BP has announced its intent to join the proposed Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) and to make its underwater well containment equipment available to all oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico.
This and other equipment will preserve existing capability for use by the oil and gas industry in the US Gulf of Mexico while Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell build a system that exceeds current response capabilities, BP said in a statement.
This consortium of oil majors are establishing the MWCC to provide emergency response services in the US Gulf of Mexico.
The equipment could be deployed to capture and contain oil from a potential underwater well blowout while the new rapid-response system announced in July is being developed. ExxonMobil is leading the engineering, procurement and construction of the system on behalf of the sponsor companies.
BP said that under the terms of an agreement with the Marine Well Containment System operator ExxonMobil, the sponsor companies’ project team will utilise full time BP technical personnel with experience from the Deepwater Horizon response.
“We are pleased to announce our plans to join the Marine Well Containment Company and provide the experience and specialised equipment needed to respond to a deepwater well control incident,” said Richard Morrison, BP vice president for Gulf of Mexico operations. “We believe the addition of our recently gained deepwater intervention experience and specialised equipment will be important to the marine well containment system.”
“We are working quickly and effectively in an unprecedented effort to improve incident preparedness,” said Lloyd Guillory, marine well containment system project executive. “Our progress since we announced the system demonstrates the commitment of our companies to make equipment immediately available for incident response.”
Guillory added, “This and other equipment that the project expects to acquire will enable us to preserve and secure existing capability for use by the oil and gas industry in the US Gulf of Mexico while we build the new system that exceeds current response capabilities.”
