Drill Baby Drill!

[J70]

BP Fought Safety Measures at Deepwater Oil Rigs
Owner of Louisiana Oil Well Objected to System That Would Have Shut Off Spill

By MATTHEW MOSK, BRIAN ROSS and RHONDA SCHWARTZ
Apr. 30, 2010

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/bp-fought-safety-measures-deepwater-oil-rigs/story?id=10521078

BP, the company that owned the Louisiana oil rig that exploded last week, spent years battling federal regulators over how many layers of safeguards would be needed to prevent a deepwater well from this type of accident.

One area of immediate concern, industry experts said, was the lack of a remote system that would have allowed workers to clamp shut Deepwater Horizon's wellhead so it would not continue to gush oil. The rig is now spilling 210,000 gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico.

In a letter sent last year to the Department of the Interior, BP objected to what it called "extensive, prescriptive regulations" proposed in new rules to toughen safety standards. "We believe industry's current safety and environmental statistics demonstrate that the voluntary programs&continue to be very successful."

That was one in a series of clashes between the industry and federal regulators that began during the Clinton administration. In 2000, the federal agency that oversaw oil rig safety issued a safety alert that called added layers of backup "an essential component of a deepwater drilling system." The agency said operators were expected to have multiple layers of protection to prevent a spill.

But according to aides to Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat who has followed offshore drilling issues for years, the industry aggressively lobbied against an additional layer of protection known as an "acoustic system," saying it was too costly. In a March 2003 report, the agency reversed course, and said that layer of protection was no longer needed.


"There was a big debate under the Bush administration whether or not to require additional oil drilling safeguards but [federal regulators] decided not to require any additional mandatory safeguards, believing the industry would be motivated to do it themselves," Carl Pope, Chairman of the Sierra Club told ABC News.

A second area of focus emerging Friday involved the cement casing that was supposed to seal the well and prevent gaps from opening between the outside of the well pipe and the inside of the hole drilled into the sea floor. If cement is not poured properly, oil and natural gas can escape  a cause of more than a dozen previous well blowouts in the Gulf.

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman Friday sent a letter to Halliburton, the company responsible for pouring the cement seal, asking company executives to brief committee investigators on conditions at the rig, and preserve all documents relating to their work on the sea floor.

Elmer Danenberger, an expert on offshore drilling who retired from the U.S. Department of the Interior in January, told ABC News he is worried that "lack of attention" during the pouring of the cement could be to blame.

"With these cementing operations it's just a matter of not being attentive enough," he said. "What you want is a closed system. You want the cemented pipe totally sealing the well bore. If you don't have that, you have problems."

Because the well us under more than a mile of water, it may be some time before investigators have more clarity on what exactly went wrong. But Brent Coon, a lawyer who sued BP over a previous deadly oil facility explosion, said he has obtained a restraining order to prevent the company from doing anything to cover up the cause of the accident.

"BP stands apart, heads and shoulders above all the rest of them, with respect to their conduct," said Coon, who represents a 24-year-old roustabout who was working on the rig at the time of the blast. "It's like they just don't care."

BP issued a release saying it had launched its own investigation into the cause of the blast, and would cooperate with federal efforts.

"Losing 11 of our industry colleagues is a tragedy for the offshore community," said BP Group Chief Executive Tony Hayward in the statement. "As an industry, we must participate fully in these investigations and not rest until the causes of this tragedy are known and measures are taken to see that it never happens again."

Copyright © 2010 ABC News Internet Ventures

_______________________________________________________________

I wonder what the good people of the coastline from Houston to the Florida panhandle think of voluntary industry controls now? The shrimp fishermen? The hotel owners? (We know what the wildlife managers think). Its looking like the worst oil pollution disaster in US history, and they still haven't got the thing stopped (big test for Obama here on how all this is dealt with).

Its been a bad few weeks for the fossil fuel industry in the US with this, the Massey coal mine disaster and the planned wind farm off Cape Cod. Now Obama is putting the breaks on opening further areas of coastline to drilling.

[Hedley Lamarr]

Can the US authorities not seize or freeze their assets to ensure they pay up the right compensation?

[J70]

Can the US authorities not seize or freeze their assets to ensure they pay up the right compensation?

