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The presidential panel investigating the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has recommended that oil and gas companies drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and other locations off the U.S. Coast create a safety institute similar to the agency that regulates the nuclear industry. They would like the new agency to address safety lapses that led to the Gulf spill and suggested that the safety institute not be led by the American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas association that drafts standards and also lobbies on behalf of the oil industry.
The panel also recommended that the federal government form an independent governmental agency to ensure offshore workers, drilling rigs and production platforms operate safely. The panel would like to see this agency headed by an engineer rather than a politically appointed individual.
The final report of the commission will be presented to the President in January. However, they now believe the April 20th oil Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion was the result of eleven questionable decisions and management failures by three companies: BP PLC, the well owner and operator; Transocean, Limited the oil rig's owner; and Halliburton Company, which was hired to mix and pump cement seal critical to securing the well against a blowout. All except one of these decisions had a safer alternative.
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