HSES efforts pick up in the energy industry -- Good news will prevail

It's a common knowledge in the news industry: Death and destruction sells newspapers, multiplies page views, nabs viewers. As a regular writer for the web, my analytical tools further confirm that bad news is good news for page views.

Akin to rubber-necking, people just like to watch a ship sinking... whether it's gossiping about the latest Hollywood doomed marriage or a tragic accident, it's human nature to converge on the scene.

We've certainly seen this phenomenon demonstrated in the oil and gas industry as of late. The world can't get enough about the oil spill in the Gulf, and subsequent oil leaks in the shallow waters offshore Louisiana, at a port in China and from a pipeline in Michigan have certainly gotten the attention of many a PennEnergy reader.

The excitement of hurricane season can sometimes land more eyes than an oil and gas discovery. (And as I wrote yesterday, this season is forecast to be an "extremely active" one.)

While HSES (Health Safety Environment and Security) opportunities abound, recent accidents have solidified the industry's commitment to safety and the environment.

I recently spoke with a woman whose husband works as an HSE consultant. She said he's swamped with jobs right now. As soon as he gets home from a gig, he's flying out again -- all over the world. After the Macondo oil spill, companies are eager to double- and triple-check their facilities and HSES practices, and his consultancy has seen the jump in clients because of it.

Dedicated preventative and proactive health and safety efforts will help to ensure these types of accidents never occur again.

A four-company consortium consisting of ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron recently pledged $1 billion to develop and maintain a deepwater oil spill containment system that can be deployed within hours should any other accident occur in the US Gulf of Mexico.

And good news is around the corner with the recent accidents. China is working to clean the spill at its Dalian port, and Enbridge Energy Partners has cleaned a substantial amount of the oil that spilled from its Lakehead system in Michigan.

Wild Well Control managed to wrangle and cap the new oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico more than a week before the well was supposed to be capped.

Oil and gas operators and offshore drilling contractors have been diligent in shutting-in production that may be in the path of a storm, as well as quickly working to evacuate offshore staff should a hurricane threaten to travel near facilities.

In the deepwaters of the GOM, not only has BP commenced the static kill procedure, pumping concrete into the Macondo well, but the US government reported that nearly three-fourths of the oil that spilled from the deepwater accident has been cleaned, contained or dispersed.