Technology: Oil Firms Develop New Methods To Avoid Another BP Spill

As a result of the BP Deepwater Horizon rig explosion on April 20, 2010, new steps have been put in place to improve safety. Specifically, before obtaining permits from the Interior Department to drill in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, oil companies are now required to prove they have access to containment systems able to halt even a worst-case spill.

To meet Interior’s requirements, the oil and gas industry has been working to develop improved spill prevention, containment, and recovery plans. Last year, for example, ExxonMobil and four other major oil firms together invested $1 billion to establish the nonprofit Marine Well Containment Co. (MWCC), which has developed a new rapid response system that is now available to capture and contain oil in the event of another deepwater well blowout.

The MWCC containment system includes a “capping stack” of valves and pipes, controlled by underwater robots, that can be placed on top of a gushing well in 10,000 feet of water to stop oil flow. The equipment is capable of capturing 60,000 barrels of oil per day from a leaking well, roughly equivalent to the daily amount of crude that escaped from BP’s blown-out well.

Next year, MWCC will bring on-line an expanded well containment system that will have the capacity to capture up to 100,000 bbl of oil per day.

“If we all do our jobs properly, this system will never be used,” says Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of ExxonMobil. “The extensive experience of industry shows that when the focus remains on safe operations and risk management, tragic incidents like the [BP spill] should not occur.”