BP gulf oil well problem

[HarveyH42]

It is easy to be an "arm chair expert", but not so easy when you're in the hot seat trying to solve the problem.

I really don't believe that BP is not doing its best to plug the leak.

Some years ago, one of the oil companies wanted to drill on the Great Barrier Reef. Fortunately, our government had the wisdom & foresight to disallow it.

An oil spill on the GBR would be similar in its devastation to the current Gulf situation given the diversity of life that depend on the reef for food & shelter.

Wouldn't claim to be an 'expert' on anything, but my impression is that BP's highest priority is to regain control over the well, not seal it off. Your government didn't allow drilling, so there must have been considerable discussion before they prevented it. I do remember a lot of debate over drilling in the Gulf, research, studies... Before giving approval, there must of have been plans and procedures for dealing with disaster, quickly and effectively. I'm not seeing any decisive action, mostly people scratching their head, figuring out as it goes. Usually one strong storm goes through the gulf every year, and and oil well can expected to ride out a few major hurricanes in its productive lifetime. They would never have gotten permission, with out a convincing plan for keeping spill damage to a minimal, so what happened to that?

I also don't believe that BP will have to pay 100% of the clean up, property damage, lost income, or ruin lives. Anybody, whose sole income, is based on the gulf, will have to find a new source of income for quite a few years, since BP won't be writing any checks anytime soon. A large portion of this mess, is going to be paid for with tax dollars, and not British tax money either. Still don't see the reason a British based company was doing, poking holes off our shores, guess they already fouled a few beaches over there, and got sent to play else where. Shouldn't take two months to figure out how to stuff a cork in a hole, not to mention the probably of having to do it must have been considered for several years, before any drilling was ever allowed.

 

[ghostman11]

I also don't believe that BP will have to pay 100% of the clean up, property damage, lost income, or ruin lives. Anybody, whose sole income, is based on the gulf, will have to find a new source of income for quite a few years, since BP won't be writing any checks anytime soon. A large portion of this mess, is going to be paid for with tax dollars, and not British tax money either. Still don't see the reason a British based company was doing, poking holes off our shores, guess they already fouled a few beaches over there, and got sent to play else where. Shouldn't take two months to figure out how to stuff a cork in a hole, not to mention the probably of having to do it must have been considered for several years, before any drilling was ever allowed.

lets get something straight shall we.... BP does not stand for British Protroleum! it was privatised many moons ago and changed its name about ten years ago. its a global company owned by many many share holders the majority of wich are american pension fund companys etc.
face facts with the amount of wells the americans have because of there insatiable comsumption of oil the law of averages say sooner or later you were going to have a disaster one way or the other. if the american people paid a fraction of the tax on oil that the British do then the cost of clean up wouldnt even be an issue, but no you wouldnt stand for that you want cheap oil and lots of it but you dont want to risk your coast lines etc with oil wells and you certainly dont want to take responsibilty for it when it goes tits up.

Obama is getting alot of uk people annoyed by refering to it as British Pretroleum etc, it is starting to feel like the uk is getting the blame when i doubt there was a single british person on the rig when it broke. we didnt license them to dig a well there you did, we didnt use the oil from the well you did. so how come its our problem??

 

[Sceadwian]

It used to be called British Petroleum, until a string of mergers when it was renamed just BP.

 

[tvtech]

Play nicely folks. Most of us here will suffer a heart attack going to bed in war mode....never mind the Wife with her red flag up and all too...

Cheers

 

[Sceadwian]

Whoever said it was your problem ghostman? But before you say it's mostly American owned you might want to actually check out BPs website...

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[BrownOut]

Whoever said it was your problem ghostman?

Don't you read?

Still don't see the reason a British based company was doing, poking holes off our shores, guess they already fouled a few beaches over there, and got sent to play else where

 

[Sceadwian]

Yeah sure Brownout, because I'm sure Harvey and Ghostman are of course internationally renowned experts on the issue, and that somehow makes Britain culpable for the whole ordeal.....

