When the chief executives of the world’s major oil companies go before a Congressional subcommittee on Tuesday, they will attempt to differentiate themselves from BP publicly for the first time. According to someone who has seen the planned remarks by the chiefs, they will say that by adhering to best practices, companies can avoid accidents like the one gushing oil into the Gulf.
It is a risky position to take, for while the industry’s deepwater record is good – the companies speak of the successful drilling of the vast majority of about 14,000 deepwater wells drilled in oceans worldwide – accidents do happen. Take a look at this weekend’s oil spill from a Chevron pipeline in Utah. Although it was caught relatively quickly, the pipeline leaked into a community park in a residential area and then migrated into a drainage creek. Chevron has yet to say how much oil flowed out. But damage was done.
