The "blowout preventer" is supposed to be the fail-safe system that closes a series of valves to prevent oil from "gushing" out in event of an emergency. It appears to have a level of "redundancy" built in. However, such systems are only as good as implementation of procedures for monitoring and inspections so that the system will actually function. Not mich has come oout publicly, but it appears that BP management has informed the reguylators etc in USA about some "failings" and it also appears that there were abnormal conditions several hours prior to the explosion. I presume all will be known in the fullness of time. For details of blowout preventers, refer to:- http://www.bp.com/generi...57&contentId=7061989

There is an interactive guide on the BBC website regarding the sequence of events--useful and graphic! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/..._and_canada/10317116.stm

Thanks for some great links Jay. For those unfamiliar with blowouts, here's another website detailing one that happened in the Timor Sea between Australia and Indonesia beginning last August, http://www.coogeeresourc..._mediareleases_step3.asp It took until November to complete the relief well, and then until January to complete the plugging operation - and they had a surface platform to work from, though you can see from the photos that it and the cantilevered jack-up drill rig were both severely damaged by the fire which occurred during the kill operation.

It will be interesting to learn about the details of the outcome of the proceedings when BP bosses appear before the US Congressional Committee today. The Committee's investigation is raising serious questions about the decisions made by BP in the days and hours before the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon. The allegations are that BP: #Went against the advice of its own plan review regarding the well's design and chose a riskier, cheaper and quicker casing option #Used only six centralisers to make sure the casing ran down the centre of the well bore, rather than the 21 recommended by sub-contractor Halliburton #Rejected warnings by its own plan review and Halliburton in preparations for a cementing job #Decided to forego a recommended safety step in the circulation of drilling mud #Did not deploy a "lockdown sleeve" that would have prevented the seal from being blown out from below refer to the link below for details:- http://thehill.com/blogs...xman-and-rep-bart-stupak

I watched Tony Hayward live on BBC 24 yesterday evening for about 20 minutes; far more gripping than some of the footie matches. I wish I had recorded some of it; it would make a great awareness video for the execs and the kind of squirmy questions that a barrister would throw at them across a court room. There must be something on YouTube I can download...

The entire 9 hour video, transcripts etc of yesterday's proceeding are at:- http://energycommerce.ho...stigations&Itemid=73 All evidence etc. and all hearings by the same committee since the blow out are at:- http://energycommerce.ho...advisories&Itemid=55

It is reported that BP have coughed up 8 billion dollars in costs so far with the deepwater horizon calamity. Was its possibly cutting corners on safety aspects................probably......... time will tell..............was the decisions made by Coporate still making money of course they have been doing business this way for donkeys years......... and are probably sitting with 120 billion or more in the treasure/war chest because of it. What of the eleven lives that were lost....was consideration given to those workers at the time of decision making .........yes...........risk assessment?? .....nothing has gone wrong previously why should it go wrong now? maybe ............dispensible commodities.......of course......no sentiment in business I am told. I think the reality is that these risks will continue to be taken, unless BP becomes a bench mark for others to beware........but I dont think so.........we ( the governments of the world, courts etc) dont want them out of business do we ?? its the way of business. Wizard

Having worked with the drilling contractor some time ago although not on this particular drilling unit it may take some time to actually conclude the root causes. The oil company has ultimate overall responsibility of the operation and in many cases hires consultant engineers (or company men) but not saying this is the case with this incident! The BOP and equipment is owned and maintained by the contractor, although the client is normally stringent in ensuring the critical safety equipment is up to the job and normally hires 3rd party inspections as part of their pre contract requirements. In this day and age... the well may be pre planned from shore based engineers but updates and consultation is normally by the hour... even in remote locations Also i didn't see any indication of hydracarbons being detected in the returns (drilling fluid) which is also an early sign of potential problems.. even possibly prior to the stage of production casing being inserted down the well. Such equipment is both sensative and with experienced rig crew and mud engineers too! before getting to the likely sources of ignition in non ex areas? All will be revealed over time and sequence of events will likely show more possible failings in management & operational systems. Not sure of the water depth... but deepwater exploration/production is still being refined... especially with regards to time to complete compared with more conventional water depths (e.g. north sea).

An interesting development is that other oil exploration and drilling companies in the Gulf of Mexico with ExxonMobil as the lead are developing a containment capability and keep it on stand-by to deal with a similar event in future, with a not for profit organisation called the Marine Well Containment Company! BP has joined this group and is providing all its experience etc. Their basic design strategy appears to very similar to what BP eventually designed, fabricated and installed for dealing with Deepwater Horizon Just proves that Tony Hayward was right when he stated that they did not have the right tools in the bag! Refer to:- BP Announces Intent to Join Marine Well Containment Company, Providing Experience and Equipment http://www.bp.com/generi...68&contentId=7065102 ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell are accelerating the engineering, construction and deployment of equipment designed to improve capabilities to contain a potential future underwater blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. ExxonMobil will lead this effort on behalf of the four sponsor companies. http://www.exxonmobil.co.../energy_project_mwc.aspx http://www.exxonmobil.co...nt_system_fact_sheet.pdf