Royal Dutch Shell, the massive multinational oil company, badly wants to be ready to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean next summer. This year, the company's plans to begin drilling in the treacherous seas of the Arctic were thwarted by its late start and repeated failures to get even basic oil spill response equipment into place.
But the full extent of the company's failed attempts to test oil spill response gear was recently revealed by Seattle's NPR radio affiliate KUOW. Shell has faced repeated criticism and regulatory scrutiny over its cavalier attitude towards Arctic drilling, and the KUOW investigation makes clear why Shell is not "Arctic Ready" by a long shot.
Documents obtained by KUOW through FOIA requests indicate that Shell's oil spill response gear failed spectacularly in tests this fall in the relatively tranquil waters of Puget Sound.
The containment dome - which Shell sought to assure federal regulators would be adequate to cap a blowout in the event of emergency at its Arctic operations - failed miserably in tests. The dome "breached like a whale" after malfunctioning, and then sank 120 feet. When the crew of the Arctic Challenger recovered the 20-foot-tall containment dome, they found that it had "crushed like a beer can" under pressure.
That was the embarrassing news that emerged from documents released through FOIA from the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which required the tests of Shell's proposed oil spill response system.
Environmentalist Todd Guiton sums up the implications of the failed tests on Shell's plans to drill in the Arctic:
"It failed under very calm, tranquil conditions in the best time of year up here in the Pacific Northwest. If it can’t handle the best we have here, I really have my doubts it can handle even a little adversity in the Arctic."
Federal regulators are reviewing the wisdom of Shell's Arctic adventure, and are calling for more real-world testing in the Arctic Ocean to see how the oil spill response gear would stand up to extreme conditions.
Besides the horrifying prospect of an out-of-control oil disaster in the far north, why would the Obama administration want to flirt with catastrophe in the Arctic when there is (supposedly) a huge oil boom going on in the Lower 48 anyway? If there really is such a glut of recoverable oil in unconventional shale plays via fracking, then why would the U.S. or any other nation allow Big Oil to rush into the Arctic?
If Shell is this ill-prepared to operate critical safety equipment in the calm waters of Washington State, then they clearly have no business drilling for oil in the Arctic. 
Photo Credit: BSEE, via KUOW FOIA
Democracy is utterly dependent upon an electorate that is accurately informed. In promoting climate change denial (and often denying their responsibility for doing so) industry has done more than endanger the environment. It has undermined democracy.
There is a vast difference between putting forth a point of view, honestly held, and intentionally sowing the seeds of confusion. Free speech does not include the right to deceive. Deception is not a point of view. And the right to disagree does not include a right to intentionally subvert the public awareness.
ExxonMobil would sure like you to think that everything is just fine down in Mayflower, Arkansas. That the roughly 5,000 barrel tar sands crude spill was regrettable, but the town will be soon restored to its unspoiled state. That, in terms of clean up, they’re totally on it.
I mean, just look at their workers scrubbing away on the oiled ducks and turtles in this sleek little video:
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Comments
Good lord
This is an insane story. Can't believe it did not get a ton more press!
I am going to push this story hard to everyone and anyone that will listen.
I have to agree...
There's an image these days that big companies can succeed with with difficult projects. The oil industry works really hard at maintianing this image.
My experience is that this is rarely true. Heck, many oil majors have eliminated R&D because they realize that they simply can't do it very well.
I have to agree...
There's an image these days that big companies can succeed with with difficult projects. The oil industry works really hard at maintianing this image.
My experience is that this is rarely true. Heck, many oil majors have eliminated R&D because they realize that they simply can't do it very well.
It is a blind faith
Funny. Was just thinking about this. Why is there such blind faith in the power and abilities of the private sector?
That was
really piss-poor engineering!
Geez.
Don't be so hard on them...
This is tough stuff. The environment they are operating in is high pressure (Submarines are for wusses who can't handle high pressure), high temperature (Space is for wusses who can't handle harsh environments) and high shock (Military work is for wusses who can't handle harsh environments). All that is before you get into Carbolic Acid, and cavitation.
For me the take home lesson is that they aren't ready yet. (Whether Shell can do it with the team it has is certainly questionable...)
My experience in the industry is that if your people can't understand this stuff from first principles, then they will likely fail. Most enigneers these days aren't that good.