Oil platform disaster

[EE_]

Is it just me, or is this disaster starting to sound way bigger then being discussed?
Fisheries, coastline, wildlife and the environment could be impacted for years?

So many disasters, so little time left.

[Book]

Coast Guard is now gonna set the oil slicks ON FIRE before they reach our coastline. This oil leak on the seabed is still going with no end in sight.

Disaster is the correct word EE.

:o

[EE_]

Coast Guard is now gonna set the oil slicks ON FIRE before they reach our coastline. This oil leak on the seabed is still going with no end in sight.

Disaster is the correct word EE.

:o




Latest news is saying there is a new leak and it is much bigger then the first.
I think it will impact the coast. Sorry for those that reside there.

[keehah]

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100424/BUSINESS01/4240324/Deep-water-drilling-poses-increased-risks

Explorers began work on 17 new Gulf of Mexico wells last week in waters deeper than 1,000 feet, spurred in part by a tripling in crude prices in the past decade. The threat of pressure surges, or blowouts, that can smash steel equipment and create gushing columns of fire increases as drillers probe deeper, Neal Dingmann, an analyst at Wunderlich Securities, said....

On Friday, the White House said the accident shouldn't deter exploration. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the fatal explosion is no reason to give up plans to expand offshore drilling.

[Horn]

Huh, connected to all the seismic activity lately?

Somewhere around the size of the state of Maryland, I think I've heard?

[Grand Master Melon]

Perhaps it's the alcohol or what little bit of left-wing I have in me, but these stupid ass oil rigs need to come to a stop.

It reminds me of Lethal Weapon 4 when Joe Pesci goes on the rant abpout how they "fuck you with the cellphone". In all these years it's really pretty pathetic that we haven't come up with something better than oil yet wove' managed to make ceellphones smaller and more efficient. Pathetic.

[Large Sarge]

I wonder if that rig was bombed?

first we get the coal mine disaster, likely a real event, and now we get this

loss of life, and horrible pollution

for those who have never been to Florida near panama city, it is some of the prettiest beaches in the world, white sand, green water.

just amazing.

now all of that is threatened.

it will devastate the local economy.


we had a big flop on the global warming (with leaked E-mails)

big flop on the genocidal swine flu vaccine


anyway i am just speculating.

but no one is really interested in green energy, but if you get a bunch of leaks, pollution events, gory deaths, etc public opinion will likely shift

[Grand Master Melon]

I wonder if that rig was bombed?

first we get the coal mine disaster, likely a real event, and now we get this

loss of life, and horrible pollution

for those who have never been to Florida near panama city, it is some of the prettiest beaches in the world, white sand, green water.

just amazing.

now all of that is threatened.

it will devastate the local economy.


we had a big flop on the global warming (with leaked E-mails)

big flop on the genocidal swine flu vaccine


anyway i am just speculating.

but no one is really interested in green energy, but if you get a bunch of leaks, pollution events, gory deaths, etc public opinion will likely shift




Green is supposed to be all the rage!

Seriously though, I think you're right that nobod gives a crap about it or at least not until an oil spill hits their beaches. NIMBY? you betcha

[keehah]

Large Sarge it shows quite clearly the desperate measures we must now take to continue to get our energy supplies.

Like Monkeys who keep falling out of the tree reaching for the far flung fruit. Much of the easy to reach stuff is already gone.

Link to Article (http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-04-29/bp-oil-well-leaks-up-to-5-000-barrels-a-day-five-times-more-than-estimate.html)

April 29 (Bloomberg) -- A damaged BP Plc oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is leaking as many as 5,000 barrels of crude a day, five times more than previously estimated, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

“There’s an additional breach in the well,” Coast Guard spokesman Erik Swanson said by telephone from Robert, Louisiana. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has increased its estimates of the flow of crude from 1,000 barrels a day, he said.



