Well safety in spotlight as oil leaks from rig

摘要

The owner of Deepwater Horizon has told SASI that criticism of blow-out prevention equipment on its oil rigs in recent years has no bearing on the catastrophe that befell the rig on 20 April. The semi-submersible rig sank on 22 April after an explosion, creating an enormous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to which, as SASI went to press, the authorities appeared to have no immediate solution. The UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has previously criticised Deepwater Horizon owner Transocean over testing of blow-out prevention (BOP) equipment that the company had used on rigs in the North Sea, issuing improvement notices to the company's Transocean Offshore (North Sea) subsidiary in 2005 and 2006.