Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Lord Kilclooney Excerpts

Monday 14th June 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Marland]

I thank my noble friend Lord Moynihan for his comments; again, it is very useful to have the input of someone who has experience in this field. I well remember the Piper Alpha incident and the horrific pictures surrounding it, and I was deeply involved in the insurance loss. What was vivid in my mind—and I hope that it will be vivid in our minds at the end of all this—was the incredible effort made by people such as Red Adair in dealing with that dreadful disaster, as noble Lords will probably remember. All efforts were made from both sides of the Atlantic to ensure that the problem was solved, and that, I am reliably informed, is what is happening now in the US. BP is not alone in this; it has the full support of the oil industry companies, and that, I think, will be obvious as time passes by.

Safety is at the heart of this and must be in the future. We need to ensure that an accident such as this one or Piper Alpha does not happen again on our shores. I do not have the statistics with me but let us remember that more than 4,000 deep-water wells have been dug since 1980. Therefore, to date this has been a very satisfactory and productive development. It is dreadful that this accident has happened but one hopes that it is a freak event.

[Lord Kilclooney]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his Statement and especially for its measured and moderate terms. However, is it not important not to get emotional about this subject, not to become personal and not to express oneself in crude terms, such as “kicking people’s asses”? Does that not let down the people of the United States of America?

[Lord Marland]

As I said earlier, I am very impressed by the calm rhetoric that has been shown from this side of the Atlantic and by the response from President Obama to the conversation that he had with our Prime Minister. At our level, we have been having very constructive and positive dialogue with our respective departments in the US, trying to find a constructive way forward. Clearly, with horrendous disasters on a scale such as this that affect the environment and many people’s lives, there is bound to be volatile and probably over-the-top rhetoric. However, I am glad to say that from the Government’s point of view the matter has been dealt with calmly, and I applaud the fact that that is as the noble Lord would wish to see it.