Catalogue of errors and problems

THE problems that caused the world's worst oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico have finally been laid bare in a graphic report published by BP. The consequences of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon on April 20 have reverberated around the world and caused untold grief for millions of people, none more so than those who lost loved ones in the disaster.

The internal findings from the oil giant show there were a number of factors which led to the explosion that killed 11 workers and which resulted in nearly 5million barrels of oil gushing into the Gulf.

Aberdeen-based union leader Jake Molloy, however, put matters more succinctly in his response. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

BP accepts its responsibility for the disaster, but also places blame on rig owner Transocean and cement contractor Halliburton.

That there was not one killer fault is not good news in a report that should send shockwaves through the oil industry.

To have so many mechanical problems and errors in human judgment highlighted raises significant concerns, not least because the oil industry tells the public repeatedly that safety is its top priority.

Serious questions have to be asked about the quality of management on this occasion, why so many faults apparently went unnoticed and why these have been discovered only after a disaster that should never have happened in the first place.

With the oil industry such an important part of the economy in the north and north-east, one has to hope and pray there is no repeat of these problems in the UK Continental Shelf, nor, indeed, elsewhere. Lessons have to be learned from this unnecessary disaster.