(70w) Summary of Macondo Inquiries and Recommendations

The Macondo event, which commenced on April 20 2010 was the largest oil spill event in history and caused 11 fatalities, 17 injuries and the total loss of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.  Not surprisingly, it is also amongst the most studied of events, with close to 20 major inquiries having been undertaken in the USA and elsewhere.  Examples of major inquiries include: The National Commission and its Chief Counsel’s report, the BP and Transocean internal investigations, reports from the Incident Commander, the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management, the National Academy of Engineering, the USCG and BOEMRE, the Marshall Islands Registry, the Chemical Safety Board, and reports from the UK and Norway.  There is also the DNV BOP Forensic examination and the District Court of Eastern Louisiana judgment both of which make a number of important findings.  There have been so many reports in fact that many people who perhaps should know, do not know what have been the major findings and recommendations.

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the main inquiries findings and recommendations that are publicly available.  While this involves some selection, the aim of the paper is to be neutral and to simply report the facts as stated.  The aim is that readers will be able to identify what body recommended what and to match this to changes to regulations and good practices post the accident.