Given that there are several companies involved, I'm sure they'll be suing each other to see who is liable. I would expect massive fines though (especially if they didn't in fact add the additional protective features that the Bush administration, according to this ABC piece, said they would be "motivated" to do) in addition to the oil companies footing the bill for what is going to be a massive clean-up and restoration (that could take years), compensating local fisheries, tourist businesses and so on.

The main priority now is to get the well capped. It is still spewing 5,000 barrels a day into the sea. The compensation/blame-apportionment can come later. However, I see the right wing is already are crowing about "Obama's Katrina". They may turn out to be correct, but had he gone in with the full weight of the feds from day one, instead of letting BP handle things themselves at first, before the extreme gravity of the situation became apparent, they'd have been crying about that too. But whoever gets the blame, they had better implement strict regulations to stop this devastation happening again, no matter how much crying certain elements do about oppressive government, free markets and socialism. Same as with mining worker safety and environmental issues.

[Hedley Lamarr]

Hope they can get it sorted sooner rather than later.

[stew]

Hope they can get it sorted sooner rather than later.

Lawyers are going to get very, very fat of the back of this disaster, this is going to take a long time before those who are responsible are held accountable.

[give her dixie]

Is there anyone on the board who lives down in Florida, Louisianna, or Mississippi?

I have been following the BP oil spill closely, and if anyone lives in these regions, could they give us an insight into how things are in the region?

The scary part for me is the fact that Halliburton are up to their eyes in guilt in all of this.
Firstly, they buy a little known Oil clean up company, "Boots and Coots", and then a couple of weeks later, they are responsible for cementing the BP well. 20 hours after cementing, the well blows, with the loss of 11 lives, and to date, nearly 80 million barrels of oil has gushed into the Gulf. Not to mention the fact that a handful of large investors sold their stock in BP a few weeks before this disaster. Goldman Sachs been one of them.......

Apparently, the sea bed is 5,000 ft below the sea. Then, the drilling below the sea bed is another 20,000ft. It would appear that the oil deposit is like an underground volcano, and nothing they can do will stop the flow of oil. The sea bed is now fractured under the immense pressue, with methane gas and oil gushing out from many cracks at a pressure of 100,000psi. A regualar power hose at a car wash would have 1,500 psi.
The is a very real possibility that a nuclear bomb will be used to control the leaks.

So far, BP and private contractors have taken full control of the clean up, and the US govt havn't got involved. No media are allowed near any of the clean up operations, with private security companies controlling the affected area's. A no fly zone is in place, so no footage from the air is readily available. Anyone working on the clean up isn't allowed to speak to the press, and they are forbidden to carry mobiles or recording devices with them.

In the past few days, oil and wildlife have been washing up on the shores in Florida, and before too long, with the help of the gulf stream, it will hit Ireland and the western shores of Europe. Inside a year or so, the whole of the worlds oceans will have some form of contamination. Plus, there is such a high level of Methane gas escaping, that experts agree that the possibility of an underground explosion is real, and a tidal wave could hit these southern states.

This is the largest environmental disaster to hit the world, and the long term damage is going to be severe, and far reaching. Already "Oil Rain" is hitting these states, and with the hurricane season around the corner, the chances of widespread contamination is very real. 

Is this the beginning of the end, as promised by the crazy right wing Christains? Along with the very real and imminent threat of nuclear war with Iran, i'm afraid the numbers are adding up.......

[seafoid]

I am struggling to see  how a nuclear bomb would help.

[delboy]

Is there anyone on the board who lives down in Florida, Louisianna, or Mississippi?

I have been following the BP oil spill closely, and if anyone lives in these regions, could they give us an insight into how things are in the region?

The scary part for me is the fact that Halliburton are up to their eyes in guilt in all of this.
Firstly, they buy a little known Oil clean up company, "Boots and Coots", and then a couple of weeks later, they are responsible for cementing the BP well. 20 hours after cementing, the well blows, with the loss of 11 lives, and to date, nearly 80 million barrels of oil has gushed into the Gulf. Not to mention the fact that a handful of large investors sold their stock in BP a few weeks before this disaster. Goldman Sachs been one of them.......

