Deepwater Horizon COMMUNICATION AND FAILURE WITHIN BP Annie Dai
Jonathan Pearson Boiar Qin Victoria Wong Jason Zeng
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Did you know? Deepwater Horizon left 11 men dead and spilled
millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexicothe worst oil
spill of all time. 2
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BP has had 3 CEOs in the last decade John BrowneTony HaywardBob
Dudley 1989-20072007-20102010-??? Wall of Shame 3
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All levels of BP were responsible for disaster CEO Misguided
safety regulations No accountability for accidents Managers Narrow,
profit-oriented mindset Information loss and corruption Bad
decisions on project changes Engineers and Operators Failure to
interpret data Lack of communication with managers 4
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A HISTORY OF RISKY BEHAVIOR Background 5
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For bigger oil deposits and greater profits oil companies move
further offshore and deeper into the ocean. Depth increase in oil
wells from 1940 to 2010 6
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BP finds success in the Gulf of Mexico BP drilling sites in the
Gulf 7
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BP disregards safety and proper protocol Texas City Refinery,
2005Alaska Oil Spill, 2006 8
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LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY The CEO 9
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Personnel safety vs. Process safety [We will] renew our
commitment to safety. (2000) [There will be] no stone left unturned
[in the Texas City investigation] (2005) John Browne, CEO 1989-2007
10
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[We will focus] like a laser [on safety] Tony Hayward, CEO
2007-2010 11
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Haywards testimony to Congress Its an accident still under
investigation. No one is yet accountable. This could happen to any
oil company in the industry. 12
Change in CEO; no change in attitude If you put aside this
Macondo, 2009 was the best year wed had, and 2010 was also heading
in that direction. Bob Dudley, CEO 2010-??? 15
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INFORMATION LOSS AND CORRUPTION The Managers 16
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BP commissioned Halliburton for cement expertise Cement samples
17
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Halliburton BP February March 8 th April 13 th April 18 th -20
th Severe Failure Success! ? April 26 th April 20 th BP pours
cement Tweaks Parameters 18
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BP is behind schedule First Macondo oil rig overturns 19
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Centralizers ensure even cementing One Piece model Slip On
model 20
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Poorly Cemented Well 21
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Centralizers ensure even cementing One Piece model Slip On
model 22
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15 missing centralizers who cares, its done, end of story, [we]
will probably be fine and well get a good cement job. 23
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Underwater view of the well 24
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FAILURE TO INTERPRET DATA The Engineers and Operators 25
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First Negative Pressure Test 26 Uneven pressures before test
Ideal pressure with open valve Actual test: uneven pressure with
open valve
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Second Negative Pressure Test Manual Pressure Bleed Unknown
Pressure Build-up 27 Manual bleed lowers pressure Pressure builds
up almost immediately
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Third Negative Pressure Test Manual pressure bleed on kill line
Pressure inside pump remains 28
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Bladder Effect 29
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Response from BP manager Mike,
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Regards, Pat 30
Kicks Drill pipe pressure log shows that when the pump (black)
was off the pressure inside the well (red) increased 32
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FINAL THOUGHTS Conclusions 33
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BP engineer recalling the Deepwater Horizon disaster "[a]t the
end of the well sometimes they think about speeding up. This may be
because everybody goes to the mindset that were through, this job
is done...everythings going to be okay." 34
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Conclusions All Companies Dont just fire the CEO after disaster
Investigate internal communications Management Sustainability
before profit Facilitate open communication Engineers Take
responsibility for your work Be honest about your limits Focus on
doing the job correctly 35