The oil well and the damage done

BP counts the political and financial cost of Deepwater Horizon

A disaster as the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is not anymore the domain of a private company, an accident, but has been centered into the heart of the public domain, public governance and of public risk management. This story in The Economist share the common thoughts of what happened, what we feel today and shares some thoughts on what will come. It seems that we will enter a new era of public risk management.

The Economist:
““WHO cares, it’s done, end of story, will probably be fine.” Thus, in an e-mail, a manager at BP wrote of the decision to use only a few “centralisers” when cementing into place the pipe that ran from an oil reservoir 13,000 feet (4,000 metres) below the sea floor to Deepwater Horizon, the drilling rig floating 5,000 feet above it. The cement failed—considerably more likely with fewer centralisers, experts say—four days after the e-mail was sent, on April 20th. Oil and gas rushed up the well, dooming the rig and 11 of her crew. Two months on, after perhaps 3m barrels of oil have leaked into the Gulf of Mexico, the story has still not ended and a lot of people, from those who dwell on the gulf coast to the chief executive of BP and the president of the United States, care very much indeed.” Read more >


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