Accountability in the

Oil Industry

 

Recognized as the world's largest economic sector, Oil & Gas is also one of the most high profile. When the industry suffers an environmental disaster on the scale of the Macondo Blowout of 2010, the credibility of the entire industry is called into question.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yet input from several major industry stakeholders confirms they are working together to ensure that credibility remains intact.  Brazil’s Petrobras and Texas’ Schlumberger are using their reputations for safety and reliability to improve industry perception.

 

Amidst expanding trade relations, Texas and Brazil share a solid identity in the oil and gas sector.  Where Texas proved an early leader in oil exploration, Brazil now stands as the largest offshore market in the world and one of the most attractive in terms of services to the industry. 

 

Together, these market leaders have stepped up to reassure the world that such disasters can be avoided.  "We have the tools at our disposal to guard against future disasters like Macondo," stated Mr. Tad Patzek, chairman of the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. 

 

The tools used by Petrobras follow the industry’s latest safety practices and incorporate experience gained throughout its successful history of oil exploration and production. In addition to maintaining its own structure for response to emergency oil leaks, Petrobras, as a member of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP), has blocking equipment at its disposal that can be mobilized in underwater wells in the event of a blowout.  Further, the company shared that its ocean drilling units also come equipped with protection systems, which can activate immediate well shut-off. To mitigate human error, Petrobras confirmed that people working in critical activities on the drilling platforms are internationally certified by the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC).

 

“Operational safety is of highest priority for the Brazilian government in all activities related to oil & gas,” confirmed Roberto Furian Ardenghy, Brazil's deputy consul general. Added ANP Director General, Magda Chambriard, “Brazil’s operational safety regulation was enacted pre-Macondo, back in 2007 after comprehensive research of various regulations world-wide and is considered to be the most modern in the industry.”

 

With these types of proactive measures in place long before Macondo alongside Petrobras’ development of leading safety technologies, Brazil continues to leverage its expertise to maintain accountability and credibility in the oil and gas industry.