Publications

The Montara and Macondo oil spills by their unexpectedness and proximity in time have significantly changed the understanding on how oil spills occur and impact our society and environment. While spills from maritime transportation have a fixed volume, upstream spills can continue unabated until relief efforts are successful. Transportation oil spills have been subject to major scrutiny and initiatives over the last 25 years yet little attention has been given to the specific preparedness and response issues of an upstream incident. Globally, our industry faces increasing regulatory oversight due to environmental concerns as the search for new reserves moves into deeper water in more sensitive and often remote environments. The onus is on industry to demonstrate a preparedness and response capability that is sufficiently robust and adequate to deal with a well control incident and that not just meets but exceeds government and community expectations. E&P Operators are now preparing and responding to upstream well control incidents in a much different way. In terms of preparedness, this includes greater engagement with regulators through the planning 'life cycle', exercises that better integrate national and international resources and ongoing strengthening of ICS (Incident Command Structure) capability internally. For response, the activation of resources is occurring more quickly, is more extensive and the resources are being maintained on location for a longer period. Technology is being used to better monitor the status and fate of a spill as well as providing frequent updates to regulators and media. This presentation will provide an overview of the oil industry's response to Macondo and Montara with case studies to demonstrate how changes are occurring in practice.