EDIT: Changed long link to named link, to prevent forum page scrolling to the right. -Gaillo

[still afloat]

A possible 210 thousand gallons a day being estimated now since the last leak , 90 days possible to stop it by drilling a relief well , less if other methods work.
Just a thought , I have no clue to the answer so may be WAAAAAAAAAAAAY off , but what will the cost of lost oil , repair and clean up be compared to profit from resulting increase in gas prices which will come as a result of this and not go back down probably.
In other words if gas jumps 10 cents / gal. because of this how long until this disaster becomes a profit for the oil companies ?

[EE_]

Officials had estimated about 42,000 gallons of oil a day was leaking into the Gulf from the blown-out well drilled by the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. That would be closer to 210,000 gallons a day with the new estimates. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead and more than 100 escaped the blast, the cause of which has not been determined.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36800673/ns/us_news-environment/

http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MaggiegirlEE/Oil_spill2.jpg

[Large Sarge]

Large Sarge it shows quite clearly the desperate measures we must now take to continue to get our energy supplies.

Like Monkeys who keep falling out of the tree reaching for the far flung fruit. Much of the easy to reach stuff is already gone.


thats your opinion, evidence is that oil is capped all over the place

I would not consider gulf oil rigs (hurricane alley) as a better choice than the oodles of oil available in alaska

or even oil shale in utah/colorado

or SASOL to convert coal to gasoline ($2.00 a gallon)

we have so much coal it boggles the mind

[Spectrism]

So who pays for this?

There will be many losses due to the pollution. Some will not be measureable. Not all the contaminants float.

Who is responsible?


Crude Oil and the Gulf of Mexico Tragedy
by Sean Brodrick on April 28, 2010

Today, the Energy Information Administration reported a build in crude oil stocks of 1.9 million barrels – a bit more than expected, but not nearly as bad as the API numbers last night (a reported build of 5.3 million barrels) led traders to believe. We haven’t seen the market react much to the news, but there are larger forces at work here.

First, I think a lot of people are focusing on the tragedy unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), where the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig — owned and operated by Transocean (RIG: 84.83 0.00 0.00%) and working a well for BP (BP: 57.34 0.00 0.00%) caught fire, exploded and sunk. Now, a huge oil slick is spreading across the Gulf. It’s the worst GOM accident in at least 25 years.
Link to article (http://blogs.uncommonwisdomdaily.com/red-hot-energy-and-gold/crude-oil-and-the-gulf-of-mexico-tragedy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+red-hot-energy-and-gold+%28Red+Hot+Energy+and+Gold+-+Sean+Brodrick%29)


I am not hearing anything about BP or Transocean doing anything to fix this.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/leaking-oil-well-lacked-remote-shutoff-switch-wsj-2010-04-29?siteid=yhoof2


April 29, 2010, 5:59 a.m. EDT ·
Leaking oil well lacked remote shutoff switch: WSJ

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- The leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well lacked a remote-control shutoff switch that two other major oil producers, Norway and Brazil, require, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. U.S. investigators said on Wednesday that the well is now leaking 5,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico, up from original estimates of 1,000 barrels a day, the Journal reported. The Deepwater Horizon rig, which the UK oil giant BP (BP 56.50, -0.84, -1.47%) (UK:BP. 613.70, -11.40, -1.82%) had hired from Transocean Ltd., (RIG 85.53, +0.70, +0.83%) didn't have the so-called acoustic switch, with which a crew can try to activate an underwater valve that will shut down the well, the Journal reported. These switches are a last resort, since primary shutoff systems for wells usually work, the Journal reported.


