Piper Alpha

Piper Alpha was a North Sea oil production platform operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia)
Ltd.
[1]
The platform began production in 1976,
[2]
first as an oil platform and then later converted to
gas production. An explosion and the resulting oil and gas fires destroyed it on 6 July 1988, killing
167 men,
[3]
with only 61 survivors. The death toll includes two crewmen of a rescue vessel.
[4]
Total
insured loss was about 1.7 billion (US$3.4 billion). At the time of the disaster, the platform
accounted for approximately ten percent of North Sea oil and gas production, and was the worst
offshore oil disaster in terms of lives lost and industry impact.
[5]


Legacy of accident
The Cullen Inquiry was set up in November 1988 to establish the cause of the disaster. It was
chaired by the Scottish judge William Cullen. After 180 days of proceedings,
[14]
it released its
report Public Inquiry into the Piper Alpha Disaster (short: Cullen Report) in November 1990.
[15]
It
concluded that the initial condensate leak was the result of maintenance work being carried out
simultaneously on a pump and related safety valve. The inquiry was critical of Piper
Alpha's operator, Occidental, which was found guilty of having inadequate maintenance and safety
procedures, but no criminal charges were ever brought against the company.
[4]

The second part of the report made 106 recommendations for changes to North Sea safety
procedures:
37 recommendations covered procedures for operating equipment, 32 the information of
platform personnel, 25 the design of platforms and 12 the information of emergency services
[16]

The responsibility to implement was for 57 with the regulator, 40 for the operators, 8 for the
industry as a whole and 1 for stand-by ship owners.
[17]

Date 6 July 1988
Coordinates
582735N 01504ECoordinates:
582735N 01504E
Cause Explosion
Deaths 167
Property
damage
1.7 billion