Oil Drilling News

GULF OIL DISASTER

New questions on stability of cement in gulf oil well before explosion

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/28/AR2010102804124.html

and of course Halliburton is in Denial and is Pointing Fingers at BP 

Also see 

Halliburton Spill Liability May Rise on BP Well Report

BP dispersants 'causing sickness'

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2010/10/20101027132136220370.html

"Denise Rednour of Long Beach, Mississippi, has been taking walks on Long Beach nearly every day since the disaster began on April 20, and she is dealing with constant health issues. 

"I've had health problems since the middle of July," she said. "At the end of August, I came home from walking on the beach and for four days had bloody, mucus-filled diarrhea, dry heaves, and blood running out of my ear." 

Karen Hopkins, in Grand Isle, Louisiana, has been sick since the middle of May. "I started feeling exhausted, disoriented, dizzy, nauseous, and my chest was burning and I can't breath well at times," she said."

More on dispersants.

Surfrider Foundation Visits the Gulf

http://oilonthebeach.blogspot.com/2010/10/surfrider-foundation-visits-gulf.html

NOT THE ANSWER

Double Blow For U.S. Oil Dependency Hopes

http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2010/10/28/double-blow-for-us-oil-dependency-hopes/?mod=google_news_blog

"Already unrealistic hopes that the U.S. could mitigate the profound economic and security implications of weaning itself off foreign oil by dramatically boosting domestic output are more remote than ever. [...] If the country is serious in its intention to wean itself off foreign oil, it's time to switch the focus from billion-barrel reserves to miles per gallon."

In other words, the answer lies in reducing the demand side of the supply/demand balance. 

LOUISIANA

The Louisiana Paradox: Loving Wildlife and Oil Drilling

http://www.onearth.org/article/the-louisiana-paradox-loving-wildlife-and-oil-drilling

The Louisiana Paradox: Loving Wildlife and Oil Drilling

The Louisiana Paradox: Loving Wildlife and Oil Drilling

Map Data - Terms of Use

The Louisiana Paradox: Loving Wildlife and Oil Drilling

The Louisiana Paradox: Loving Wildlife and Oil Drilling

The Louisiana Paradox: Loving Wildlife and Oil Drilling

http://www.onearth.org/article/the-louisiana-paradox-loving-wildlife-and-oil-drilling

Oil Drilling News

GULF OIL DISASTER

Oil Spill Commission finds Halliburton's cement was unstable, failed multiple tests before Deepwater Horizon disaster

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/oil_spill_commission_announces.html

Fishermen Report Louisiana Bays Filled With Oil

http://www.truth-out.org/fishermen-report-louisiana-bays-filled-with-oil64564

More on the "is it oil or is it algae" controversy.  A lot of fisherman believe it is clearly oil in East Bay and West Bay, which cover an area of roughly 70 square miles of open water that surround Southwest Pass, the main shipping channel of the Mississippi River.  Also see Are Shrimpers Inadvertently Churning Up Oil? at Skytruyh.org.

But then is this the final word? --> Definitely algae, not oil, scientists conclude of Gulf substance

Latest Map of Fishery Closure Area

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sf/deepwater_horizon/BP_OilSpill_FisheryClosureMap_102210_1.pdf

Fishery Closure Area = 9,444 square miles, a

pprox. 4% of the Gulf of Mexico Federal Waters

More Poll Numbers on Global Warming, Offshore Oil Drilling and Alternative Energy

http://people-press.org/report/669/

ALTERNATIVES TO OIL

Remember Renewable Energy? 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/opinion/28thurs1.html

ALABAMA

Moral Forum participants debate offshore drilling

http://www.cw.ua.edu/2010/10/27/moral-forum-participants-debate-offshore-drilling/

Oil Drilling News

OIL DRILLING

Drilling returning to Gulf

http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20101027/BUSINESS/10270308/Drilling-returning-to-Gulf

Majority of Likely Voters Support Expanded Offshore Drilling

http://washingtonindependent.com/101749/majority-of-likely-voters-support-expanded-offshore-drilling

"...59 percent of likely voters would approve of  "allowing more offshore oil and gas drilling." Just 35 percent would disapprove."

ALTERNATIVES TO OIL

Navy boat uses algae-based fuel on way to 'green fleet'

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/26/navy-boat-uses-algae-based-fuel-on-way-to-green-fleet/

ALABAMA

Frustration remains six months after oil spill

http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=13361603

LOUISIANA

Louisiana Builds Barriers Even as Oil Disperses

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/us/22berms.html

"Three months after BP capped its runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico, the state of Louisiana is still building a chain of sand berms off its coast to block and capture oil even as federal officials and many scientists argue that the effort will prove pointless."

