Why did BP have no plan B on oil leak?
AM I alone in my astonishment that oil companies such as BP appear to have no “plan B” in the event of a pipeline rupture on the sea bed?
As millions of barrels of crude oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico, engineers appeared to do little more than shrug bemusedly as they considered back-of-anenvelope proposals to stem the flow.
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Finally a giant plug-cumcap has been devised but there is no guarantee it will do the trick.
Meanwhile plans to drill a new bore into the oilfield to draw off the pressure are weeks away. It seems to me that governments need to insist that any drilling in their territorial waters be allowed only if the companiesconcerned have a ready-to-go emergency plan.
I’m hardly of an engineering bent but surely there could be an emergency floating drilling platform on standby to be towed immediately to the site of a leak and a tried-and-tested capping device ready and waiting at all times? A stitch in time saves shoreline.