A repeat of the Gulf of Mexico environmental disaster is possible in the North Sea, an oil industry watchdog has said.
Research carried out by
PLATFORM, which works to reduce the
environmental and social impacts of
oil corporations, has concluded the
Deepwater Horizon disaster could be repeated in British waters, unless current policies are changed. The Deepwater Horizon oil leak caused the worse environmental catastrophe in US history last year.
PLATFORM’s report 'Off the Deep End – Foreign Policy and the Dash for Offshore Oil and Gas’ warns that despite last year’s disaster, the oil industry is looking to drill in deeper, more hazardous waters off the British coast. Meanwhile, it says abandoned wells and ageing infrastructure are making the North Sea "one of the most contaminated maritime areas of the world".
The research appears to call into question the findings of the Energy and Climate Change Committee, which last week opposed any moratorium on deep water drilling for oil in the UK's seas, warning such a move would undermine the country's energy security.
Health and safety
Despite pledges by the UK Government to tighten up health and safety inspections, 'Off the Deep End’ claims "significant capacity shortfalls" in British Government inspection agencies and highlights key areas where failing
regulatory oversight could allow future disasters in Scottish and English waters.
The UK Government claims to have one of the most robust safety and environmental regulatory regimes in the world. However, following last year’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it announced it would increase the number of inspections of North Sea drilling rigs and launched a new industry group to look at the UK’s ability to prevent and respond to oil spills.
US investigation
PLATFORM’s investigation results are being highlighted as the White House carries out an oil commission investigation into the Deepwater Horizon spill. Tomorrow it will warn that without a major shift in corporate practice such a disaster would likely recur because of industry complacency.
The US National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling concludes that the root causes of the disaster were "systemic", that most of the mistakes could be traced back to "a failure of management".
"We now know just how fatally flawed BP's standard risk assessment was for Macondo, and thereby for all its other major capital projects," said James Marriott of PLATFORM and one of the report contributors. "We need to be assured that future drilling by any oil company does not pose serious threats to workers’ lives, communities' livelihoods and the environment."
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