Apparently, the sea bed is 5,000 ft below the sea. Then, the drilling below the sea bed is another 20,000ft. It would appear that the oil deposit is like an underground volcano, and nothing they can do will stop the flow of oil. The sea bed is now fractured under the immense pressue, with methane gas and oil gushing out from many cracks at a pressure of 100,000psi. A regualar power hose at a car wash would have 1,500 psi.
The is a very real possibility that a nuclear bomb will be used to control the leaks.

So far, BP and private contractors have taken full control of the clean up, and the US govt havn't got involved. No media are allowed near any of the clean up operations, with private security companies controlling the affected area's. A no fly zone is in place, so no footage from the air is readily available. Anyone working on the clean up isn't allowed to speak to the press, and they are forbidden to carry mobiles or recording devices with them.

In the past few days, oil and wildlife have been washing up on the shores in Florida, and before too long, with the help of the gulf stream, it will hit Ireland and the western shores of Europe. Inside a year or so, the whole of the worlds oceans will have some form of contamination. Plus, there is such a high level of Methane gas escaping, that experts agree that the possibility of an underground explosion is real, and a tidal wave could hit these southern states.

This is the largest environmental disaster to hit the world, and the long term damage is going to be severe, and far reaching. Already "Oil Rain" is hitting these states, and with the hurricane season around the corner, the chances of widespread contamination is very real. 

Is this the beginning of the end, as promised by the crazy right wing Christains? Along with the very real and imminent threat of nuclear war with Iran, i'm afraid the numbers are adding up.......

You've been reading to much propoganda, i recommend an innoculation of the daily mash

I recommend you also look up the lakeview gusher (largest oil spill in history 9-11 million barrels), oil spills into the gulf of persia during the first gulf war (circa 11 million barrels) and possibly even the very comprable Ixtoc spill in 1979 which pumped 3 million barrels into the gulf of mexico.
Its the pity the yanks weren't so keen to clean up after themselves in Bhopal.

But on a positive note the two relief wells are ahead of schedule.

[give her dixie]

Delboy, I havn't been reading too much propaganda, just facts on the ground from scientisits who know a bit about what is going on.

Going by your facts, are you try to tell me that the current oil spill hasn't put out as much as the one's you have quoted?

Government officials estimate the leak at 60,000 barrells a day. Considering there is 40 gallons in a barrell, then that is close to 2.4 million gallons a day. You give 3 examples of 9-11 barrels, 11 million barrels, and 3 million barrells. Do you really believe that less than 11 million barrells have leaked in the current spill?

As for a postitive note, well, i'm afraid there isn't anything positive about what is happening there right now.


Have a read at this report from John Kessler, a scientist who has just returned from a 10 day examination of the area.
Does the Methane levels worry you?

Methane levels in the ocean near the site of the BP oil spill are "astonishingly high", according to some U.S. scientists. Last week, the scientists returned from 10-day research expedition in the Gulf of Mexico close to where the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and eventually sunk more than 60 days ago.

The April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon killed 11 men and spawned the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Since then, oil has been gushing into the Gulf at a rate of as much as 60,000 barrels a day, according to U.S. government estimates.

Methane is a colorless, odorless gas that is a major component in natural gas. It is also highly flammable. A bubble of methane is believed to have ignited the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

John Kessler of Texas A&M University in College Station, one of the scientists on the research expedition, said last week that methane in deep-ocean waters (below 1,000 feet) near the oil spill are 10,000 to 100,000 times higher than normal. At times, the team measured methane levels that were 1 million times above normal.

According to Reuters, the team took measurements of both surface and deep water within a 5-mile radius of the leaking well. Kessler characterized the leak as "the most vigorous methane eruption in modern human history,"

The team of 12 scientists from Texas A&M, Texas A&M Galveston and The University of California, Santa Barbara, discovered that the methane, which makes up 40 percent of the substances coming from the well, is staying in the deep waters and not escaping into the atmosphere.

Kessler said the amount of methane seen was enough to potentially deplete oxygen and create a dead zone in the Gulf. High concentrations of methane can encourage the growth of microbes that consume oxygen needed by marine life.

"At some locations, we saw depletions of up to 30 percent of oxygen based on its natural concentration in the waters. At other places, we saw no depletion of oxygen in the waters. We need to determine why that is," Kessler said.

