It should come as no surprise that experts in avoiding and stopping blowouts of oil and gas wells long ago saw the deep-ocean drilling frontier as particularly dangerous terrain.
Back in 1997, an offshore-drilling newsletter ran an article by Larry Flak, a veteran well blowout expert, at Boots & Coots at the time, listing a variety of paths leading to a seabed blowout and stated flatly that stopping one would be an enormous challenge.
His bottom line? “Options are limited, so prevention and fast action are critical.”
Flak, who later moved to Signa Engineering, would have been great to have on hand right now, but sadly he died last year in a recreational boating accident. (Flak’s 1997 article was brought to my attention by a Dot Earth reader, Ike Solem.)
The Gulf of Mexico misses you, Larry Flak.
(Signa Engineering photo)