Is it unfair to tar all oil drillers with the same brush? | The Oil and the Glory

And what about the equipment that is already deployed around the world -- blowout preventers? Three weeks ago, we had an Interior Department report by Det Norske Veritas that this last-stand technology -- a piece of equipment that the industry has trotted out for years as the fail-safe reason no one should fret over drilling anywhere in the world -- in fact does not work under severe stress. At Macondo, Det Norske said, the blowout bent the well pipe, and pushed it out of position. So when the sheers were activated, they couldn't close entirely. Most of the oil flowed through a resulting 1.4-inch opening. It turns out that the just-below-the-radar industry secret is that blowout preventers are largely for show -- it is widely understood that the apparatus may or may not work in a pinch.

What else is for show only? The BP blowout just showed the "emperor wore no clothes".

Is the industry suggesting that it should go back to work without a reliable blowout preventer? Interestingly, the answer is yes. Gary Luquette, Chevron's president for North America exploration and production, has said he hopes the report on the Macondo blowout preventer doesn't halt the permitting process. He says "the best way to deal with a blowout is never to have one." Well, that's certainly true.

It was certainly true that BP knew they drilling into a fragile faulted Salt intrusive Geology and they could have chosen a safer location like at Relief Well C location and still reach their target. So why did BP continue to press on a 3rd risky well after two disastrous attempts at well A and Well B?

It was certainly true that BP knew there was a lot of shallow gas and methane hydrate and the risk of shallow gas (never mind the deep reservoir influx); So why did BP still did not insist on beefing up disaster prevention measures - like making sure the Gas diverter, fire alarm and fire fighting system, BOP and all their critical fail-safe equipment to be in tip-top condition etc when drilling into such a high risk well? Instead, when they found out that Transocean had not maintained their BOP for the last few years ...? ... BP instead of insisting a maintenance overhaul, ignored even a simple battery check.

You certainly do not go into battle when your guns are faulty. Suicide Mission would be too kind to describe it as it would mean sacrificing lives for a justifiable cause. An planned disaster for windfalls would be a better description. If it was destined to fail or blow up why remove the red herring?

Let the investigators expend all their energies on the Useless BOP instead of the true causes.