Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Oil Drilling News


GULF OIL DISASTER


BP Took Risk On Well Job: Investigator


Deepwater Horizon crew lost focus, suggests Gulf oil spill panel


Testimony indicates poor cementing of drilling rigs is a widespread problem
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/09/1917737/testimony-indicates-poor-cementing.html


Gulf of Mexico oil spill commission wins over some initial doubters


Researchers find more evidence that microbes ate BP oil in Gulf


Gulf Oil Plumes Still a Threat?

"And we need to all take a look at ourselves and change our own individual ways as much as we can to have a smaller impact on the world because until the global appetite for oil and gas is decreased, oil producing companies will continue to drill in deepwater in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Nigeria, in the Indian Ocean, you name it. This isn't going to stop until the consumption stops and that starts with each of us. It doesn't start with anybody else. It starts with an individual person. It starts with me and it starts with you."

Gulf seafood declared safe, but doubts linger

ALABAMA


BP says it has paid $657 million to Alabama so far




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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Oil Drilling News

GULF OIL DISASTER

Culture of complacency' ruled at companies, oil spill panel's co-chairman says

"William K. Reilly, who was EPA administrator under President George H.W. Bush, said that the panel's investigators had uncovered "a suite of bad decisions," many still inexplicable, involving tests that were poorly run, alarming test results that were ignored, proper equipment sidelined, and safety barriers that were removed at the high-pressure well prematurely. "Each company is responsible for one or more egregiously bad decision," Reilly said in opening comments on Tuesday."


Oil Traveled Up the Gulf Food Chain, Scientists Say
""We showed with little doubt that oil consumed by marine bacteria did reach the larger zooplankton that form the base of the food chain," Monty Graham, the lead author of the report, said in a news release. These zooplankton are in turn eaten by larger marine organisms like fish and whales.  [...]  The study did not look for toxicity in the food web; government scientists are studying that question. But it adds to the larger picture of the oil's fate, providing evidence that much of the oil that "disappeared" was, to put it more precisely, eaten."

The Gulf Between Us - Stories of terror and beauty from the world's largest accidental offshore oil disaster

THE ARCTIC

Oil and ice: worse than the Gulf spill?
"In the wake of BP's catastrophic leak in the Gulf of Mexico this spring, Russian officials and experts warn an oil spill under the ice could turn out far worse than one in warmer deepwater climates. Arctic conditions -- remoteness, fragile ecosystems, darkness, sub-zero temperatures, ice, high winds -- make dealing with an oil spill a massive task."

NORTH CAROLINA


Wrightsville mayor concerned about offshore drilling

"Mayor David Cignotti said he's concerned about the potential for the drilling on the North Carolina coast.  His main concern is to prevent another spill like the one that happened in the Gulf. 

Cignotti also discussed the importance of tourism to Wrightsville Beach and how the industry would be devastated by a spill. 

Environment North Carolina said only a two or three month supply of oil would be found off the state's coast."


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Monday, November 8, 2010

Oil Drilling News


GULF OIL DISASTER


BP Stock Rebounds, Media Moves on, But Gulf Residents Are Bracing for a Mammoth Health Crisis from the Spill

"Severe headaches, nausea, respiratory problems, burning eyes and throat, earache and chest pains -- and that's just the beginning."

Ruling could postpone new drilling mandates


Spill Investigator Sees No Sign That Cost Trumped Safety


ALASKA


Shell Presses for Drilling in Arctic

"As part of the effort, the giant oil company is promising to make unprecedented preparations to prevent the kind of disaster that polluted the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year."

FLORIDA


Six months after the oil spill, Floridians stage beach walk to show coast is clear


ALTERNATIVES TO OIL 

BMW Inaugurates a Factory for Electric Cars


Foreign oil isn't the problem, it's consumption, professor says



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Friday, November 5, 2010

Oil Drilling News

GULF OIL DISASTER


Coral Dying Near Site of BP Oil Spill

"In a research cruise that ended Thursday, the scientists found coral "covered by what appeared to be a brown substance" about seven miles southwest of the BP PLC well that gushed oil into the Gulf between late April and mid-July, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement. It won't be clear whether the substance was oil – and, if so, whether it was oil from the BP well – until further tests are done, the agency said. 

The NOAA report is the latest to flag potential underwater environmental damage from the oil spill. Earlier this year, other researchers said they found sediment on the sea floor several miles from the BP well that was covered in a substance that appeared to be oil. Testing to determine the source of that substance is still ongoing, those researchers say."


World's oil thirst leads to risks

LOUISIANA


Louisiana Rethinks Its Sand Berms

"...Louisiana has changed its tune considerably. On Monday, Bobby Jindal, the state's governor, announced that $100 million of the remaining berm money would be redirected toward coastal restoration, a move endorsed by BP. 

Specifically, the money would be used to convert the more than 10 miles of berms already built from temporary oil-blocking structures into permanent barrier islands. The remaining $40 million would be used to complete several berm sections still under construction and other expenses related to the project."


