Deepwater drilling will never be risk-free

APRIL 20 marks the fifth anniversary of the landmark Deepwater Horizon disaster which saw millions of gallons of crude oil leak into the Gulf of Mexico. The massive spill easily exceeded that of the 1989 Exxon Valdez debacle, the previous worst US oil catastrophe, and resulted in the deaths of 11 people, affected large stretches of US coastline, and killed or harmed many thousands of birds, sea turtles and marine mammals such as dolphins.

The disaster received massive global attention, and the subsequent regulatory and political backlash was, in some respects, a watershed moment for the industry. Soon afterwards, for instance, several countries including the United States, Canada and Norway declared moratoriums on deepwater drilling.

Moreover, only earlier this month, the Obama administration proposed new rules that would require so-called blow-out preventers in wells to have two shear rams which cut through the drill pipe and allow a well to be sealed. At Deepwater Horizon, a single shear ram is believed to have failed to operate properly. Washington is also proposing annual review of maintenance and repair records by government-approved inspectors.