BP works to clean up more than just oil

By Megan Roiz

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, causing an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. After burning for approximately 36 hours, the rig sank on the morning of April 22.

At the time of the explosion, Transocean, the world’s largest off-shore drilling contractor, owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig which was under lease to BP from March 2008 to September 2013. The rig was drilling a well at a water depth of approximately 5,000 feet in the Macondo Prospect 41 miles off of the coast of Louisiana.

Until a cap placed on the wellhead on July 15 halted the leak, roughly sixty thousand barrels, or 2.5 million gallons, gushed into the Gulf each day. The explosion killed 11 platform workers, injured 17 others and has since endangered at least 400 wildlife species.

Efforts to remove the oil from the water included burning it, filtering off-shore and collecting it for later processing. A government report on August 4 stated that three-fourths of the oil had been cleaned up, dispersed or eliminated by other means.

Toward the end of March and early April, several platform workers and supervisors expressed concerns about well control. BP executives either ignored these concerns or failed to take action quickly enough to avoid accidents. This negligence has led the U.S. Government to name BP the responsible party, and since have committed to hold the company accountable for all cleanup costs and other damages.

Gene Beck, an LSU graduate with a degree in Petroleum Engineering and Associate Professor in the Petroleum Engineering program at A&M, has been involved in the industry for more than 25 years. Having held jobs as a drilling engineer, an on-site drilling supervisor, and various management positions, Beck uses his expertise in the field to counsel and advise authorities on the spill.

While the BP oil crisis is the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, Beck believes the industry will recover quickly, but that many new regulations will be implemented in order to prevent and prepare for future crises.

“Other geographic areas, particularly onshore, will also be impacted by a strict regulatory environment,” Beck said.

David Vaucher, a Rice graduate with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, said, “It is looking very likely that the government will push for more regulations in drilling offshore. These regulations could include more physical barriers to stop the escape of oil into the Gulf, like we saw with BP and the Macondo well.”

Vaucher is a technical advisor for TAM International, a Texas A&M founded oilfield service company. TAM is a leading supplier of port collars, swellable packers and associated services.

Though a packer is used for many different applications, it is generally thought of as a plug.

Vaucher said, “These tools are used in oil and gas fields for everything from drilling to production and work over of a well.”

Vaucher, who believes that TAM International will actually see an increase in business, is mostly concerned about perception when it comes to the results of the oil crisis in the Gulf.

“After the blowout, an overzealous media and politicians eager for re-election jumped on the chance to be seen as fighting on the side of the people.

“In my opinion, they gave very biased and uneducated views to a public whose knowledge of the intricacies of oil and gas exploration is, at best, limited,” Vaucher said. “The fact is this: people rely on hydrocarbons far more than they realize. Renewable energies are still expensive, and the infrastructure to provide those on a large scale is not yet in place.”

If the public begins favoring restrictions on drilling and exploration, that will result in changing our way of life, or increasing dependence on foreign oil.

“Neither of which people find desirable,” Vaucher said.

Texas A&M University, as most know, has a rather large Petroleum Engineering program.

Beck said, “The University will probably end up doing research to help prevent blowouts as well as devising new ways to contain and remediate oil spills.”

“The expertise that resides in the University can definitely assist in preventing future accidents like the Deepwater Horizon blowout and spill,” he said. “Our students and faculty will benefit over the long run.”

Vaucher said, “This one isolated incident should not cause people to lose sight of the fact that finding new sources of domestic energy and working responsibly should and have always gone hand in hand.”

“Everyone, not just engineering students, needs to understand that their actions can have a very real impact, either positive or negative. Individual choices do matter, and we all need to take ownership of those choices,” Beck said. “I think the industry now realizes that these kinds of events can happen, and everyone needs to increase their diligence at all times while working on critical wells.”