From Project Management: A Managerial Approach - Chapter 7 Everyone is familiar with the U.S, oll well disaster when BP's Deepwater Horizon oil platform blew up and sank, releasing a massive oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico. BP immediately faced public and governmental questioning about whether the accident could have been prevented, whether corners had been cut, how much oil was leaking into the Gulf, what risk management procedures were followed, and many others. Unfortunately, BP didn't respond well and the oil disaster became a public relations disaster as well. Oll and disaster experts point out that since the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska 21 years ago, there has been no improvement in poliution cleanup technology. The same booms and skimmers are being used now as they were used then. Yet, it was clear that sooner or later, there would be another big spill; yet, the oil industry was completely unprepared for this certainty. Amazingly, these firms do not seem to consider even the most basic risk management techniques, such as Murphy's Law: "What can go wrong. will go wrong." Surely, it would have been wise to use some common sense such as employing redundant valves, testing the casings and well equipment as they went, such as the blowout preventer. Huffington Post tech blogger Philip A haches makes some interesting contrasts by describing how NASA handles such risks when they design their extremely complex spacecraft and missions. How might it fail? How likely is it to fail in this way? How serious is the failure if it does fail; is there little impact, or is it "mission critical?" A billion dollar effort plus the lives of any astronauts are at risk here. In contrast, BP's misslon of dilling a well 5,000 feet below the surface of the sea, clearly a challenge, is still much simpler. But any oil company should know that if they choose to engage in such risky projects, they will also need a plan to recover if a spill occurs and then handle the massive negative public relations and media attention. In the long run, it's much easier to evaluate the risks up front, make the right decisions, and monitor and test as you go. Questions: What do you think are the reasons BP took such a relaxed attitude toward the Gulf well compared to NASA? Why hasn't the oil industry funded research and technology for oll spill cleanup efforts, do you think? Why didn't a billion-dollar firm have a public relations department prepared for the contingency of a massive oil spill