Ixtoc I: Identification and Dramatistic Pentad

As oil gushes from a wellhead 160 feet below the water’s surface in the Gulf of Mexico, how does a company effectively respond to the public? Kenneth Burke’s discussion of persuasive rhetoric, and specifically the concept of Identification provides an adequate starting point. Burke (1950) states that “a speaker persuades an audience by the use of stylistic identifications; his act of persuasion may be for the purpose of causing the audience to identify itself with the speakers interests (p.46).” Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is Mexico’s national petroleum monopoly, which has a distinct interest in the extraction and refinement of raw crude oil. When an incident such as the Ixtoc I or Deepwater Horizon explosions occur, how does an oil company attempt to compel the public to identify with the interests of the company? In the case of the Ixtoc I, the approach of Pemex as accounted through their statements to the press align with a concern for the impact upon the environment and gulf depending industries, and the need for fuel and power.

In better understanding how the communicator attempt to persuade their audience, Burke (1968) presented the Dramatistic Pentad, which focuses upon the act, agent, agency, scene, and purpose of the communication. This approach focuses primarily upon the act, or what the rhetoric attempts to convince the audience of an occurrence or series of events. The Pentad also consists of where the act occurred, who was involved, the method used by the agent to perform the act, and why the act occurred. The following analysis of those aspects is a result of statements made or released to the press by Pemex during the Ixtoc I incident.

Agent

Pemex, as an organization, represents the agent.

Agency

Pemex was able to act given the organizations position as the only petroleum company within Mexico.

Scene

The Gulf of Mexico near the Yucatan Peninsula served as the scene for the blowout of the Ixtoc I. As the oil continued to leak, the scene of the incident extended to the beaches in Mexico and Texas to the west of the Ixtoc I well.

Act

Pemex was initially engaged in the act of drilling an onshore oil well in what was referred to as one of the country’s richest oil fields. After the incident at the Ixtoc I well, leaving the rig “burning out of control,” the act became a response effort on the part of Pemex. Specifically, the act of stopping the oil from gushing out of the well, which was longer connected to the Ixtoc I rig, collecting the oil that had already leaked into the Gulf, and preventing that oil from impacting the area surrounding the well. The act became about divers attempting to stop the leak, installing video cameras to monitor the leak, laying boom to contain the oil, drilling a relief well, then drilling a second (backup) relief well incase the first attempt failed, and burning off the oil that could not be collected at the surface.

Purpose

The goal of the initial act was to collect the fuel source necessary to power the country of Mexico and customers of Pemex. The purpose of the act becomes returning to daily operations, while minimizing the damage done by the oil leaking from the Ixtoc I well.