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Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Response

 The 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was unprecedented in its size and scope—and so is the industry’s continued response.Safety is a core value of the oil and natural gas industry, and this incident serves to redouble the industry’s commitment tosafety and environmental stewardship.

•  Since the spill, four industry task forces have been developed to examine offshore equipment, offshore operating procedures, oil spill response, and subsea well control and containment. The ultimate goal of these efforts, and therecommendations provided by the task forces thus far, is to improve offshore safety and environmental protectionin both the short and long term.

•   As an example of industry’s commitment to continuously improve operations and remain at a constant state of readiness, a number of efforts have been launched to ensure that there will always be in place within the Gulf of Mexico subsea well control and containment services. In the unlikely event of another uncontrolled release,

organizations like the newly-formed Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) will offer subsea well controland containment equipment and services to the industry in the Gulf of Mexico on an ongoing basis.

•  Industry has also begun work on the development of a safety program, based on oil and natural gas industry safety programs used throughout the world and those used in other industries. The overarching goals of this program willbe to continually improve the safety culture within the offshore industry and to drive operational excellence.

 While industry will continue to work with the federal government and impacted stakeholders to advance safe andresponsible offshore oil and natural gas exploration and production, it is important to highlight the negative impactsrestrictive federal policies can have on offshore production, jobs, energy security, and government revenues.

Soon after the Gulf of Mexico spill, a six-month federal moratorium was placed on deepwater drilling. This moratorium

 was projected to result in nearly 20,000 job losses, $5 billion in lost economic activity, and nearly $240 million in lost stateand local tax revenues.

 Although the moratorium has since been lifted, little clarity has been provided to industry to allow the necessary regulatory certainty needed to resume offshore operations.

Any drilling slowdown hurts more than just oil companies.

 There are more than 16,000 small businesses servicing the industry in five Gulf states, employing more than 153,000people. Impacts also reach beyond the Gulf Coast—vendors that provide vital business support and services to Gulf operations are located as far away as Pennsylvania and Illinois.

 January 2011

Gulf Oil Spill ResponseIn Brie