 

[HarveyH42]

I'm really not that ignorant or naive, America probably has the most company's with home offices here, but the majority of their operations are overseas (cheap labor, is one reason). I don't hold the UK, or the British people responsible, just the oil company and our president/government for not taking more aggressive action, or even a plan worked in advance to deal with such a situation, which most likely going to happen eventually. There is no way these engineers or politicians could not have been aware of the risk and results. We've disgust Climate Change, and we are assure of the results to expect in a century or so, and this oil problem is much more down to earth.

My comments about the British, were only the result of boring history classes as a youth, and the revelation that BP stood for British Petroleum. I hadn't meant to be quite that offensive. Large companies can usually buy the special privileges they need, from any government, guess it's just cheaper here. If the finger must be point, it should be at our corrupt government. This problem really showcases just how bad leaders have gotten over the years, and I really hope some of the go to jail over this. We pay taxes, that pay salaries to people to watch over such things, to keep us safe. These people obviously weren't doing the work, they were receiving pay for, and that makes them thieves.

I'm sure that BP was in a rush to get the new well settled in, before the first hurricane swept through. They knew they may only have a month or two to get the job done, cut a few corners, which is where most accidents happen. Sure, I don't know anything about undersea oil wells, but it does appear that just stuffing a cork in the hole, will be the last thing they try. They want to keep that money flowing, and I strongly believe they lose the site, when the well stops producing. Personally think the should lose all their drilling rights off our shores.

Oh, the oil slick just hit Florida beaches yesterday, not bad yet, like some of the other states, but it's here, and gets worse everyday from now on. Another fun thing, our normal afternoon thunderstorms, have returned this year. The past four or five years, there was much going on, where normally they are pretty much daily, usually no more than an hour, but pretty intense. This isn't going to help the people trying to clean up the oil mess, could be kind of dangerous.

 

[tcmtech]

The math does not seem to add up again.

They say they are capturing around 10,000 barrels a day off the well. A barrel of crude oil is 42 gallons. So thats 420,000 gallons a day.

Initially they said the well was only leaking around 200,000 gallons a day at most. That seems to be a near 2:1 error on one end or another.

 

[Sceadwian]

heheh The well was leaking =)

 

[Ross Craney]

ABC News - Fred Dagg on BP - Austech

 

[HarveyH42]

The math does not seem to add up again.

They say they are capturing around 10,000 barrels a day off the well. A barrel of crude oil is 42 gallons. So thats 420,000 gallons a day.

Initially they said the well was only leaking around 200,000 gallons a day at most. That seems to be a near 2:1 error on one end or another.

Well, they did cut off the pipe, which would increase the flow, a little... But, I'm sure they've been low-balling the 'estimate' since it started, there really isn't anyway that it could be measured to say they were lying. Somebody good at math and physic might figure something relatively close, since they had the flow rate, before the accident, the pipe diameter, and should be able to estimate the hole in the pipe from the video.

Doubt the real numbers would make much difference though, other than brag about just how much oil is in the gulf, waiting to be cashed in on. It had better be a very long time, before they allow any new wells, and a great deal of safety measures in place, not to mention a clearly detailed clean up plan, much better than what they've been using for decades. The really nasty part has just begun, and will continue to get much worse over the next 5-6 months.

 

[HarveyH42]

ABC News - Fred Dagg on BP - Austech

I click the link, but think something is missing... Goes to a forum, but either the the link to the media was removed, or only available to registered members...

 

[BrownOut]

Nobody has believed the 200Kgal/day in awhile. BP has indeed been low-balling the estimate, as well as conducting an extensive cover-up operation. I've read accounts of photo journalists who have been blocked from photographing oiled wetlands and wildlife by BP representatives. People hired by BP for the cleanup have been forced to sign contracts that prohibit them from talking to the media. The oil giant is clearly not forthcoming, and nothing they say can be believed.