Though oxygen depletion hasn't reached a critical level yet, Kessler said he feared what it might look like "two months down the road, six months down the road, two years down the road?"

[delboy]

Delboy, I havn't been reading too much propaganda, just facts on the ground from scientisits who know a bit about what is going on.

Going by your facts, are you try to tell me that the current oil spill hasn't put out as much as the one's you have quoted?

Government officials estimate the leak at 60,000 barrells a day. Considering there is 40 gallons in a barrell, then that is close to 2.4 million gallons a day. You give 3 examples of 9-11 barrels, 11 million barrels, and 3 million barrells. Do you really believe that less than 11 million barrells have leaked in the current spill?

As for a postitive note, well, i'm afraid there isn't anything positive about what is happening there right now.


Have a read at this report from John Kessler, a scientist who has just returned from a 10 day examination of the area.
Does the Methane levels worry you?

Methane levels in the ocean near the site of the BP oil spill are "astonishingly high", according to some U.S. scientists. Last week, the scientists returned from 10-day research expedition in the Gulf of Mexico close to where the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and eventually sunk more than 60 days ago.

The April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon killed 11 men and spawned the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Since then, oil has been gushing into the Gulf at a rate of as much as 60,000 barrels a day, according to U.S. government estimates.

Methane is a colorless, odorless gas that is a major component in natural gas. It is also highly flammable. A bubble of methane is believed to have ignited the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

John Kessler of Texas A&M University in College Station, one of the scientists on the research expedition, said last week that methane in deep-ocean waters (below 1,000 feet) near the oil spill are 10,000 to 100,000 times higher than normal. At times, the team measured methane levels that were 1 million times above normal.

According to Reuters, the team took measurements of both surface and deep water within a 5-mile radius of the leaking well. Kessler characterized the leak as "the most vigorous methane eruption in modern human history,"

The team of 12 scientists from Texas A&M, Texas A&M Galveston and The University of California, Santa Barbara, discovered that the methane, which makes up 40 percent of the substances coming from the well, is staying in the deep waters and not escaping into the atmosphere.

Kessler said the amount of methane seen was enough to potentially deplete oxygen and create a dead zone in the Gulf. High concentrations of methane can encourage the growth of microbes that consume oxygen needed by marine life.

"At some locations, we saw depletions of up to 30 percent of oxygen based on its natural concentration in the waters. At other places, we saw no depletion of oxygen in the waters. We need to determine why that is," Kessler said.

Though oxygen depletion hasn't reached a critical level yet, Kessler said he feared what it might look like "two months down the road, six months down the road, two years down the road?"

The figures are still being debated but lets go with your 60000 barrels a day for arguements sake, 11 million is divisble by 60000 roughly 183, that means you'd need to be leaking oil at that rate for 183 days to get up to 11 million barrels.
Now the exploison happened on april 20th its now the 24th of june so thats 65 days at that rate its spilled 3.9 million barrels, so when you do the math it is exactly like i said comparable with the previous gulf of mexico spill. So yes i am saying it hasn't spilled in more than 11 million barrels and i've used your own figures to answer you.

You also mention methane, you can't have it both ways, if there is lots of methane pumping out then that means there is actually less oil pumping out (the models just measure particles). Take into account that almost invariably once the dust settles and the media have stopped scaremongering and whiping up fears the estimates of oil spills tends to fall, i see no reason why this one should be any different.

To suggest this is the worst global environmental disaster and thats is something for the world to be worried about is just americancentric nonsense, i refer you once again to bhopal, its ongoing environmental problems, the huge number of attributable deaths and birth defects etc, and no sign of an american clean up, shame on them.

[give her dixie]

Fair enough on the figures DElboy, but lets get back to the main points in this spill.

Firstly, the Halliburton connection and the sale of BP shares by certain individuals and companies is worrying.
Did they have prior warnings, or was it shrewd investing policies?

Secondly, the US Govt need to take a larger role in this, and not let private companies control the clean up.

Thirdly, wether it is media hype or whatever, the serious consequences for the environmental disasters about to happen are very real. The oil spill is coming our way, no doubt about that.

