Oil Drilling News

THE GULF

Deepwater Horizon Joint Investigation Team Releases Final Report

http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2011/press0914.htm

"In Volume II, the JIT details evidence developed during the investigation and concludes that BP, Transocean and Halliburton's conduct in connection with the Deepwater Horizon disaster violated a number of federal offshore safety regulations under BOEMRE's jurisdiction."

Also see: U.S. blames poor management for BP oil spill

New evidence cites more BP oil spill mistakes

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/09/13/general-us-gulf-oil-spill_8677026.html

"At issue: BP petrophysicist Galina Skripnikova in a closed-door deposition two months ago told attorneys involved in the oil spill litigation that there appeared to be a zone of gas more than 300 feet above where BP told its contractors and regulators with the then-Minerals Management Service the shallowest zone was located."

Gulf Restoration Bill – A No Brainer for Congress?

http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.html?programID=11-P13-00036#feature3

Clean Up of TS Lee Tar Balls Begins

http://www2.wkrg.com/news/2011/sep/07/c-ar-2375611/

University of Mississippi leads team to study Gulf oil spill

http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2011/09/university_of_mississippi_lead.html

"Ole Miss is the lead university in a 14-member consortium awarded $20 million over three years to study "Ecosystem Impacts of Oil and Gas Inputs to the Gulf.""

Hydrocarbons At Gulf Spill Surface

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/science/89/8937sci3.html

"Valentine, Reddy, and others, however, are concerned that these results may engender a false sense of safety for workers. Naphthalene and other large aromatic hydrocarbons in oil have not been well studied above the surface at the spill site. These compounds don't readily dissolve in water, but they still are volatile and could have posed a risk to workers at the surface."

                                                     

BP DRILLS AHEAD - THIS TIME OFF THE COAST OF SCOTLAND

Big Oil steps up the battle for deep water drilling

http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/20110913/big-oil-steps-battle-deep-water-drilling.htm

"Now, with BP clearly believing that public outcry over Deepwater Horizon has faded, the plans are back on the agenda. A few days ago the company launched a public consultation on this environmental statement (pdf) for its proposed North Uist well. 

Disturbingly, in its statement, BP takes a leaf out of Cairn's book, claiming that some fish will just swim out of the way of any spill. The company also admits that a deep water blow out at North Uist could release 75,000 barrels of oil a day - worse that Deepwater Horizon's 55,000. Finally, BP claims that fitting the new cap to plug a deep water blow out will take between 10 and 35 days, and it gives no details at all about how long it would take to drill a relief well."

Oil Drilling News

OIL/ENERGY POLICY

Offshore drilling chief takes aim at industry critics

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/09/13/offshore-drilling-chief-takes-aim-at-industry-critics/

"In a speech before the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., Bromwich said the critics are making "politically motivated" charges that are "simply not true." 

The nation's top offshore energy regulator today hit back against oil and gas industry critics who say the government has been moving too slowly in permitting new coastal drilling projects."

DOI, BOEMRE propose more offshore safety regulations

http://www.ogj.com/articles/2011/09/doi-boemre-propose-more-offshore-safety-regulations.html?cmpid=EnlDailySeptember132011

"... the new proposals would establish additional job safety requirements, guidelines for reporting unsafe work conditions, procedures to allow any employee to implement a stop-work action when witnessing dangerous activity, ultimate work safety and decision-making authority on an offshore facility, an employee participation program, and a requirement that safety audits be conducted by third parties."

THE GULF

Mystery surrounds what some say could be another gulf oil spill

http://floridaindependent.com/47176/mystery-surrounds-what-some-say-could-be-another-gulf-oil-spill

"Progress Florida's SpillBabySpill.com — a site initially set up after last year's disaster — has been reporting extensively on the new oil. 

Progress Florida Executive Director Mark Ferrulo says the denials by BP are "eerily reminiscent of the early stages of the first BP oil gusher disaster.""

FLORIDA

Cuban Offshore Drilling Plans Raise U.S. Concerns

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/12/140405282/cuban-offshore-drilling-plans-raise-u-s-concerns

"The U.S. group says long-running American trade sanctions stand in the way of proper spill preparation and a coordinated cleanup if something goes wrong on the wells that are just 60 miles from the Florida Keys. 

Offshore oil drilling is banned along the Florida coastline. But the Cuban operation will be so close to U.S. shores that ocean currents could carry a spill through the Florida Keys, and foul beaches along the Atlantic Coast."

Oil Drilling News

THE GULF

Platform 23051 Site - Still Leaking, Magically! (Skytruth)

http://blog.skytruth.org/2011/09/platform-23051-site-still-leaking.html

"And by the way, we're seeing a lot more than 5 gallons in the ongoing spill - 24/7/365 since September 2004 - from this hurricane-damaged cluster of wells.  The MODIS /Aqua satellite image below, taken on September 10, shows a slick originating at the 23051 site that extends almost 35 miles."

NORTH CAROLINA (and all states considering new offshore oil drilling)

Voices From The Gulf (Video)

http://vimeo.com/27185459

"A brief and important message to the state of North Carolina [and to Virginia, Florida, Alaska and many other states] from the gulf coast of Louisiana about the realities of allowing big gas and oil companies to drill and develop in your communities."

OIL/ENERGY POLICY

U.S. scrambling to meet offshore drilling date

http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/U-S-scrambling-to-meet-offshore-drilling-date-2165637.php

"The Obama administration has less than 10 months to finish assembling its plan for selling offshore drilling leases over the next five years, and some oil industry leaders are worried the government is barely on track to meet a July 1 deadline for issuing the document."

