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SEVERAL oil giants have teamed up to build and deploy a shared rapid response unit that can help capture and contain future oil spills.

The plan is to have an adaptable unit that could be deployed within 24 hours and interface with a variety of well designs and equipment and can work with a broad range of oil and gas flow rates and weather conditions. Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell will each contribute $250m to cover the initial costs of the project, with further costs expected for subsea and modular processing equipment, contracts with existing operating vessels and the construction of potential new vessels.

BP declined to join the project at this time, as it is focussing all efforts on capping the existing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Once that has been fully achieved, the company says it expects to take part in the endeavour and share the lessons learned.

“This system offers key advantages to the current response equipment in that it will be pre-engineered, constructed, tested and ready for rapid deployment in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico,” the companies said in a statement. Engineers from all four companies are working together to develop the new system, which will include specially-designed subsea containment equipment connected by manifolds, jumpers and risers to capture vessels that will store and offload the oil. Dedicated crews will ensure regular maintenance, inspection and readiness of the facilities and subsea equipment.

Led by Exxon-Mobil, the four companies will form a non-profit organisation, the Marine Well Containment Company, to operate and maintain this system.  Other companies will be invited and encouraged to participate in this organisation.

The companies acknowledge that the joint rapid response unit is designed to win back public confidence in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill. “Additional safeguards must be strengthened across the industry to develop the capacity to quickly respond and resolve a deepwater well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, regardless of how unlikely it is that this situation will reoccur,” says Shell’s president, Marvin Odum.

“If we all do our jobs properly, this system will never be used,” adds Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of ExxonMobil. “The extensive experience of industry shows that when the focus remains on safe operations and risk management, tragic incidents like the one we are witnessing in the Gulf of Mexico today should not occur.”

Meanwhile, it has emerged that BP is facing disagreements with Anadarko Petroleum and Mitsui Oil Exploration (Moex) – the two minority partners in the ill-fated Macondo Well. As the operating company, BP has led the effort to contain and clean up the oil leak but the company has made it clear it expects Anadarko and Moex, which respectively own 25% and 10% of the well, to shoulder the corresponding share of the costs.

BP reportedly sent invoices totalling $1.2b to the two companies but neither has so far paid up. Letters seen by the New York Times cite ongoing investigations, pending lawsuit and the potential that BP could be found guilty of gross negligence as reasons why both Anadarko and Moex have so far deferred payment.