EDIT: Changed long link to named link to prevent page scrolling to the right. -Gaillo

[cortez]

I wonder if that rig was bombed?

first we get the coal mine disaster, likely a real event, and now we get this

loss of life, and horrible pollution

for those who have never been to Florida near panama city, it is some of the prettiest beaches in the world, white sand, green water.

just amazing.

now all of that is threatened.

it will devastate the local economy.


we had a big flop on the global warming (with leaked E-mails)

big flop on the genocidal swine flu vaccine


anyway i am just speculating.

but no one is really interested in green energy, but if you get a bunch of leaks, pollution events, gory deaths, etc public opinion will likely shift





getting ready to move on cap and trade legislation. mine deaths, oil catastrophe, the images will be on teevee when they. yesturday Ried was saying that we cant wait to pass this legislation

[Hermie]

Like Monkeys who keep falling out of the tree reaching for the far flung fruit. Much of the easy to reach stuff is already gone.


That's your opinion, evidence is that oil is capped all over the place

I would not consider gulf oil rigs (hurricane alley) as a better choice than the oodles of oil available in Alaska
or even oil shale in Utah/Colorado or SASOL to convert oil to gasoline ($2.00 a gallon)

We have so much coal it boggles the mind

+1 Totally agree with this.

[keehah]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/boggled

bog·gle (bgl)

1. To hesitate as if in fear or doubt.
2. To shy away or be overcome with fright or astonishment: "The mind now boggling at all the numbers on the table, both sides agreed to a recess of an hour" (Henry A. Kissinger).
3. To act ineptly or inefficiently; bungle.

[Horn]

Officials had estimated about 42,000 gallons of oil a day was leaking into the Gulf from the blown-out well drilled by the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. That would be closer to 210,000 gallons a day with the new estimates. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead and more than 100 escaped the blast, the cause of which has not been determined.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36800673/ns/us_news-environment/

http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MaggiegirlEE/Oil_spill2.jpg


If something this big was intended to be done there should be no mercy left, from the looks of it this could spread and encapsulate more than 1/2 of the entire Gulf coast.

That could stifle all sorts of other systems for a long time. Hopefully burning is successful, but that seems hit or miss.

[Spectrism]

Officials had estimated about 42,000 gallons of oil a day was leaking into the Gulf from the blown-out well drilled by the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. That would be closer to 210,000 gallons a day with the new estimates. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead and more than 100 escaped the blast, the cause of which has not been determined.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36800673/ns/us_news-environment/

http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MaggiegirlEE/Oil_spill2.jpg


If something this big was intended to be done there should be no mercy left, from the looks of it this could spread and encapsulate more than 1/2 of the entire Gulf coast.

That could stifle all sorts of other systems for a long time. Hopefully burning is successful, but that seems hit or miss.


Well- I haven't heard of any ways they can stop this. Nobody is giving a timeline- othjer than what I heard the Coast Guard girl say yesterday.... possibly months.

[Book]

So who pays for this?


http://enviroterrorist.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/bird-oil.jpg

http://www.treehugger.com/oil-spill-cleanups.JPG

:oo-->

[willie pete]

I heard earlier today that obammy is sending out SWAT Teams to ALL off-shore oil rigs to secure and rule-out any form of terrorism..

[Spectrism]

If they are sending out armed guards, there must have been something odd in the survivors' reports.

Also, not being able to shut off flows at the base is suspicious. Any North Korean ships come near this place? Maybe Hugo sent a present?

[Dave Thomas]

I love how everyone freaks out at all the pollution!

Oh god, oh god! Look at all that horrible oil!!!!

No one really cares when it's:

Refined
Burned
Converted to CO
Goes up a smoke stack

Just because it used successfully doesn't mean the by product magically goes away. LOL.

[Chibioz]

This is looking to be a real disaster. In terms of the spill it is looking to be worse than the Exxon-Valdez spill.

It will no doubt be used as an excuse to push through the "environmentalist" agenda.

I do think environmental protections are necessary, but I do not want the cure that papa government is going to force feed down our collective throats.

Still, this is a true environmental tragedy and the ecosystems that will be affected by a spill of this magnitude are too many to count.

[Horn]

I read/heard somewhere that there was question as to the safety "procedures" being employed at these rigs? As in regards to the people operating them...

