Assessing the Relevance of Systems Engineering to Project Cases: BP Oil Spill Case Study

This report discusses the relevance of systems engineering to project cases through the BP oil spill case study. It highlights the failures that led to the incident and how systems engineering could have prevented it. The report also mentions the mandatory and optional readings related to systems engineering and project management.

(Insert Student Name) / (Insert Student Number) - PPMP20012 Unit Portfolio for Week 3
Week 3: Assess the Relevance of Systems Engineering to Project Cases
Reading samples Learning
outcome # 3
Learnings from your weekly study, experience, this and
prior unit readings and assignments
Supporting
documentation
including any
prior learning
Mandatory Readings
 SEBoK Part 2:
Foundations of
Systems
Engineering –
 'Knowledge
Area: Systems
Fundamentals';
 'Knowledge
Area: Systems
Science';
 'Knowledge
Area: Systems
Thinking';
 'Knowledge
Area:
Representing
Systems with
Models';
 Part 6: Related
Disciplines –
 'Knowledge
Area: Systems
Engineering
and Industrial
Engineering';
 'Knowledge
Assess the relevance of
systems engineering to
project cases.
The report by the White House that safety aspects of BP had become
chronic due to which, the extremely critical blowout in the Gulf of
Mexico could not have been avoided. It was stated that it was the
negative impact of bad management and communication breakdown
within the BP and its associates. It has been mentioned by the White
House oil spill commission that the company requires improving its
systems (Goldenberg, 2010). The failure of management by all the three
companies i.e. BP, Halliburton, and Transocean, led to this serious
incident and a majority of mistakes and oversights were the reasons. The
BP was held responsible by the report for its safety lapses to be chronic
and its systems safety engineering as well as safety culture which were in
need of serious improvement (SEBoK, 2017).
In August 2005, process accident occurred at BP wherein, an
independent Safety Review Panel (2007) revealed that the existing
corporate safety culture had not provided effective process safety
leadership and not implemented adequate process safety as a core
values all over its refineries in the US (SEBoK, 2014).
It was also stated by the BP that these accidents were caused due to the
failure of various safety systems that were existing in order to prevent
such types of accidents. The systems failure was as follows that could
have been avoided by the systems thinking and systems engineering
PPMP20012 Unit Profile
PPMP20012 Moodle
Web site
Have you any insights
you can add from other
units you have studies or
readings you’ve made?
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(Insert Student Name) / (Insert Student Number) - PPMP20012 Unit Portfolio for Week 3
Reading samples Learning
outcome # 3
Learnings from your weekly study, experience, this and
prior unit readings and assignments
Supporting
documentation
including any
prior learning
Area: Systems
Engineering
and Specialty
Engineering';
 Part 7: Systems
Engineering
Implementation
Examples:
 How Lack of
Information
Sharing
Jeopardized the
NASA/ESA
Cassini/Huygen
s Mission to
Saturn;
 Project
Management
Case Study;
 Kerzner (2017)
Chapters 17.11-
17.16;
 AS/NZS
15288:2015
Chapter 5;
Optional Readings
 AS ISO
21504:2016
Project,
programme and
portfolio
management—
project managers in an effective manner;
 Dodgy cement - The cement in the borehole did not form a seal
because of which, oil and gas started leaking into the pipe.
 Valve failure - all the mechanical valves designed to stop the
flow of oil and gas failed and allowed oil and gas to rise in the
pipe towards the surface.
 Misinterpreted pressure test - The pressure test conducted to
check the seals of the well were misinterpreted and it was
thought that the well was controlled.
 Leaks not spotted - The crew at the surface should have been
able to detect the flow of oil and gas by looking at the
unexpected increase in pressure in the well.
 Overwhelmed separator - The crew could have diverted the gas
and mud away from the rug to vent it safely through pipes over
side but the flow was diverted to the device on board, which is
why, the mud and gas separator was overwhelmed and
flammable gas started to surround the rig (Mullins, 2010).
In addition, there were no gas alarms and no battery for the blowout
preventers to work properly. If it would have worked properly, two
separate systems would have shut the valves automatically but it had a
flat battery.
All the issues discussed above suggested that the board of BP should
invest in such solutions as the existing systems engineering practices of
the company are not efficient, due to which so many accidents occurred
all because of systems failure or ignorance of the systems engineer.
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(Insert Student Name) / (Insert Student Number) - PPMP20012 Unit Portfolio for Week 3
Reading samples Learning
outcome # 3
Learnings from your weekly study, experience, this and
prior unit readings and assignments
Supporting
documentation
including any
prior learning
Guidance on
portfolio
management;
Movies and Web sites
 YouTube:
 "Systems
Engineering"
(by
ThinkTVPBS)
 Modelling the
Management of
Systems
Engineering
Projects (by
VitechCorp)
 Web Sites:
 International
Council on
Systems
Engineering
(INCOSE)
 Systems
Engineering
Society of
Australia
 The Guide to
Lean Enablers
for Managing
Engineering
Programs – MIT
From the weekly study, I learned that system engineering is important
for managing projects that aim to develop large or complex systems.
The selection and implementation of suitable systems engineering
methodologies can enable the project team to effectively manage
complexity and change during the project life cycle. I am of the opinion
that use of system engineering could have prevented the BP Deepwater
Horizon oil spill.
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(Insert Student Name) / (Insert Student Number) - PPMP20012 Unit Portfolio for Week 3
References
Goldenberg, S. (2010). BP oil spill blamed on management and communication failures. Retrieved from theguardian.com:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/dec/02/bp-oil-spill-failures
Mullins, J. (2010). The eight failures that caused the Gulf oil spill. Retrieved from newscientist.com: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19425-the-
eight-failures-that-caused-the-gulf-oil-spill/
SEBoK. (2014). Culture. Retrieved from Sebokwiki.org: https://www.sebokwiki.org/wiki/Culture
SEBoK. (2017). How Lack of Information Sharing Jeopardized the NASA/ESA Cassini/Huygens Mission to Saturn. Retrieved from Sebokwiki.org:
https://www.sebokwiki.org/wiki/How_Lack_of_Information_Sharing_Jeopardized_the_NASA/ESA_Cassini/Huygens_Mission_to_Saturn
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