Our Support
Q. What support did Chevron give to BP?
A. We provided both direct and indirect support to BP and the U.S. government that helped to stop the leak and assist with the spill response. Specifically, we have lent technical experts to BP in the areas of deepwater well drilling, subsea blowout preventer intervention, subsea construction, environmental science and emergency response. We also have provided subsea equipment to BP through our partnership with Cameron. And company personnel worked in several of the incident command centers in the Gulf of Mexico region.
In addition, BP has contracted the marine wildlife rescue portable trailer from Chevron’s Pascagoula Refinery as an additional resource. They also have access to our Venice, Louisiana, shore base for spill response activities.
And finally, we have farmed out the Discoverer Clear Leader and the Discoverer Inspiration to BP for spill response efforts at the Macondo well.
Q. Has Chevron committed any financial resources to help with clean up efforts in the Gulf?
A. With respect to the current incident, we have provided people, materials and access to our facilities to support BP as they work to stop the leak and respond to the spill. We also have made a $10 million charitable contribution among several organizations in the communities where we have operations. Some of these organizations are or will be directly engaged in oil spill clean up activities. These organizations include: Plaquemines Parish; Greater New Orleans, Inc.; the National Audubon Society; and the America Wetlands Foundation.
Our Operations
Q. How have Chevron's operations been affected by the spill and the resulting moratorium?
A. The U.S. government's suspension of deepwater drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has impacted the drilling of five deepwater wells in 2010. We are in the process of evaluating emerging U.S. government guidance and its impact on our drilling schedule.
Q. Has Chevron reviewed its safety procedures and processes globally in light of the BP incident?
A. Yes we have. After the incident, we quickly held "safety stand-downs" with drilling personnel and rig crews to reinforce safety practices. We conducted an extensive review of our operations’ drilling processes, well control contingency plans and risk management plans, and we shared that information across our global operations.
Q. Has Chevron conducted any extra inspections or tests in our drilling or production operations since the accident?
A. In light of the Gulf of Mexico incident, Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar ordered immediate inspections of all deepwater operations in the GOM. At the time of the inspection, we had two drillships working in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico — the Discoverer Inspiration and Discoverer Clear Leader. These detailed inspections found no citations. In fact, our operations received praise for our blowout preventer compliance and our employees' ability to discuss our systems on board.
Q. What is Chevron doing to improve safety and reduce the risk of deepwater drilling from an industry perspective?
A. We have played a key role in initiating four joint industry task forces to address safety, mitigation and oil spill response in the Gulf of Mexico. The focus of the task forces includes offshore equipment, offshore operating procedures, subsea well control and response, and oil spill response.
Regulation
Q. What is Chevron's view of the U.S. government's six-month moratorium?
A. We believe responsible drilling should be allowed to continue, and with our current practices and procedures, Chevron is a responsible driller. If there are lessons to learn and new regulations that will improve safety, we stand ready to adopt them. But halting drilling has lasting energy security and economic consequences.
Q. Why is it important to drill in the Gulf of Mexico?
A. The Gulf of Mexico is an important part of the United States' supply of oil and natural gas, and production will decline rapidly without the drilling of new wells. Production in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) — almost all of which is in the Gulf of Mexico — currently accounts for 27 percent of the nation's oil and 15 percent of the nation’s natural gas. Chevron, as well as the greater industry, has a strong track record of safe operations for decades in the OCS. Production from the OCS is expected to increase over the next several decades. Producing energy from domestic sources helps increase the United States' energy security, creates U.S. jobs and generates U.S. government revenues.
Updated: September 2010