I was reading about the beaches in Pensacola this morning, and how these pristine beaches are being fouled. This was, at one time, my favorite vacation destination. I learned to sail in Pensacola Bay. For those who have never been there, Pensacola beach at Santa Rose Island is among the most beautiful beaches in the world. The sand is white quartz, and the water is clear, with a tint of emerald green. It truly rivals the more revered beaches anywhere. The oil slick is beginning to wash up on this pristine beach, and this is a tragedy. Once the oil is in the sands, it will remain there for a generation, no matter how the media is spinning the so-called cleanup. I was reading the other day about South Padre Island, at one time another pristine Gulf Coast beach that was fouled by oil from the Ixtoc disaster. Residence there talked about the awful oily smell that permeated the island for decades after the spill. From paradise to toxic waste dump in a matter of days. In Prince Williams Sound, the oil remains under the rocks even after two decades. Sport fishing companies are reporting catching fish that are covered in oil. Make no mistake; this is an unmitigated disaster for the Gulf.

Now, the media is telling us that the barrier islands are the best barriers against the oil. Although keeping oil out of the bays and estuaries is important, fouling these islands is itself a tragedy. They are important to the people and wildlife all along the Gulf, and believe it or not, the sand upon which these islands are made is more valuable to the Gulf than all of the oil under its waters. Although the Gulf isn’t as revered as, say the Mediterranean, tourism and recreation brings far more economic development to the region than oil production, and these beaches are the reason. To lose them is to lose one of the world’s foremost treasures.

Aside from its beauty, the Gulf is a region of incredible diversity of life. From the smallest protozoa to the largest animals in earth, it supports an amazing collection of wildlife. Perhaps the worst of the disaster is to lose this population of life.

 

[HiTech]

Now we have Obama being interviewed by Matt Lauer claiming he's looking to "kick someone's ass". And people called George Bush a cowboy? I guess this puffy language makes Obama a street thug. Obama needs to look no further than the asses in his own ASS (Democratic) Party for the intentionally delayed responses on their part. This is staged politics at its best. Obama kicking ass.... puhleeze! His own wife could likely kick his ass around the Oval Office when it comes down to it.

 

[mramos1]

This is staged politics at its best. Obama kicking ass.... puhleeze! His own wife could likely kick his ass around the Oval Office when it comes down to it.

Never thought about it. But we might be better off if his wife was in charge of the spill.

 

[ljcox]

I click the link, but think something is missing... Goes to a forum, but either the the link to the media was removed, or only available to registered members...

Where is the link?

 

[BrownOut]

Now we have Obama being interviewed by Matt Lauer claiming he's looking to "kick someone's ass". And people called George Bush a cowboy? I guess this puffy language makes Obama a street thug. Obama needs to look no further than the asses in his own ASS (Democratic) Party for the intentionally delayed responses on their part. This is staged politics at its best. Obama kicking ass.... puhleeze! His own wife could likely kick his ass around the Oval Office when it comes down to it.

Yeah, cause the Republicans did sooooooo much better responding to the Valdez disaster.

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[HiTech]

Yeah, cause the Republicans did sooooooo much better responding to the Valdez disaster.

The Valdez disaster was a first lesson for both parties to learn from and therefore set new guidelines and laws. This mess was clearly ignored by the White Hosue. The Coast Guard Admiral was in constant communication with Obama since day #3 of the accident. What kind of a president shows up on the scene a month later and then goes on national television to pubically state he needs to know who's ass to kick? What a complete baffoon and a real indicator to us all that he's a puppet. This is nothing more than White House "damage control".

 

[BrownOut]

The Valdez disaster was a first lesson for both parties to learn from and therefore set new guidelines and laws. This mess was clearly ignored by the White Hosue. The Coast Guard Admiral was in constant communication with Obama since day #3 of the accident. What kind of a president shows up on the scene a month later and then goes on national television to pubically state he needs to know who's ass to kick? What a complete baffoon and a real indicator to us all that he's a puppet. This is nothing more than White House "damage control".

Like what new laws and guidelines? You mean the laws that allow oil companies to legally cut corners and operate without proper systems in place to prevent disasters? Or laws that don't require drillers to have a fleet of skimmers? Or maybe you mean laws that exempt oil companies from paying royalties that might be used to pay for cleanup? Yeah, there was really alot learned from the Valdez spill BTW, the Ixtoc spill preceded Valdez by 20 years, why didn't anyone learn from it?

As for Obama, I'm guessing that if Duyba can run the country from his ranch in Crawford, then "O" can probably run the effort from Washington.