NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A contractor that tried to help BP plug the Gulf of Mexico oil leak says it has developed a faster response for future accidents.
"We learned an extraordinary amount based on the experience at Macondo," Tony Owen of Helix Energy Solutions Group told The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune. "A lot of decisions had to be made on the fly, without a lot of preparation. Based on the BP incident, we're better prepared to respond to an incident of that magnitude in the future."
Once in place, the Helix equipment managed to collect more than three-quarters of the estimated daily discharge. The company also learned lessons from BP's capping stack to develop its own shutoff device in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Deep-water drilling has been on hold since the Macondo disaster because regulators doubt oil companies will be able to deal with a such a large spill.
The Helix Fast Response System will be able to rush to gulf wells and collect oil and gas at full capacity within 10 days, spokesman Cameron Wallace says.
The government is reviewing the system before issuing drilling permits.
