DEEPWATER HORIZON

Background information
On April 20, 2010, the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, operating in the Macondo
Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank resulting in the death of 11
workers on the Deepwater Horizon and the largest spill of oil in the history of marine
oil drilling operations. 4 million barrels of oil flowed from the damaged Macondo well
over an 87- day period, before it was finally capped on July 15, 2010. On December
15, 2010, the United States filed a complaint in District Court against BP Exploration
& Production and several other defendants alleged to be responsible for the spill.

Management and Leadership

When one analyzes the root causes behind the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion
that occurred on April 20, 2010, killing 11 people and spilling 53,000 barrels of oil per
day, one sees a disregard and lack of proactivity in assessing and responding to
potential threats in the offshore oil drilling line of work. In BP's case, the lack of
effective cost, quality, and risk management are interrelated and reflect a general
organizational culture of being reactive rather than proactive, as well as one that
emphasizes cost cutting to, virtually, the exclusion of all else. With this culture so
long entrenched in the company, disaster was inevitable. With each poor response
to a risk event that transpired, the probabilities of future risks occurring increased,
showing the importance of continually revisiting and reassessing the project risks.

The negative pressure test

The purpose of the negative pressure test on the Macondo well was to purposely
lower the pressure inside the wellbore in a controlled manner to ensure that the
casing and cement that separated the wellbore from the hydrocarbon-bearing
formation could withstand that pressure differential without any leaks.
BP showed bad leadership skills when they started arguing about how it was not a
bad test data and that it was only bad because of the bladder effect.
The workboat captain who is not a member of BP showed good leadership skills
when he argued that the test data prove the well has a leak and that BP does not
want to admit to the failure because it was going to cost them too much money to
replace
Theoretical components
A manager is responsible for, planning, setting the goals for the business and
creating a business plan, organizing and making the plan happen for example by
gathering possible management plans for unplanned events that may hinder the
business.
Managers are responsible for making sure that there is ethical business practices
within the business.
Ethical business codes found in the King Code 111 are:
 Ethical leadership and corporate citizen ship
 The establishment of and rules governing a company board and directors
 Government of risks
 Governing stakeholders relationships
These are all good code practices in corporate governance

Characteristics of being a leader Leader

 Keeping everyone focused on the goal
 Leading through inspiring and listening to others
 self-awareness — understanding your own strengths and weaknesses.
 decisiveness — the ability to make decisions quickly. A leader must be able to
make divisions quickly without dragging the process.
 fairness — treating others equally. A leader should teach his colleagues in a
fair manner.
 enthusiasm — motivating a team with a positive attitude. A leader in a
business should motivate other workers with positive advice and energy
towards the workers.
 integrity — earning the respect of your team.
 knowledge — keeping abreast of the facts and figures. A leader should
always be aware of their surroundings and their fellow workers and how they
are feeling with decisions made in the business.
 creativity and imagination — coming up with new and innovative ideas.
Leaders are know for their ideas in the business which helps motivate other
workers.
 endurance — persevering when things go wrong.

Application to Deepwater Horizon

Team Performance Assessment Transocean (the rig's owner) Jimmy Harrell

Transocean was responsible for the safety valve known as the blowout preventer.
The report says six leaks were identified in its hydraulic system. While it was on the
wellhead, the investigators say the preventer appeared to follow BP and
Transocean's standards.
However, they say there were "no indications" that intervention systems had been
tested at the surface, "as was required by Transocean policy", before it was
deployed on the well.
Halliburton (cement provider)
The day before the accident, cement was pumped into the drill column of the well to
prevent hydrocarbons entering it from the reservoir. The BP investigation says there
were "weaknesses in cement design and testing, quality assurance and risk
assessment". It suggests that "improved engineering rigour, cement testing and
communication of risk" by Halliburton could have identified those flaws. But the
report also says the Houston-based BP staff at the site could have raised awareness
of the problems.
Transocean and BP (the well owner)
A "negative-pressure test" was carried out to check the mechanical barriers. The
report says that Transocean rig crew and BP leaders on the site "reached the
incorrect view" that the test had been a success and the well was secure.
The crew

The Transocean rig crew and a team described as "mudloggers" working for
Halliburton Sperry Sun may have been distracted by what are described as "end-of-
well activities" and, as a result, important monitoring was not carried out for more
than seven hours. The crew "underbalanced" the well by pouring seawater into it
rather than heavy-drilling mud. This allowed gases through the blowout preventer.
For an estimated 40 minutes, the influx of gases into the well was apparently not
spotted. By this time "hydrocarbons were rapidly flowing to the surface" and,
according to witnesses, mud flowed uncontrolled on to the rig platform. If the blowout
preventer had been closed and sealed around the drill pipe before that point, gases
probably would not have entered the pipe known as the riser.
Theoretical components
Every team has a leader. The team leader is responsible for making sure that every
team member is considered in the group for a successful team performance.
There are certain basic criteria that are essential for a team to succeed:

 Clear objectives so that the team members all understand what the focus of the
team effort is and can work together to meet those common objectives.
 An open comfortable structure where team members feel they can express their
idea without risk ridicule or criticism.
 Mutual respect for all team members to encourage each member to apply their
skills to the task
Explosion
The gases moved to areas of the rig where there was a greater risk of explosion.
The heating, ventilation and air conditioning system "probably transferred a gas-rich
mixture" into engine rooms on the Deepwater Horizon. The surface facilities were
overwhelmed with the volumes of fluids and gas, which resulted in the explosions
and fire.

Creative and problem solving

Application to Deepwater Horizon

Transocean as the owner of the rig was not able to quickly solve the issue on why
the negative pressure test data failed and how it could have been save.
Before the explosion the phones on the rig were not working of which in the time of
the explosion they could not call for help because f the phones. They only got help
from the ship that was also there operating in well.

Theoretical components
Conflicts cannot always be resolved and the four people need to learn how to
manage conflict within the team so that they can continue to work and do not
become unproductive. If conflict is left unresolved and unmanaged, it can have a
negative impact on the team and on the stuff. It can have long-term effects on the
culture of the business. Conflict management requires strong communication and
clear conflict management strategies and structures.

Management of problems and conflict

The management and leadership of a business needs to develop a culture where the
employees feel that they are part of the team. This creates loyalty and a sense of
security which promotes productivity. The business needs to create an environment
that encourages that the feeling of teamwork
 The business needs to ensure that every employee understands the business
objective and believes in them. The employees need to feel part of something
bigger than themselves.
 Management needs to ensure that every employee feels valued by the
business and that they will be listened to and taken seriously if they have an
idea.
 The management style should not be autocratic because this means that the
business does not consider other peoples opinions and needs.
 Important decisions need to be made regularly through the process of
teamwork.
 Good teamwork needs to be reworded and mistakes need to be viewed as
opportunities to learn and grow, otherwise employees will not take the risk of
speaking up and providing innovative ideas and suggestions.
CONCLUSION
This movie is good to be applied in the Grade 12 IEB syllabus because some of the
components found like management and Leadership skills together with problem
management which is part of the syllabus under the theme petrol station and here
we using British Petroleum as a filling station. The Deepwater Horizon survivors and
families who lost their members were give about $70 billion to share amongst
themselves as part of their compensation.

References
Deepwater Horizon movie
https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/corporate-social-responsibility-human-rights
https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/comparison-risk-events-with-risk-management-
9919