BP (BP) has made a lot of mistakes in the Alaska pipeline fiasco. Why would a huge company like BP virtually ignore maintenance of one of the most important US domestic oil pipelines? The Prudhoe Bay field in Alaska accounts for 8% of all US domestic oil production.
Another oil company testified that it sends pigs (a maintenance robot) along its lines every couple of weeks. BP, which uses the same maintenance system, hasn't run the robot for 14 years on its eastern pipeline.
Evidently there were warning signs for a long period of time and regular maintenance was cut back up to the point where the problem that required the shutdown was discovered.
Robert Malone, the oil company's US president said, "We have fallen short of the high standards we hold for ourselves, BP America's recent operating failures are unacceptable."
The US justice department has subpoenaed a whole section of the pipe as evidence for a criminal case that is being prepared against BP. The company is also under investigation by the US department of transportation.
This case will eventually bring out a lot of mismanagement, if not outright negligence. How could something this big and important simply be ignored? What was BP management thinking? Surely they didn't think that the pipeline would take care of itself.
There are too many questions that don't look like they will get a satisfactory answer. This is simply a question of someone trusting but not verifying. There is no way that management will be able to escape responsibility here. They're either incompetent for not checking and making sure the maintenance was really being done, or they simply let the maintenance go hoping it wouldn't break down on their watch.
It boggles the mind that it was let go this far. It's now a public relations nightmare that will stretch on and be in the news for a long time. The public is not in the mood to let something like this go. Politicians will want someone's head on a plate; as it is now becoming a political football in an election year.
Usually I'm a little more understanding about mistakes that managers make, but this just seems to be something that someone knew to do but simply refused to do it. I can't feel sorry for them in this case.
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It is all about management's priorities. They wanted go beyond petroleum and they really meant it. BP’s excitement over alternative fuels and carbon footprints distracted management from its day job. Money that should have gone to maintenance and worker safety went to the public relations and its glitzy media campaign.
Posted by: Tom | September 8, 2006 9:42 AM | Permalink to Comment