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Back to Petroleum

BP is about to live a PR nightmare:

The company has also spent a lot of time and money convincing political leaders that offshore drilling is clean, safe, and environmentally friendly — while at the same time actually fighting against safety measures that might have prevented the horror in the Gulf. Last September, David Rainey, a vice president at BP America in charge of Gulf of Mexico exploration, appeared before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to assure legislators that new technology enables “safe and reliable production” of offshore oil and gas and that “any release from our operations is unacceptable” and “rare.”

But the Deepwater rig lacked a remote-control shut-off switch, a backup system that would close the underwater well even if the rig above were destroyed, as happened two weeks ago. Norway and Brazil require this added precaution for rigs off their coasts, but it is voluntary in the United States. In 2003, the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service considered mandating the devices, but decided against it under pressure from oil companies that complained that the $500,000 devices were too burdensome.