Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster...

The articles posted about how much BP and its employees donated to different political figures says nothing about how much other oil companies donate. It also does not say what other oil rigs had the exclusion.

All companies donate as do many of their employees. All companies try to get concessions from whoever they can in order to lessen their costs and increase their profits. Remember a company is not there to to make the consumer happy or their employees. They are there to make money. How far they are willing to go in order to increase the bottom line varies.

Just think about how many billions of dollars the large oil companies made last year in the middle of an economic crisis. They don't do that well financially by playing nice. I am sure that they follow rules and try to make things safe. But this disaster is also a cost of doing business.

This accident is progressing along with long range planning involved. North Carolina's Emergency Management has been contacted about sending a Incident Management team to the Gulf Coast area. I am not sure which state requested it, but I know there is a National Emergency requiring teams to support clean up efforts. I work in NC State Government and this is what I got in a email.

NC Division of Forest Resources has been contacted by NC Emergency Management to find out if we have Type II IMT available to respond to the Gulf Coast if called upon via EMAC (Emergency Management Assistance Compact). This type request is somewhat different than a regular Southeast Compact or Federal (Fires/Floods/Hurricanes/Ice Storms) request as it is a request from another state's Emergency Management to NC EM for assistance. We are in the process of finding out all the details that this type of request entails. More information about EMAC can be found at http://www.emacweb.org/index.cfm.

I'll let you guys know more when I get additional info.

The issue of law suits against BP is addressed by the law that limits the liability they, or any other oil company can be held to. While the oil company is held responsible for the entire cost of clean-up they cannot be held liable for more than $75 million for businesses and individuals whose property or livelihoods are affected. Granted there is a fund with $1.6 billion in it now to be used for these claims, but $1.675 billion will not come close to covering losses should this spill do the damage it has the potential to do. I think it is fair to say that oil companies collectively have a tremendous influence on our government from the President on down. They may very well be the single most powerful entity on this planet. To put the $75 million limit of liability in perspective think about this: BP profited $14 billion last year. $75 million is about two days earnings from that year, and as I said earlier, BP saw a 45% decrease in profit in 2009. There is an exception to this limit which excludes a company who is found to be grossly negligent, involved in willful misconduct, or in violation of federal regulations. In the last couple of days Congress is considering passing a law post facto which will retroactively raise the liability for this incident. This is interesting because it clearly violates Article 1 Section 9 of the Constitution which states "No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed." There is a measure currently sponsored that will raise BP's liability to $10 billion. Ex post facto laws have been allowed to pass before, so there is precedent. Regardless of all this legal mumbo jumbo the clear cut losers will be everyone who purchases petroleum products. Oil companies will raise prices to cover for any losses they incur. They have collectively done this for years. They win...We lose.

This is late in coming I know, I've been "out of town", but I would like to thank Graham for shedding some facts on the discussion. There is no substitute for reality.

Thanks Graham.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100508/...gulf_oil_spill

Graham do you have any updates? I really have appreciated everything you have told us. I still haven't heard anything on the incident management team request, but when I do I will post it.

Interesting, Michael. That article says 5 minutes ago. Out running errands today, everyone in town (Baton Rouge) was talking about how a/the giant 'dome' they were working with was going to work.
It did "sound" like a good idea.

The smell has reached the coast of FL

http://cfnews13.com/News/Local/2010/...s_beaches.html



Plan B to contain the spill could take up to 3 weeks

http://cfnews13.com/News/Local/2010/...l_cleanup.html

This will sound as if I am picking on StrangeCargo, but let me start by saying I am not.

Originally Posted by StrangeCargo

...Drilling out here is HIGHLY regulated and safe. The Deepwater Horizon was one of the best around and the guys out there at the time of the accident were their best crew. The news media isn't giving you the whole story.... heck, we don't fully know what happened yet. But whatever happened was out of their control from what it looks like... It was a tradegy and alot of good people lost their lives... It's dangerous drilling out here...but heck, we all need gas for our cars, petroleum to make plastics, etc...

Originally Posted by StrangeCargo

It's Ok, wilomn is just like many of the other people out there- believing all the lies and conspiracy theories. I'm actually out here LIVING it. I just walked outside from looking across the gulf and seeing the boats working on the cleanup. I doubt he's ever been on an oil rig... I bet he drives a car and COMPLAINS about the gas prices. Just a hipocrite BUT I am glad he's concerned about teh enviroment. I LOVE the Gulf Of Mexico and the last thing I like to see if enviromental disasters like this. I'm glad BP is stepping up and spending the $$$ to get it fixed (they are even goning to reimburse commercial fishermen).

My job for halliburton that I'm doing on this well is called TFM (Total Fluids Management). I test the drilling fluid and make sure they are in compliance with enviromental discharges... Heck, I even test the water on the deck to see if there's any oil in it..if so, it's routed through a multimillion dollar cleaner system before it goes in the ocean.

We RECYCLE on the oil rigs...special trash compactors for paper, cardboard & plastics. Each lab/office has recycle bins.

If even a SINGLE drop of oil gets in the Gulf I have to do paperwork...they take the enviroment VERY serious out here.

