Deep Water: the Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling Page: 35
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Chapter Two
Deep Sea Monsters
Deep Sea Monsters
Hcl an0 d rll.ic orms, \.c rt on r
T e r s me enveiclerecundatr cr Inaseelframe,asel as
r i omle jackJp platfms can only be used at moderate
tlhs. i oder o expn la dee se depths, special ull production
Se kell as a var etyl caing drilling and production platforms need
"o be used. These days, technningies exist that canA drtl ben a th e
tceal enor at a depth ct more than 3,000 metes.
DER SPIEGEL 19/2010
The deepwater costs were matched by the safety and environmental risks. In 1985, an
Office of Technology Assessment study of Arctic and deepwater oil drilling highlighted
the "special safety risks" of "harsh environments and remote locations." It identified "a
need for new approaches to preventing work-related injuries and fatalities in coping with
new hazards in the hostile Arctic and deepwater frontiers." It also presciently warned of
the glaring deficiencies in safety oversight offshore, observing that "there is no regulatory
requirement for the submission of integrated safety plans which address technical,
managerial, and other aspects of offshore safety operations."60
Setbacks in the Arctic
As the study indicated, deepwater was not the only frontier that captured the industry's
interest. In the 1980s, companies also had their sights set on the Arctic region, then
thought to have the highest resource potential in the United States. Since the 1960s, major
firms had produced oil from Alaska's Kenai Peninsula and Cook Inlet. In 1977, the massive
onshore Prudhoe Bay field on the North Slope started pumping oil through the Trans-
Alaska Pipeline. Many explorers expected to find the next great oil frontier to the north
of Prudhoe Bay, in the Bering, Beaufort, and Chukchi Seas. Although the industry lost a
contentious struggle to gain access to the Bering Sea's Bristol Bay, home to the world's
largest commercial salmon fishery, they did win the right to lease and drill in the Beaufort
and Chukchi Seas.6
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National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling (U.S.). Deep Water: the Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling, book, January 2011; Washington, D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc123527/m1/51/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.