Knowledge of a BP oil rig fault is alleged to be weeks before the spill
Possibly the biggest environmental disaster of the year, BP’s Gulf of Mexico’s oil spill, will go down in history as a balls up of monumental proportions irrespective of whatever additional information glugs it’s way to the murky surface over the coming months. However, the news that a Deepwater Horizon rig worker has told the BBC that he had informed the company of a leak weeks before the blowout that caused the spill adds even more weight to the terrible publicity BP are facing in the fallout of the disaster.
Whether the whistleblower’s statements prove to be correct or not, the reality is that the oil spill is a terrible injustice that has been wreaked upon the wildlife, businesses and people affected by the disaster.
In addition to the effects on others, the oil spill has also had a massive negative impact on BP. The cost of the cleanup is now up to $2 billion, and there’s the lost production to take into account as well as the negative PR that they will face over the coming years. I don’t doubt for a second that there are plenty of people out there that will be boycotting BP petrol stations and shares as a result of the disaster. On top of this there will be legal costs to take into account and the possibility of new laws that will ensure higher levels of safety on deep sea oil rigs inevitably increasing the cost of oil extraction.
The BP oil spill should go out as a case study for all businesses, especially those undertaking potentially volatile projects, that the results of disasters like this are large, long lasting and life threatening. They are to be avoided, no matter what the cost.
How the US government will react to this news is yet to be seen, but they have already banned drilling once. Despite the fact that the moratorium was overturned by the courts, a new ban could still become a reality in the Gulf of Mexico.
For more information about the BP spill, visit – https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10362139.stm
