Deepwater Horizon Case Study
In a narrative format, summarize the key facts and issues of the case.
The tragedy in the United State’s Mexican gulf led to a high degree of exposure of the organisms in the marine to toxic polyaromatic hydrocarbons that were in the crude oil. The Deepwater Horizon exploded in 2010, April 20th, where close to 5 million barrels were poured in the sea in ninety days (Beever & Hess, 2016). Several marine organisms were injured during the accident, while others were endangered following the explosion. On the rig, there were almost 126 individuals, where 28 employees were injured, and the other eleven were brutally injured. Seventeen other people were severely hurt following the explosion.
It was discovered that some weeks before the incident, the control switch had been bumped by a worker, where a portion of the pipe was moved through the BOP. Even though people were aware of the happening, nothing was done to fix the problem to avoid the occurrence of an accident like the one that happened later. British Petroleum did not do a thorough negative pressure test (Incardona & Scholz, 2018). After the first two tests, it appeared like the staff of Halliburton, BP, and Transocean were somewhat confused on the reading. Some staff members suggested that the readings were false.
Upon perpetrating the third test, the crew stated that the increase in the pressure indicated that there was truly a leak. The feeder presented a normal pressure. The staff of British Petroleum (BP), however, concluded that there were no leaks in the system. Later, they discovered the revolutions being speed up by the generators, where there was also a dangerous gas cloud around the rig. Hours later, there was violent shaking. The problem that occurred could have been evaded if British Petroleum had ensured that the cementing process and the BOP had been developed correctly (Inacrdona & Scholz, 2018). BP could have also made sure that the tests were conducted accurately. The assumptions that were made were wrong.
Update the information in the case by researching it on the Internet. Focus your response on the specific issues in the case
The Deepwater Horizon calamity was the greatest marine oil spill that the United States had experienced as of 2010. When the estimates were revised by engineering teams and federal science, it was reached that from 20th April to July, barrels that spilled into the Gulf ranged from 53000 to 62000 (Beever & Hess, 2016). The disaster was surprising, mostly because it involved an organization like British Petroleum. Many of the disasters regarding the oil spill have concentrated on the particular things that led to the spill, how responsibility is apportioned. Turtles, fish, birds that were soaked in oil and wildlife were washing up onshore. In 2011, it was reported that 335 bottlenose dolphins died since, after the oil spill, they started dying twice the normal rate.
The weaknesses in the Gulf oil drilling structure show that the accident was inevitable. British Petroleum has been punished for assorted crimes and environmental damage. The organization has paid $5.5 billion as penalties per the civil Clean Water Act. The organization has also paid 15 billion dollars for the damage that the spill caused to the environment.
Oil started to be removed manually as it was contaminating the beaches in Louisiana. Many of the efforts of cleaning up the beach were perpetrated by the National Response Team together with the Environmental Protection Agency. The administration of Barack Obama set new rules for offshore gas and oil drilling in 2016 (Gam et al. 2018). The regulations called for stricter inspections.
Was the Deepwater Horizon accident a problem associated more with cost-cutting or with a faulty process safety culture?
The problem that occurred with the Deepwater Horizon was mostly as an implication of cost-cutting and also a defective process safety culture. The oil spill that occurred in the gulf was not avoidable as it was as a result of decisions for cutting costs that were made by British Petroleum and its partners. The blow out in the gulf resulted from the systematic failure at Transocean, BP, and Halliburton. Many of the decisions that the firm took on the drilling of the Deepwater Horizon rig before the accident that ensued in 2010 (Beever & Hess, 2016). The companies made decisions that would save them money and time.
Additionally, the company failed in enforcing the proper controls that were effective in managing the risks that had increased. The firm did not have enough controls to ensure that the decisions that were made would be sound and safe from the perspective of engineering. The disaster that happened would not have occurred if the organizations in question would have been guided by safety first slogan. Halliburton had done a faulty job on cementing and were responsible for the misreading of pressure task that showed that the well had not been sealed well. There was no suggestion that BP performed a disciplined and formal analysis of the combined implication of the risk factors.
What impact did BP’s strategy have on the crisis?
The implication of the strategy of BP on the crisis was vast. The CEO of British Petroleum tried to evade that the firm was to blame for the accident that happened. The executives of BP presented that it was not their accident. Hayward blamed their contractors. This made the firm appear more callous and arrogant. The case is an example that decision making in an organization during a crisis should be grounded on ethical principles like responsibility and accountability. Even though the firm changed its name in 2001 to BP, Americans till perceive it as an international organization even though there are just as many British stakeholders as there are Americans.
The organization has poor crisis management, together with PR prowess. The firm began to lose its reputation when there was a lack of communication with the media. The company had no choice but to try to make things right. The company aired multi-million-dollar national TV as a way of making things right. However, President Obama stated that the money that they used on the advertisements would have been used in compensating and cleanup the devastated small business owners and the fishermen (Raimondo et al. 2020). The ad showed that the firm did not even follow its inside guidelines for controlling the damage following the accident. The manner in which BP handled the crisis will be remembered as an example of ways that people make situations worse.
Assume the role of Tony Hayward’s successor as CEO of BP. What steps would you take to address the crisis and rebuild BP’s reputation?
If I was the CEO of the firm, is to admit that the crisis had already occurred and that BP was to blame. It would be important to ensure that the firm was in constant communication with the media and that there was transparent communication. It would be critical to give condolences to all the people who had been affected by the spill. Unlike Hayward being arrogant and denying the responsibility of the crisis as it would implicate the firm even more. I would also ensure that from that point onwards, tests would be done efficiently, and I would also avoid taking the easy way out to cut on costs. It would be imperative to engage people in social media to make sure that the reputation of the company would be back to where it was in the past. Involving other people in the process of coming up with a solution would be critical as the firm will be able to move forward. By doing what is right, it is an indication that the firm has learned from the crisis.
References
Beever, J., & Hess, J. L. (2016). Deepwater Horizon oil spill: An ethics case study in environmental engineering. American Society for Engineering Education.
Gam, K. B., Engel, L. S., Kwok, R. K., Curry, M. D., Stewart, P. A., Stenzel, M. R., … & Sandler, D. P. (2018). Association between Deepwater Horizon oil spill response and cleanup work experiences and lung function. Environment international, 121, 695-702.
Incardona, J. P., & Scholz, N. L. (2018). Case study: The 2010 deepwater horizon oil spill and its environmental, developmental impacts. In Development and Environment (pp. 235-283). Springer, Cham.
Raimondo, S., Awkerman, J. A., Yee, S., & Barron, M. G. (2020). Case Study: Using a Combined Laboratory, Field, and Modeling Approach to Assess Oil Spill Impacts. In Scenarios and Responses to Future Deep Oil Spills (pp. 272-284). Springer, Cham.