ALTERNATIVES TO OIL

Japanese Breakthrough Will Make Wind Power Cheaper than Nuclear

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/most-popular/japan-wind-lens-breakthrough.html

"Some major wind projects are already projecting costs significantly lower than coal power -- $80 per MWh for wind versus $90 per MWh for coal -- and that is without government subsidies using today's wind turbine technology."

Oil Drilling News

OIL/ENERGY POLICY AND PERMITTING

Offshore drilling agency about to split in two

http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Offshore-drilling-agency-about-to-split-in-two-2161815.php

"A new Office of Natural Resources Revenue - responsible for collecting royalties for energy produced on the outer continental shelf - was established within the Interior Department last October. And on Oct. 1, Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and Enforcement officially will be carved into two agencies: the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management."

GULF OIL DISASTER AFTERMATH

Tropical Storm Lee surge reveals tar mats on Fourchon Beach

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2011/09/tropical_storm_lee_surge_revea.html

"Surge from Tropical Storm Lee uncovered numerous tar mats, dozens of tar balls and abandoned strings of oil snare pom-poms along a stretch of Fourchon Beach [LA] owned by the Wisner Donation Trust, according to the property's manager. "The beach got hit hard by surge, as it always does," said Cathy Norman, secretary-treasurer and land manager for the trust. "With all the sand removed, many things were uncovered, including these huge tar mat areas.  "In some locations, the mats fell apart and tar balls blew up the beach and into the back marsh," Norman said. "The surge also uncovered oil snare and pieces of equipment that got buried during the BP oil spill response, including all these stakes that were used to hang the snare in the water to catch oil.""

"BP contractors were scooping tar balls off Alabama Gulf Coast beaches on Wednesday after similar reports. The material will be tested to determine whether it is from the BP Macondo well that erupted in the Gulf of Mexico last year."

Oil Drilling News

OIL/ENERGY POLICY

Oil Industry Report Outlines How to Create Temporary Jobs While Permanently Destroying the Climate

http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/09/07/313611/oil-industry-report-outlines-how-to-create-jobs-while-destroying-the-climate/

"Oil production has soared under Obama.  But Big Oil and its allies in Congress say Obama "has hardly missed any opportunity to block, impede, delay, hinder or obstruct American energy production." "

GULF OIL SLICKS

Gulf Overflight and Radar Image (August 30) Now in Google Earth (Skytruth)

http://blog.skytruth.org/2011/09/gulf-overflight-and-radar-image-august.html

ALTERNATIVES TO OIL

Creating Jobs by Harnessing Our Renewable Resources

http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/09/08/314557/creating-jobs-renewable-resources/

Oil Drilling News

OIL/ENERGY POLICY

Chevron CEO says supercommittee should boost oil drilling
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/179921-chevron-ceo-supercommittee-should-widen-oil-drilling-access

THE GULF

WHOI-Led Study Sharpens Picture of How Much Oil and Gas Flowed in Deepwater Horizon Spill
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=7545&tid=282&cid=112889&ct=162
"In a detailed assessment of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, researchers led by a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have determined that the blown-out Macondo well spewed oil at a rate of about 57,000 barrels a day, totaling nearly 5 million barrels of oil released from the well between April 20 and July 15, 2010, when the leak was capped. In addition, the well released some 100 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas."

BP Looks To Ramp Up Gulf Of Mexico Activity
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/63179

ALABAMA

Tar Balls On Alabama Beaches To Be Tested
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/06/tar-balls-alabama-beaches_n_951131.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec3_lnk2|93168

FLORIDA

Scott seems to support Everglades drilling ? but quickly backs off
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-scott-open-to-drilling-2-20110906,0,2242055.story
Visit http://www.nottheanswer.org for Surfrider's perspective on offshore drilling and the ongoing disaster in the Gulf.

Visit http://www.surfrider.org/join to join Surfrider Foundation.

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Oil Drilling News

OIL/ENERGY POLICY

Hastings pushes supercommittee to expand oil drilling

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/179615-hastings-pushes-supercommittee-to-expand-oil-drilling

Bachmann's Empty EPA Trash-Talk

http://www.frumforum.com/bachmanns-empty-epa-trash-talk

"The Florida Everglades is a treasured natural resource that provides drinking water and other ecological benefits to much of South Florida. The state of Florida and the federal government have spent hundreds of millions of dollars restoring the Everglades—much of that at the direction of GOP Governors Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist. In 2002, the administration of President George W. Bush bought back oil and gas drilling rights in the Everglades for $120 million. 

Bachmann apparently does not realize that oil drilling in the Everglades has been studied and that there is broad bi-partisan consensus that it would be foolhardy—very little oil, very high ecological risk."

"Bachmann's drill-the-Everglades brain splat is just one in a long string of whacky, ill-informed and irresponsible comments Bachmann has made about energy and the environment. She recently claimed that if she were president, gasoline would fall below $2 per gallon. Either she is planning on instigating a massive economic depression, or she is totally ignorant of how the global oil market works. With only 2 percent or so of the world's proven oil reserves, U.S. production simply cannot impact the price of oil that much."

ALASKA/THE ARCTIC

Offshore drilling would destroy way of life

http://www.adn.com/2011/09/03/2048249/offshore-drilling-would-destroy.html

Oil exploration under Arctic ice could cause 'uncontrollable' natural disaster

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/oil-exploration-under-arctic-ice-could-cause-uncontrollable-natural-disaster-2349788.html

FLORIDA

Florida Gov. Scott backs Everglades oil drilling

http://www.news-press.com/article/20110906/GREEN/110906030/Florida-Gov-Scott-backs-Everglades-oil-drilling?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home