LONDON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- A British report on the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster supports claims the industry isn't prepared for a major disaster, an advocacy group claims.
The British Energy and Climate Change Committee wrapped up a six-month study into the impact the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year would have on regional oil exploration.
The British investigation called on the government to make sure key components of blowout preventers that failed in the Gulf of Mexico were in place on all British oil rigs operating in deep waters.
Wenonah Hauter, executive director at the advocacy group Food & Water Europe, said the British report on deep-water drilling in the British continental shelf reaffirmed warnings from her group.
"The lack of investment into safety technology by oil companies, leads to their inability to prepare for 'high-consequence, low-probability' events," she said in a statement.
She noted that a major oil spill off the coast of the Shetland Islands would be much harder to address than the Gulf of Mexico disaster because of the harsh climate in the region.
The British panel stopped short of imposing a ban on deep-water drilling because of fears a moratorium would push energy companies to foreign shores.