But to me this type of large flaw, seems like something that would have more mechanical overrides not to occur, No?

[Spectrism]

I love how everyone freaks out at all the pollution!

Oh god, oh god! Look at all that horrible oil!!!!

No one really cares when it's:

Refined
Burned
Converted to CO
Goes up a smoke stack

Just because it used successfully doesn't mean the by product magically goes away. LOL.


Actually there is a big difference. CO2 from combustion is plant food and we can pump millions of tons into the atmosphere with no harm. This oil spill, however, is a long-lasting toxic killer that will wipe out most forms of life in the Gulf. I have heard of no promises to shut off the flow. Ther amount of submerged oil that will not be accessible is sure to cause a regional disaster to hurt the area for years to come.

[Book]

At the White House, President Obama said the federal government will use "every single resource at our disposal" to help contain the oil spill. Obama has called the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida to discuss the spill, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

Federal authorities, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, pledged a robust response. At a White House briefing, Napolitano said she has designated the leak a "spill of national significance," meaning officials can draw down assets from other areas to combat it.

A command center already is open in Robert, Louisiana. A second will be opened in Mobile, Alabama, Napolitano said. She said she will travel Friday to the Gulf Coast, along with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson.

Obama gonna send an invoice to the BP Oil Company who owns the leaking seabed well or is this another private profits - public liabilities thingie again...???

:oo-->

[Gknowmx]

I agree with Keehah, but also, look at all the jobs this will create....

Is this dollar positive?

[Dave Thomas]

Actually there is a big difference. CO2 from combustion is plant food and we can pump millions of tons into the atmosphere with no harm. This oil spill, however, is a long-lasting toxic killer that will wipe out most forms of life in the Gulf. I have heard of no promises to shut off the flow. Ther amount of submerged oil that will not be accessible is sure to cause a regional disaster to hurt the area for years to come.


I understand.

But you can't deny the effect of burning/refining all that oil either. Yes carbon dioxide is a large component of catalytic converters, but that's not the only gas being produced when that stuff is burned.

Besides, I hear there are TONS of plants just taking over the world, so all that extra CO2 aught to be good for them.

[Spectrism]

Actually there is a big difference. CO2 from combustion is plant food and we can pump millions of tons into the atmosphere with no harm. This oil spill, however, is a long-lasting toxic killer that will wipe out most forms of life in the Gulf. I have heard of no promises to shut off the flow. Ther amount of submerged oil that will not be accessible is sure to cause a regional disaster to hurt the area for years to come.


I understand.

But you can't deny the effect of burning/refining all that oil either. Yes carbon dioxide is a large component of catalytic converters, but that's not the only gas being produced when that stuff is burned.

Besides, I hear there are TONS of plants just taking over the world, so all that extra CO2 aught to be good for them.


Most of our oxygen is produced by the oceans. They devour CO2. BUT- wipe out the plankton with oil and we have a whole different problem. The Gulf is being destroyed right now. It will NOT recover before the end of the world. This will wipe out many industries. Real estate along the shores will be smacked down.

I think this would be a good time to stock up on canned tuna. As bad as its mercury content already is, there will be a day very soon that nobody has any edible fish from the seas.

This little leak is too good to be accidental. You would have to be a complete moron to set up an oil tap without safety valves and shutoffs like this. The negligence or sabotage is extremely likely.

[Gknowmx]

Actually there is a big difference. CO2 from combustion is plant food and we can pump millions of tons into the atmosphere with no harm. This oil spill, however, is a long-lasting toxic killer that will wipe out most forms of life in the Gulf. I have heard of no promises to shut off the flow. Ther amount of submerged oil that will not be accessible is sure to cause a regional disaster to hurt the area for years to come.


I understand.

But you can't deny the effect of burning/refining all that oil either. Yes carbon dioxide is a large component of catalytic converters, but that's not the only gas being produced when that stuff is burned.

