So let’s deregulate and make a dash for abandonment at minimum cost and hope we get lucky seems to be the game. And also let’s put the Chairman of the North Sea’s worst offending Company in charge of the process. Hopefully sense will prevail before the next almost inevitable major accident event when one of the 85 gas leaks per year coincides with a source of ignition.
COMMENT SENT BY BILL CAMPBELL TO ROWENA MASON ON HER RECENT TELEGRAPH ARTICLE: Former Shell chairman James Smith to lead deregulation of UK oil and gas industry
Rowena – interesting article
With some 50 serious injuries a year (up by 20) and over 400 reported dangerous occurrences 85 of which were losses of containment of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere (1) it seems an inappropriate time to reduce regulation. Apart from the recent oil spill on Gannet where Shell accept a causal factor may have been lack of maintenance and inspection, with the HSE stating publicly that lack of maintenance offshore could have severe consequences generally across the oilfield, it seems that better and more proactive oversight of this industry is needed rather than less.