The media will make us look bad BUT in reality, its a dangerous job- accidents happen- but we spend millions yearly doing everything we can to prevent them.

At home I garden organically, compost kitchen wastes, and do everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint.

What happened in teh Gulf is horrible...I hope the cleanup goes quick. MMS (our regulatory people) are already cracking down VERY hard to ensure this doesn't happen again. Alot of new regulations will be coming in place this year... this is VERY serious to the oil industry and the enviroment.

Sorry I babled... many of you might not agree with my line of work...it's ok- I understand... but PLEASE don't believe everything the media tells you BECAUSE we DO care about the enviroment.

Originally Posted by StrangeCargo

...Sorry to burst your bubble BUT there is no secret society of enviromental coverups... Don't you think that people (like you) are just waiting for stuff like this to happen? If this was a regular occurance- and not a freak accident- don't you think drilling in the gulf would be banned? You do realize that Halliburton is JUST a service provider...we do NOT own the oil rigs...we don't run the oil rigs. There are 10 OTHER companies out here- not just ONE company doing shady illegal things. We are a team- trying to work safely- to provide the United States with oil. Nothing shady goes on.

We are regulated by soooooooo many people. Last week alone we had two suprise visits by inspectors. We are constantly being monitored. Each night I email my reports to three different indipendent companies who look at my lab results. Each month our drilling fluids are tested by independent labs. Everybody and their mother keep an eye on us.

I can see your hatred for my company- don't you think there are hundreds of others like you- many watchdog groups- watching us constantly- waiting for an accident so y'all can point fingers? This recent tradegy has fuled the fire and gave everyone something to point fingers at. It's sad it happened...I pray the to deceased workers & their families... I pray that the Gulf will recover... that the enviroment will be ok... that the local fishermen will be ok... It's a tradegy.

Wilomn, I'm sure your a well meaning person who's just concerned about mother earth. I'm fully behind alternative energy- even if it means I'd be out of a job. Advances in solar and wind technologies are amazing- hopefully they'll continue so there will be no need for oil in the future. I doubt I can convince you otherwise, but there's honestly nothing shady going on out here. This was a freak and tragic accident- nothing more- lessons will be learned and new regulations will be put on the books. Believe me- if they we're doing illegal things, disreguarding safety polocies or destroying the enviroment; I wouldn't be working out here- I'd be back at my prior job as a Museum Curator instead.

Please watch the video until the end... That addresses trying to ban offshore drilling.

The Museum Curator job awaits.

Originally Posted by StrangeCargo

Just to clear this up for everyone.....

Halliburton does NOT own drilling rigs or production platforms.... simple... period.

It was NOT on production platform... it was a Deepwater Drilling Rig owned by TRANSOCEAN (not halliburton).

BP was the company contractor that RENTED the rig & crew from Transocean. The transocean crews do regular drilling and rig maintanence jobs. Halliburton hands did the cementing for the job. MI did the mud engineering. and so on-- probably 10- 12 other 3rd party speciality contractors to do the specialized jobs.
-------------------------------------------------------

Dang, for those so against oil companies & drilling, I hope y'all boycott the petroleum industry and refrain from using gas (driving your cars, mowing yoru lawns, etc), don't use ANY plastics (since plastics come from petroleum), no natural gas, etc.

There was a problem with the cementing as well.

Originally Posted by StrangeCargo

This is what bothers me the most. "Shoddy worksmanship" ????? Most of the time (especially the block we're drilling in ...and the one the deepwater horizon sunk in) you cannot predict what mother natures has in store when you drill into a formation. There are sooooooo many factors- many out of our control- that play into drilling a well. People aren't out here doing half-a$$ work.... they're doing everything 100% "by the books" with teh top of the line equipment. Each step we do out here is reviewed by our respected company offices...sit down meetings between the different companies...safety meetings...etc. There is no Shoddy Workmanship- we're all professionals who've went to schools/training/certifications to do our various jobs.

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I'm out. I'm just not going to waste anymore time on this thread- these conspiracy theories, far fetched malinformend lies, bum information, etc are nothing more than that...

In this report, many of the things StrangeCargo said are contradicted. I am not accusing him of lying, but I am pointing out that being out there in the Gulf did not prevent him from being misinformed and mislead. Appearances can be deceiving. Money and politics talk louder than procedures and regulations.

I am very pleased about the West Coast states idea to ban offshore drilling. The millions of dollars used to drill each hole in an attempt to find very little oil could be invested in clean energy development and implementation instead.

Oil spill headed towards the Loop Current

Posted by: JeffMasters, 4:01 PM GMT on May 17, 2010
Recent satellite imagery and flight over-passes of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill confirm that a surface tendril of oil has become entrained into a southward-moving current that threatens to pull oil into the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current late this week. The Loop Current is an ocean current that transports warm Caribbean water through the Yucatan Channel between Cuba and Mexico. The current flows northward into the Gulf of Mexico, then loops southeastward just south of the Florida Keys (where it is called the Florida Current), and then along the west side of the western Bahamas. Here, the waters of the Loop Current flow northward along the U.S. coast and become the Gulf Stream. Once oil gets into the Loop Current, the 1 - 2 mph speed of the current should allow the oil to travel the 500 miles to the Florida Keys in 10 - 20 days. Portions of the Loop Current flow at speed up to 4 mph, so the transport could be faster.

