Reference no: EM132166379
Case Study: BP Federal Contracts
Following the aftermath of the BP oil spill in 2010, the dismantling of the Minerals Management Service, and the charges against BP officials for misconduct-including counts of manslaughter-the U.S. EPA suspended further contracts for drilling.
In late 2012, the EPA temporarily barred BP from oil leases until BP could provide sufficient evidence that the company met federal business standards.
Memo:
You work for the EPA and have been tasked with reassessing the qualifications for oil leases, based on this event.
You are expected to provide a strategy for reevaluating these contracts. As you prepare it, consider the following questions as you address your management team:
1 What caused the failure of the lease with BP? How could this failure have been avoided?
2 How should BP or any other lessee be evaluated following a spill? Should the evaluation be based on the severity of the spill? Explain.
3 What, if anything, should be changed about how leases are evaluated prior to signing an agreement? Explain your reasoning.
Who will evaluate the contracts? Is an outside audit necessary? Why or why not?