More than a decade after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Gulf Research Program convened a diverse group of 60 experts in a virtual event to inform its efforts to enhance resilience to future offshore oil disasters in the Gulf of Mexico region. The event, Offshore Situation Room, took place over three half-days during June 15-17, 2021, and had four main objectives: 1) develop a concise, prioritized list of questions that need to be addressed to support successful prevention, response, and recovery that would minimize the impacts of an offshore oil disaster; 2) provide a collaborative atmosphere where participants can share ideas, capabilities, and information, and build a community dedicated to the successful prevention of, response to, and recovery from an offshore oil spill disaster; 3) explore capabilities for and impediments to prevention, response, recovery, and understanding impacts of an offshore oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico; and 4) highlight how changes in policy, response, resilience, and restoration efforts may affect outcomes of a major offshore incident. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the event.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Summary
1 Introduction
2 Opening Plenary: "A Decade Later, Where We Are at and Where We Are Going: A National Incident Commander Perspective
3 Incident-Phase Games Observations
4 Needs and Planning Game Actions
5 Closing Plenary: "What Just Happened?"
6 Next Steps
Appendix A: Identified Actions
Appendix B: Event Agenda
Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Keynote Speaker and Planning Committee Members
Appendix D: Registered Event Participants