New Challenge in Latin American and Caribbean Oil Spill Control: Offshore Prevention and Response after the DWH Milestone

Abstract

ABSTRACT With offshore activities at different exploration and production stages in virtually all South American countries with sea coasts, a Central American country, and some Caribbean countries, the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster has not gone unnoticed among the governments and the oil industry in the area. Organizational and human errors committed and highlighted in the investigations that have successively come to light in such a world power as the U.S.—a leader in the sector—, bring to mind the realities and systemic safety failures of the schemes and procedures in force, both in the oil industry and regulatory authorities, to control these potential environmental disasters. The offshore issue has become a priority in the Latin American and Caribbean oil industry and grows because of the recurrent confirmation of new oilfields and their successful exploration by international oil companies through block concessions, which is the only way to access the required effective technology for exploitation. Over the past decades and without exception, Latin America and the Caribbean has gone through emergency situations with spills from oil tankers, explosions and fires in refineries, pipeline fires and sabotage, and explosions and sinkings of oil rigs. The shy cooperation attempts between states and national oil companies obtained few concrete results despite the efforts of regional organizations such as ARPEL. This paper emphasizes the weaknesses in response procedures and standards through specific examples of recent incidents in “the Big Three” (Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela), which could become worse in the current offshore deep and ultra-deep water scenario. It challenges the National Contingency Plans that must now include offshore goals and an organization scheme, such as the Incident Command System, which must be adapted as soon as possible due to the new scenarios and the need for effective inclusion of environmental actors previously relegated. The paper also outlines response strategies applied in DWH and their possible use in offshore scenarios in the region, which will require coordinated efforts by all stakeholders. It emphasizes that this is an excellent opportunity for operational improvement of the Latin American and Caribbean oil sector with respect to safety, emergencies, and spill control.