion and sinking of...
- Obama, pressured by public, expresses outrage over oil spill President Barack Obama has been too cool and collected about...
- Spill’s effects may be long-lasting for Gulf Coast residents BP should cap the well spewing oil into the Gulf...