Coastal parishes get 'pittance' in offshore revenues

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20101021/ARTICLES/101029819/-1/opinion?Title=Coastal-parishes-get-8216-pittance-8217-in-offshore-revenues

MISSISSIPPI

Six Months After the Deepwater Horizon Disaster: Gulfport and Biloxi

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-505249?ref=feeds%2Foncnn

Oil Drilling News

BP, DEAD FISH, THE SPILL AND BEYOND

BP Stonewalls Congress and Continues in Denial

http://globalwarming.house.gov/mediacenter/pressreleases_2008?id=0329#main_content

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/26/business/energy-environment/26oil.html?hp

A less-than-auspicious start for Mr. Dudley. Also see BP chief strikes back at media and politicians

Fish Kill and BP Cover Up Confirmed on Grand Isle

http://birding.typepad.com/gulf/2010/10/fish-kill-and-bp-cover-up-confirmed-on-grand-isle-by-jerry-moran.html

"In light of recent comments made by LDWF and NOAA biologists in an article on CNSNews.com that there is no evidence that ANY fish died as a result of the oil spill I feel compelled to revisit a few photos from the first days of the spill and to repost some information and photos gathered just this week by intrepid New Orleans photo-journalist Jerry Moran.  Jerry found the stench of death every where on Grand Isle, and mounds of dead fish buried in the sand by BP clean up crews, just this week!!!"

The Spill - On air and online October 26, 2010 at 9:00pm (check local listings)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-spill/?utm_campaign=homepage&utm_medium=proglist&utm_source=proglist

The Weeks Bay Principles for Gulf Recovery

http://healthygulf.org/201010141524/blog/bps-oil-drilling-disaster-in-the-gulf-of-mexico/the-weeks-bay-principles-for-gulf-recovery

"Six months after the BP oil disaster began, the diverse communities that live, work, and derive benefit from the Gulf call on government to take responsibility to:

•  Make coastal communities whole again;
•  Commit to cleaning up and restoring the Gulf;
•  Hold BP accountable;
•  Ensure local participation in decision-making;
•  Conduct short and long-term monitoring; and
•  Invest in economic opportunities to support locally-driven, sustainable recovery that restores and enhances America's Gulf coast."

FLORIDA

Group Wants Oil Drilling Ban in State Constitution

http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/16613-1

Oil Drilling News

CONTROVERSIES IN THE GULF

SURFACE OIL SLICKS - OR NOT?

Massive stretches of weathered oil spotted in Gulf of Mexico

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/massive_stretches_of_weathered.html

Coast Guard says substance found floating in Gulf is algae, not oil

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/coast_guard_says_substance_fou.html

LAYER OF OIL ON THE BOTTOM - OR NOT?

Research teams find oil on bottom of Gulf

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-10-25-oilresearch25_ST_N.htm

"Last week, Steve Lehmann, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a top science adviser to the Coast Guard, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that his agency has not found any oil on the seafloor. 

"The concept of a big slick of oil sinking to the bottom is kind of an anathema," he said. "We have not found anything that we would consider actionable at 5,000 feet or 5 feet.""

FISH KILLED BY OIL - OR NOT?

Deepwater Horizon Response Consolidated Fish and Wildlife Collection Report, 

October 14, 2010

http://www.restorethegulf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/Consolidated%20Wildlife%20Table%20101410.pdf

(6104 collected dead birds, 605 collected dead sea turtles, 97 collected dead marine mammals)

No Evidence Gulf Oil Spill Killed Fish, Says NOAA

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/no-fish-likely-killed-bp-oil-spill-fed-a

Note that this article discusses just "finfish" and does not cover impacts to birds, marine mammals and other wildlife. Also note all the qualifying language.

Oil Drilling News

GULF OIL DISASTER

Commission Is Stumped on Future of Offshore Drilling

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704763904575550433689906508.html

"...commissioner Cherry Murray, the dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, said, "The hazards of ultra deep-water need to be spelled out a little bit more." 

Commissioner Frances Ulmer, the chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage, urged the seven-member commission to challenge the idea that "we can get to some imaginary goal of completely eliminating imports." 

"If you went to all electric cars, 70% of our oil usage would go away," responded Ms. Murray. 

Mr. Reilly then discussed how the media might interpret the panel's findings. "I was just thinking of a headline that says: 'Offshore drilling commission, responding to the blowout in the gulf, recommends the expansion of offshore drilling.' " 

Replied Commission Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council: "Let's not do that."

Offshore oil drillers find confusion over worst-case spill

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/offshore_oil_drillers_find_con.html

WILDLIFE, HUMAN AND ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS

NOAA Reopens Nearly 7,000 Square Miles in the Gulf of Mexico to Fishing

http://www.restorethegulf.gov/release/2010/10/15/noaa-reopens-nearly-7000-square-miles-gulf-mexico-fishing

Current Fishery Closure Map (16,481 square miles)

ALTERNATIVES TO OIL

Pentagon going green, because it has to

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101013/sc_afp/uspoliticsmilitaryenergyenvironment

"Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, has set a goal of having renewable energy account for 50 percent of power for the Navy and Marines by 2020." 

RFK Jr. speaks on water issues, sustainable energy

http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/show_story.php?id=5313

"What we need to do is to create in this country the same thing Eisenhower did in the '50s and '60s (building the interstate highway system)," Kennedy said. "We need to build a national supergrid." Kennedy said that's just one of three keys needed to make sustainable energy a reality in the U.S. He also called for a national marketplace for energy, letting those whose homes generate more electricity than they use sell it to power companies at full market rate.
And, he said, the county needs to end what he called subsidies to incumbents. Kennedy said taxpayers not only subsidize oil and coal companies, they also pay to clean up the wastes they leave behind and increased health care costs due to pollution."