Besides, I hear there are TONS of plants just taking over the world, so all that extra CO2 aught to be good for them.


Most of our oxygen is produced by the oceans. They devour CO2. BUT- wipe out the plankton with oil and we have a whole different problem. The Gulf is being destroyed right now. It will NOT recover before the end of the world. This will wipe out many industries. Real estate along the shores will be smacked down.

I think this would be a good time to stock up on canned tuna. As bad as its mercury content already is, there will be a day very soon that nobody has any edible fish from the seas.

This little leak is too good to be accidental. You would have to be a complete moron to set up an oil tap without safety valves and shutoffs like this. The negligence or sabotage is extremely likely.


Do you ever spend time at The Oil Drum? http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6413

[Grog]

BP sucks. Their safety record is the worst ever.

No big surprise they were involved in this disaster with their storied history.

They hold the record largest OSHA fine ever, which they got last year.

They beat out the previous winner, themselves, yes they had the previous highest fine ever a few years before.

These fools are repeat offenders. Problem is that the fine is like a pimple to them. They keep on doing the wrong thing and having flagrant safety and regulatory issues.

I take workplace safety seriously. I don't think that BP does.

http://www.osha.gov/dep/bp/bp.html

[keehah]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704423504575212031417936798.html

regulators in two major oil-producing countries, Norway and Brazil, in effect require them. Norway has had acoustic triggers on almost every offshore rig since 1993.

The U.S. considered requiring a remote-controlled shut-off mechanism several years ago, but drilling companies questioned its cost and effectiveness, according to the agency overseeing offshore drilling. The agency, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, says it decided the remote device wasn't needed because rigs had other back-up plans to cut off a well...

An acoustic trigger costs about $500,000, industry officials said. The Deepwater Horizon had a replacement cost of about $560 million, and BP says it is spending $6 million a day to battle the oil spill. On Wednesday, crews set fire to part of the oil spill in an attempt to limit environmental damage.

Some major oil companies, including Royal Dutch Shell PLC and France's Total SA, sometimes use the device even where regulators don't call for it...

Transocean drillers aboard the rig at the time of the explosion, who should have been in a position to hit the main cutoff switch, are among the dead...

Rigs in Norway and Brazil are equipped with the remote-control devices, which can trigger the blowout preventers from a lifeboat in the event the electric cables connecting the valves to the drilling rig are damaged.

While U.S. regulators have called the acoustic switches unreliable and prone, in the past, to cause unnecessary shut-downs, Inger Anda, a spokeswoman for Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority, said the switches have a good track record in the North Sea. "It's been seen as the most successful and effective option," she said.

The manufacturers of the equipment, including Kongsberg Maritime AS, Sonardyne Ltd. and Nautronix PLC, say their equipment has improved significantly over the past decade.

The Brazilian government began urging the use of the remote-control equipment in 2007, after an extensive overhaul of its safety rules following a fire aboard an oil platform killed 11 people, said Raphael Moura, head of safety division at Brazil's National Petroleum Agency. "Our concern is both safety and the environment," he said.

Industry critics cite the lack of the remote control as a sign U.S. drilling policy has been too lax. "What we see, going back two decades, is an oil industry that has had way too much sway with federal regulations," said Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Democratic Florida Sen. Bill Nelson. "We are seeing our worst nightmare coming true."

[Grog]

and British Petroleum made what kind of profit last year?

at the expense of our fisheries. and coastline, etc.

This stuff really pisses me off. Few things suck more than a beach covered in tar or oil with dead fish for miles.

[Horn]

Transocean drillers aboard the rig at the time of the explosion, who should have been in a position to hit the main cutoff switch, are among the dead...

Guess that answers that question, think they'd put that guy with the off switch somewhere he wouldn't be torched.

Maybe this is an attack of some sorts being covered up?

Or maybe they just blew procedure?

Thanks,