ALTERNATIVES TO OIL

U.S. Weighs Funding for Renewable Energy Projects

"President Obama's top advisers recommended cutting off funding for a federal loan-guarantee program meant to spur the construction of wind and solar farms and other alternative energy projects, saying taxpayer dollars might be better spent elsewhere. 

But the advisers, including Mr. Obama's outgoing National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers, energy policy czar Carol Browner and Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, warned Mr. Obama that pulling money from the program would risk antagonizing powerful allies in Congress, and would "signal the failure of a Recovery Act program that has been featured prominently by the administration," according to an Oct. 25 memorandum viewed by The Wall Street Journal."


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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Oil Drilling News


GULF OIL DISASTER


Spill Cleanup Proceeds Amid Mistrust

"The cleanup of the worst offshore oil spill in United States history continues here on the Gulf Coast, as does some of the contentiousness of the panic-plagued summer: local politicians still rail against the tempo of the response, and many residents and environmentalists still accuse scientists and officials of undue optimism, often speaking of cover-ups and conspiracies..."

Salazar Proposes Ocean Energy Safety Institute

Firm that certified safety of BP oil rig in Gulf of Mexico to do blowout preventer autopsy

Isn't that like being rewarded for doing a poor job?

Moratorium postmortem

"Considering how much ink has been spilled over the federal deepwater drilling moratorium, and how much vitriol it has inspired toward the Obama administration, it's remarkable how little impact the declaration actually had."

ALTERNATIVES TO OIL


Peak oil Canadian task force recommends steps to reduce oil dependency


Japan's Auto Parts Makers Try to Anticipate Shift to Electric Cars


LOUISIANA


BP to pay state $218 million for recovery


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Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Oil Drilling News


GULF OIL DISASTER


Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

"How will Congress deal with offshore drilling? Right now, it's unclear. The momentum to pass an oil spill response bill is gone, and with it go the prospects that we'll see stand-alone legislation on the issue."
"After Nov. 2, the new political establishment will ignore all those secular worries about melting polar caps, massive wildfires, dust storms, ocean dead zones and a rising sea that could inundate much of the Florida peninsula. So much for worries about preventing future deep-water spills. So much for carbon-cutting measures that might slow global warming. If climate scientists are right about rising sea levels, and the tea partiers are wrong, so much for Florida."

BP Profit Drops After Taking Further Charge on Gulf Spill
Despite $40 billion in costs associated with their response to the oil disaster, BP reported a quarterly profit of $1.8 billion, or about $20 million per day. 

Fort McRae oil very toxic to humans

"A lab experienced in testing petroleum products determined that the oil's toxicity levels are sky-high. 

"In its natural state, the numbers are off the chart," said Heather Reed, the environmental expert for the City of Gulf Breeze who made the discovery. "It's extremely toxic to human health." 

Lab workers had to dilute the sample 20 times just to get a reading. Reed said samples are usually diluted only once. 

"The oil is very well preserved," Reed added. "It smells very strong when pulled out of the water. It made me nauseated." Reed in late September discovered a significant amount of oil buried in submerged sediment near Fort McRae in Escambia County while conducting independent research. 

"The oil was in about 3 feet of water and was buried pretty deep in the sediment," Reed recalled. "The mats where between 6 inches and a foot in diameter, but some were more than 2 feet in diameter. I kept digging and finding more and more."


Gulf Seafood Is Safe, Officials Say

"Of 1,735 tissue samples analyzed, only 13 showed trace amounts of dispersant residue, in concentrations well below safety thresholds established by federal agencies."

ALTERNATIVES TO OIL


Lease fears for offshore wind farms

[In waters off the coast of England] "Wind farm operators building offshore risk having their leases terminated without compensation if oil and gas companies decide they need the seabed plot for exploration, drilling or ­pipelines." "As wind farms get bigger, the potential for them to come into conflict with oil companies increases. Obviously, the powers that be felt that oil and gas should be given the priority.""

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Monday, November 1, 2010

Oil Drilling News


GULF OIL DISASTER


Cement Mixture Used for BP Well Never Had Final Test


Cementing, Mainstay of Oil Drilling, Is Prone to Failure


Skytruth/MCBI Study Looks Back at BP/Gulf Oil Spill, Looks Forward With Recommendations
"A new study by SkyTruth and MCBI shows how BP and the Federal government dramatically understated the amount of oil and gas gushing into the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon exploded. The study, "Impacts, Perception, and Policy Implications of the Deepwater Horizon Oil and Gas Disaster" by MCBI's Dr. Elliott Norse and SkyTruth's John Amos, appears in a special issue of Environmental Law Reporter News and Analysis, a publication of the Environmental Law Institute. The article can be downloaded here (PDF file)."


Tough Ride For FL Seahorse


While oil-soaked birds get much attention, Gulf rigs remain bright, often fatal beacons



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