There is no doubting that the ones you have mentioned above are just as serious, and you are right, the Bhopal disaster is horrible, and the loss of human life incredible. Shell's record in Nigeria isn't to clean either.

Personally for me, this disaster unfolding before us right now in the Gulf is going to have far reaching consequences for not only those living in that region, but futher afield. Not to mention the marine life that will suffer greatly. Roughly 80% of the dolphins in the world use the Gulf as their habitat, and they are already washing up dead on Florida's beaches.

So, what is the best case senerio, or worst case? I don't know, and I dont think the experts really know either. Either way, it is still bad whatever way we look at it, and only time will show us the results.

[give her dixie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO193f8xAls

Short 1 minute video on Pensecola beach in Florida.

[thebigfella]

Fair enough on the figures DElboy, but lets get back to the main points in this spill.

Firstly, the Halliburton connection and the sale of BP shares by certain individuals and companies is worrying.
Did they have prior warnings, or was it shrewd investing policies?

Secondly, the US Govt need to take a larger role in this, and not let private companies control the clean up.

Thirdly, wether it is media hype or whatever, the serious consequences for the environmental disasters about to happen are very real. The oil spill is coming our way, no doubt about that.

There is no doubting that the ones you have mentioned above are just as serious, and you are right, the Bhopal disaster is horrible, and the loss of human life incredible. Shell's record in Nigeria isn't to clean either.

Personally for me, this disaster unfolding before us right now in the Gulf is going to have far reaching consequences for not only those living in that region, but futher afield. Not to mention the marine life that will suffer greatly. Roughly 80% of the dolphins in the world use the Gulf as their habitat, and they are already washing up dead on Florida's beaches.

So, what is the best case senerio, or worst case? I don't know, and I dont think the experts really know either. Either way, it is still bad whatever way we look at it, and only time will show us the results.

They are just gay sharks anyway, who gives a fcuk.

[delboy]

Fair enough on the figures DElboy, but lets get back to the main points in this spill.

Firstly, the Halliburton connection and the sale of BP shares by certain individuals and companies is worrying.
Did they have prior warnings, or was it shrewd investing policies?

Secondly, the US Govt need to take a larger role in this, and not let private companies control the clean up.

Thirdly, wether it is media hype or whatever, the serious consequences for the environmental disasters about to happen are very real. The oil spill is coming our way, no doubt about that.

There is no doubting that the ones you have mentioned above are just as serious, and you are right, the Bhopal disaster is horrible, and the loss of human life incredible. Shell's record in Nigeria isn't to clean either.

Personally for me, this disaster unfolding before us right now in the Gulf is going to have far reaching consequences for not only those living in that region, but futher afield. Not to mention the marine life that will suffer greatly. Roughly 80% of the dolphins in the world use the Gulf as their habitat, and they are already washing up dead on Florida's beaches.

So, what is the best case senerio, or worst case? I don't know, and I dont think the experts really know either. Either way, it is still bad whatever way we look at it, and only time will show us the results.

They are just gay sharks anyway, who gives a fcuk.

Great contribution to the debate 

[Eastern_Pride]

Fair enough on the figures DElboy, but lets get back to the main points in this spill.

Firstly, the Halliburton connection and the sale of BP shares by certain individuals and companies is worrying.
Did they have prior warnings, or was it shrewd investing policies?

Secondly, the US Govt need to take a larger role in this, and not let private companies control the clean up.

Thirdly, wether it is media hype or whatever, the serious consequences for the environmental disasters about to happen are very real. The oil spill is coming our way, no doubt about that.

There is no doubting that the ones you have mentioned above are just as serious, and you are right, the Bhopal disaster is horrible, and the loss of human life incredible. Shell's record in Nigeria isn't to clean either.

Personally for me, this disaster unfolding before us right now in the Gulf is going to have far reaching consequences for not only those living in that region, but futher afield. Not to mention the marine life that will suffer greatly. Roughly 80% of the dolphins in the world use the Gulf as their habitat, and they are already washing up dead on Florida's beaches.

So, what is the best case senerio, or worst case? I don't know, and I dont think the experts really know either. Either way, it is still bad whatever way we look at it, and only time will show us the results.

They are just gay sharks anyway, who gives a fcuk.

Great contribution to the debate 

Ah go way out of that it was funny.