Question

BP and deepwater horizon disaster of 2010:

1. why did the deepwater horizon disaster happen? .

2. In order to prevent (or at least mitigate) the Deepwater Horizon disaster, who should have done what, when, where, and why? Who should have stepped up to stop this disaster?

3. If you are a new CEO of BP, what would you do in the short- and long-term to change the company’s culture and organizational design?

Answer 1

1.The blowout and oil spill on the Deepwater Horizonin the Gulf of Mexico was caused by a flawed well plan that did not include enough cement between the 7-inch production casing and the 9 7/8-inch protection casing. The presumed blowout preventer (BOP) failure is an important but secondary issue.

2. The commission’s investigators said BP workers failed to ask a knowledgeable company engineer who was visiting the rig about unexpected results from a critical negative pressure test on the rig.
If anyone had consulted him or any other shore-based engineer, the blowout might never have happened

The rig crew’s misreading of that pressure test and the decision to move ahead with temporary abandonment of BP’s Macondo well was a major catalyst for the April 20 rig explosion that eventually unleashed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Had BP’s well site leaders brought their faulty explanation of the test results to either of the visiting engineers, events likely would have turned out differently.

3. If I'm a new CEO BP, I would preside an organisational culture that sanctions risk-free actions, seeks expert advice , considers warnings about safety issues and hid facts. I would recognize when a crisis can't be spun and act accordingly, most likely tackle it head on. I would pay responsibility for my actions and won't shift the blame , or blame others for what is done. Instead , I would conduct safety checks more frequently and be more cautious about how things work there.

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