Why is oil getting close to the Loop Current?
The winds over the oil spill location are offshore out of the northwest today, and offshore winds will continue intermittently through Wednesday, helping push the oil southwards towards the Loop Current. However, the major reason oil is moving southwards is because of the instability of the currents in the Gulf of Mexico. The Loop Current is not a stable feature, and tends to surge northwards and southwards in a chaotic fashion, and in response to changes in the prevailing winds. Over the past week, chaotic behavior of the Loop Current and a clockwise-rotating eddy just to its north, just south of the oil spill location, have combined to bring a current of southward-moving surface water to the oil spill location. As strong on-shore winds from the southeast slackened this past weekend, oil has been drawn southward towards the Loop Current. An examination of the latest NOAA trajectory forecasts and surface current forecasts reveals the possibility that this tendril of southward-moving oil could make it into the Loop Current late this week. It is highly uncertain how much oil might make it into the Loop Current, or how diluted it might get on its voyage to the Florida Keys next week. Southeast to east winds of 10 - 15 knots are expected to develop late this week and extend into early next week, which may be strong enough to impose a surface current that will prevent oil from getting into the Loop Current this month. I predict a 30% chance that oil will make it into the Loop Current in the next two weeks.
To see the following pictures and full article see website below...

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/Jef...?entrynum=1482


Figure 1. Forecast made at 8pm EDT Sunday May 16, 2010, of the Gulf of Mexico currents by NOAA's HYCOM model. A persistent southward flowing surface current is predicted to occur this week between the oil spill location (red dot) and the Loop Current. Image credit: NOAA.

Likely areas of impact once oil gets into the Loop Current
Based on a study of 194 floating probes released into the Northeast Gulf of Mexico during a 1-year study in the 1990s (Figure 2), the west coast of Florida from Tampa Bay southwards to the Everglades is at minimal risk of receiving oil from surface currents. There is a "forbidden zone" off the southwest Florida coast where the shape of the coast, bottom configuration, and prevailing winds all act to create upwelling and surface currents that tend to take water away from the coast. This study implies that the greatest risk of land impacts by surface oil caught in the Loop Current is along the ocean side of the Florida Keys, and along the coast of Southeast Florida from Miami to West Palm Beach. Eddies breaking away from the Gulf Stream would also likely bring oil to northwest Cuba, the western Bahamas, and the U.S. East Coast as far north as Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, though at lesser concentrations. Southwest Florida cannot rest entirely, though--the "forbidden zone" is only true for surface waters, and there is onshore flow below the surface. Since recent ship measurements have detected substantial plumes of oil beneath the surface, southwest Florida might be at risk if one of these plumes gets entrained into the Loop Current. These subsurface plumes were also detected by current probes launched into the oil spill on May 8 by one of NOAA's hurricane hunter aircraft, according to one scientist I spoke to at last week's AMS hurricane conference. There are plans for the Hurricane Hunters to go out again tomorrow and drop more probes into the spill to attempt to get a better handle on where the oil is and where the currents are taking it.


Figure 2. Paths of 194 floating probes released into the yellow-outlined area in the northeast Gulf of Mexico between February 1996 and February 1997 as part of a study by the Mineral Management Service (MMS). The probes were all launched into waters with depth between 20 and 60 meters. Image credit: Yang, H., R.H. Weisberga, P.P. Niilerb, W. Sturgesc, and W. Johnson, 1999, Lagrangian circulation and forbidden zone on the West Florida Shelf, Continental Shelf Research Volume 19, Issue 9, July 1999, Pages 1221-1245 doi:10.1016/S0278-4343(99)00021-7

When will a Loop Current eddy break off?
Every 6 - 11 months, the looped portion of the Loop Current cuts off into a clockwise-rotating ring of water that then slowly drifts west-southwest towards Texas. When one of these rings breaks off at the peak of hurricane season, it provides a source of heat energy capable of providing fuel for rapid intensification of any hurricanes that might cross over. The Loop Current is not predicted to shed an ring over the next month, as predicted by the latest 1-month forecast from the U.S. Navy. However, the last eddy broke off in July of 2009, ten month ago, and it is unusual for the Loop Current to go more than eleven months without shedding an eddy. I expect we'll see the Loop Current shed an eddy in July or August, just in time to pose the maximum threat for hurricane season. According to an interesting February 2004 article published by offshore-engineer.com, reliable forecasts of these currents and eddies are not available yet. Keep in mind that surface currents are largely driven by winds, and wind forecasts are not reliable out more than about 10 days.

References
Yang, H., R.H. Weisberga, P.P. Niilerb, W. Sturgesc, and W. Johnson, 1999, Lagrangian circulation and forbidden zone on the West Florida Shelf, Continental Shelf Research Volume 19, Issue 9, July 1999, Pages 1221-1245 doi:10.1016/S0278-4343(99)00021-7.

The tar balls have reached the Keys!