Courtesy of USCG PO3 Patrick Kelley
Health, safety and environment (HSE) workers contracted by BP clean up oil on a beach in Port Fourchon, La., May 23, 2010.
At approximately 9:45 p.m. on April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank. The explosion, caused by a blowout of the well, eventually resulted in the largest marine oil spill in history. The wellhead was successfully capped on July 15, 2010, and the oil stopped gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. A relief well successfully completed on Sept. 19, 2010, and the well was officially declared “effectively dead.”
In all, 4.2 to 4.9 million barrels of oil entered the Gulf of Mexico over the four-month period. Tens of thousands of workers, on land and on the water, attempted to contain the spill. Much of it was captured through containment systems, burning or skimming. Some of the oil evaporated, and some was naturally or chemically dispersed. Estimates agree that at least 25 percent of the oil still remains somewhere at sea or onshore.
Many workers toiled to minimize the damage to wildlife along the upper coastal wetlands, estuaries and beaches. Much marine life, both plant and animal, was destroyed or damaged. For example, 200 dolphins were found dead from the spill. While experts debate the degree of damage to the environment, the full extent of the ecological damage may not be know for years, if ever.
Government response to the tragedy was immediate and protracted. On April 22, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) launched an investigation into the cause of the explosion. On April 30, President Barack Obama placed a moratorium on all deepwater drilling activity.
On June 18, 2010, Obama and Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued a mandate to reform the government’s regulation of offshore energy development and created the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) as the agency responsible for it, reinventing the MMS. The Obama administration launched the most aggressive and comprehensive reforms to offshore oil and gas regulation and oversight in U.S. history. The reforms — which strengthen requirements for everything from well design and workplace safety to corporate accountability, and particularly the design and function of a blowout scenario — are helping ensure that the United States can safely and responsibly expand development of its energy resources.
The drilling moratorium was lifted on Oct. 12, 2010, and on Feb. 28, 2011, BOEMRE awarded the first post-BP spill deepwater drilling permit to Noble Energy to continue drilling on an already permitted well. On March 30, Shell Oil was granted the first new deepwater drilling permit since the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
To date, 54 deepwater drilling permit applications for activities that are subject to BOEMRE’s new safety and environmental requirements have been submitted. Of these, 24 have been returned with requests for additional information, particularly concerning subsea containment. Fifteen have been approved for 10 unique wells, and 14 are pending. It appears that the United States is back in the business of deepwater oil extraction in the Gulf of Mexico under new and more stringent safety requirements.
However, we may have forgotten one very important exception to safe drilling: We are not alone in the Gulf. Cuba believes it has major oil reserves off its coast in the Florida Straits. It is possible that soon foreign oil firms, including those from China, Venezuela, Malaysia, Vietnam, Canada and Brazil, will be actively drilling as close as 50 miles from parts of Florida, and under much looser constraints than if they were regulated by the United States. Exploratory drilling will soon take place 20 miles north of Havana by a consortium led by the Spanish oil firm Repsol, working with India’s state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. Other exploratory drilling in the portion of the Gulf under Cuba’s economic and regulatory control is anticipated in 2011. A possible Cuban oil spill, given Gulf currents, could easily spoil Florida beaches and shore areas.
Because of a 48-year-old embargo against Cuba, American oil companies are not only barred from drilling, they cannot even come to the aid of Cuba in the event of a major oil spill. Some obviously question the wisdom of maintaining the embargo policy while other countries are taking a piece of the Cuban action. Some lawmakers maintain that Cuba is our enemy, while others urge that an exception be made in the embargo. It is obvious that for our own interests, our Cuban policy should be actively under review by the Obama administration. The United States needs to be self sufficient in energy and permit itself to be a full partner in the energy resources of the Gulf of Mexico. I believe that the cold war embargo against Cuba is anachronistic and should be seriously reconsidered in light of these and other economic and political realities emerging as the world around us changes.
Ronald L. Sass, Ph.D., is the fellow in global climate change at the Baker Institute and the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Natural Sciences emeritus at Rice University. He has consulted for the Environmental Protection Agency and advised the United Nations Development Programme Interregional Research Program on methane emission from rice fields in Asia. Sass has also received the Rice University Award of Highest Merit, the Rice University Alumni Association Meritorious Service Award and the Rice University Alumni Association Gold Medal of Honor.