API: Modestly better US oil demand reflects general economy

http://www.ogj.com/index/article-display/1497775311/articles/oil-gas-journal/general-interest-2/economics-markets/2010/10/api_-modestly_better/QP129867/cmpid=EnlDailyOctober152010.html

It should come as no surprise that the American Petroleum Institute equates economic recovery with increased demand for their petroleum products, but does it have to be that way?  The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that 

we can cut America's projected oil consumption by 2030 in half. This would  save tens of billions of dollars at the gas pump and provide for a safer, more diverse, and more secure American energy future.  We could have a strong economy and a cleaner environment.  Oh, I forgot, one problem - Big Oil wouldn't be quite so rich.

FLORIDA

Charlie Crist: Lifting oil drilling moratorium is mistake

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/charlie-crist-lifting-oil-drilling-moratorium-mistake

"Even though oil spilled far from Florida's shores, our tourism and seafood industries received an economic blow. We simply cannot afford another spill. Florida is a tourism state, not an oil state, and Floridians deserve to have the opportunity to choose whether we allow drilling off our beautiful beaches, by way of a constitutional amendment."

EUROPE

Stop Oil Spill (Surfrider Europe petition and video)

http://www.stopoilspill.surfrider.eu/

Note:  Oil Drilling News will be on vacation next week and will return on October 25.

Oil Drilling News

GULF OIL DISASTER 

Interesting factoid: Louisiana loses a football field of wetlands every 45 minutes and 40% to 60% of that is attributed to oil

and gas activity.  Source: Ko, Jae-Young, Impacts of Oil and Gas Activities on Coastal Wetlands Loss in the Mississippi Delta,

Harter Research Institute. Also Penland, Shea, et al., Process Classification of Coastal Land Loss Between

1932 and 1990 in the Mississippi River Delta Plain, Southeastern Louisiana. (1990). U.S. Geological

Survey, Open File Report 00-418.

WILDLIFE, HUMAN AND ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS

How Toxic are Oil Dispersants? Groups Press EPA to Find Out Before Next Spill (Earthjustice Press Release)

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/10/13-6

Also see: Beachapedia article on dispersants

ALASKA

Shell still hopes to drill for oil in Alaska

http://alaskadispatch.com/dispatches/energy/7069-shell-still-hopes-to-drill-for-oil-in-alaska

Doesn't that slick animation remove any fears you might have had about an oil well blowout?

Oil Drilling News

GULF OIL DISASTER

LIFTING THE MORATORIUM ON DEEPWATER DRILLING

U.S. lifts ban on deep-water drilling

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/12/AR2010101206259.html

Several more articles on this, including:

Government Ends Deepwater Drilling Ban

Gulf Drilling Ban Is Lifted

Lifting of Deep-Water Drilling Ban Fails to Win Praise

"Peter Lehner, executive director of the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council, called the decision premature.  

"Multiple panels are still investigating the accident, and we need to have their answers -- and their solutions implemented -- before we can confidently move forward with deep-water drilling," Lehner said in a statement. 

"This is pure politics of the most cynical kind," Phil Radford, executive director of Greenpeace USA, said in a statement. "The White House wants us to believe that they have solved all the dangers of offshore drilling and we can return to business as usual. It is a false promise, if not a big lie." "

Lifting the drilling moratorium: How politics spilled into policy

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/12/AR2010101206279.html

Fact Sheet: Enhanced Requirements to 

Resume Deepwater Drilling Activities

http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=64755

WILDLIFE, HUMAN AND ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS

Unified Area Command Weekly Update

http://www.restorethegulf.gov/release/2010/10/13/unified-area-command-weekly-update

"Approximately 98 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline are currently experiencing moderate to heavy oil impacts-approximately 88 miles in Louisiana, 9 miles in Mississippi and 1 mile in Florida.  

Approximately 458 miles of shoreline are experiencing light to trace oil impacts-approximately 203 miles in Louisiana, 81 miles in Mississippi, 60 miles in Alabama, and 114 miles in Florida."

Louisiana revival: Eco-engineering on a giant scale

http://www.mikeroweworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6124

Original article in New Scientist

ALASKA

Interior Dept. Reviews Controversial Alaska Lease Sale

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101012-714671.html

VIRGINIA

McDonnell renews push for offshore drilling

http://www.dailypress.com/news/newport-news/dp-nws-mcdonnell-energy-20101013,0,4698036.story

REDUCING OUR DEPENDENCE ON OIL

National Oil Savings Plan (Union of Concerned Scientists)

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/solutions/cleaner_cars_pickups_and_suvs/national-oil-savings-plan.html

"If we instead secure the needed commitments from decision makers, automakers, fuel producers, and consumers, together, we can cut America's projected oil consumption by 2030 in half. This would  save tens of billions of dollars at the gas pump; provide for a safer, more diverse, and more secure American energy future; and put the United States squarely in the driver's seat as a leader in addressing the urgent issue of climate change. "