Oil chiefs to give evidence in UK after BP spill fears

[maddezmom]

Source: The Telegraph

Tony Hayward, the chief executive of BP, and other oil bosses will be expected to give evidence to a new UK political inquiry into offshore deep-water drilling.

By Rowena Mason and Garry White
Published: 5:50AM BST 22 Jul 2010


Tim Yeo, the Conservative MP chairing the Energy and Climate Change Committee, will lead MPs investigating North Sea offshore drilling, asking "serious questions" about the oil companies' plans for dealing with spills, including key safety devices such as blowout preventers.

It would be "more than a disappointment" if BP were to fail to put its executives up for questioning, Mr Yeo said.

The summons comes as BP’s four biggest rivals launch a $1bn (£660m) joint venture to fund a new deepwater response system designed to prevent a repeat of the disasterous spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Last month, The Daily Telegraph revealed that Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell were drawing up a set of new safety rules to present to the US government in an effort to pre-empt damaging regulations being imposed upon them.

The four companies are thought to have agreed to fund 25pc each of a joint venture that will own high-tech equipment designed to cope with deepwater spills. The equipment will be shared and made available to all operators of deep-sea wells and used for rapid response to any accident.


Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7903310/Oil-chiefs-to-give-evidence-in-UK-after-BP-spill-fears.html

[dipsydoodle]

1. I'd suggest Yeo reads up on Piper Alpha as a starter.

Piper Alpha , from memory , was the most significant North sea disaster with 167 deaths.

This was the key part :

The fire would have burnt out were it not being fed with oil from both Tartan and the Claymore platforms, the resulting back pressure forcing fresh fuel out of ruptured pipework on Piper, directly into the heart of the fire. The Claymore continued pumping until the second explosion because the manager had no permission from the Occidental control centre to shut down. Also, the connecting pipeline to Tartan continued to pump, as its manager had been directed by his superior. The reason for this procedure was the exorbitant cost of such a shut down. It would have taken several days to restart production after a stop, with substantial financial consequences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Alpha

[Po_d Mainiac]

2. +1 Good additional info n/t

[fascisthunter]

3. Those Who Knowingly Invested in BP should be ashamed