Disaster on the Horizon: High Stakes, High Risks, and the Story Behind the Deepwater Well Blowout

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Chelsea Green Publishing, Oct 22, 2010 - Technology & Engineering - 248 pages

Disaster on the Horizon is a behind-the-scenes investigative look at the worst oil well accident in US history, which led to the current environmental and economic catastrophe on the Gulf Coast. Cavnar uses his 30 years in the business to take readers inside the disaster, exposing the decisions leading up to the blowout and the immediate aftermath. It includes personal accounts of the survivors, assembled from testimony during various investigations, as well as personal interviews with survivors, witnesses, and family. It also provides a layman's look at the industry, its technology, people, and risks. It deconstructs events and decisions made by BP, Transocean, and the US Government before and after the disaster, and the effects of those decisions, both good and bad.

Cavnar explains what happened in the Gulf, explores how we arrived at deep water drilling in the first place and then charts a course for how to avoid these disasters in the future.

 

Contents

Drilling the Deepwater
16
How Blowout Preventers Dont Work
34
Technology Reaching Beyond Our Ability
47
Influencing
63
How Did We Get Here? A Brief History
71
Corporate ShapeShifting and
80
Dispersants
101
Glossary
183
Technical Images
195
About the Author
221
Copyright

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About the author (2010)

Bob Cavnar is a 30-year veteran of the oil and gas industry with deep experience in operations, start-ups, turn-arounds, and management of both public and private companies. He is currently chief executive officer of Luca Technologies, which harnesses natural processes to produce natural gas sustainably. Previously he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Milagro Exploration, a large, privately held oil and gas exploration firm based in Houston, Texas with operations along the Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi Gulf Coasts, and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Cavnar holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Southern Methodist University and completed the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School. He blogs at This Small Planet and The Daily Hurricane.

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