02-05-2010, 02:52 AM (This post was last modified: 02-05-2010, 02:53 AM by Ed Jewett.)
The link below leads to a thread at my web site E Pluribus Unum.
It contains a blog entry written by me consisting of grouped reports called "Shrimp Linguini Lagniappe", a link to a four-page discussion at Rigorous Intuition, and other reports.
The event has major connotations for the ecology and economy of the Gulf of Mexico and beyond, the politics of oil and energy, the politics of the US, and more.
Is it Gaia's revenge, a "false flag" attack, corporate malfeasance?
I love this: http://www.mms.gov/awards/
They really can't pat themselves on the back this year can they?
Arrogant pricks.
And Halliburton and BP should have the bejesus sued out of them. And then some. Personally confiscate every asset of their shareholders and throw the sorry bums of executives in jail for years after they have been forced to lick up every drop of oil off that coast with their own tongues.
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
02-05-2010, 05:34 AM (This post was last modified: 02-05-2010, 05:45 AM by Peter Lemkin.)
Ed Jewett Wrote:The link below leads to a thread at my web site E Pluribus Unum.
It contains a blog entry written by me consisting of grouped reports called "Shrimp Linguini Lagniappe", a link to a four-page discussion at Rigorous Intuition, and other reports.
The event has major connotations for the ecology and economy of the Gulf of Mexico and beyond, the politics of oil and energy, the politics of the US, and more.
Is it Gaia's revenge, a "false flag" attack, corporate malfeasance?
It really is comeupance time! This one is a real long-term and large scale disaster. Almost no technology is known to shut off such a leak so deep under water. Some clever minds are now needed to invent one! While the leak is slow [low volume per day] it is, for now and perhaps for years, continuous!!! It could well kill nearly every living thing in and bordered by the Gulf of Mexico...and that is one hell of a lot of living things! BP seems to be doing nothing. They vaguely have referred to getting some submersibles down to look at the leaking pipe in a few months time.....gee, I hope they don't miss their golf games!.....
Its shaping up to be the biggest ACUTE environmental disaster - the biggest chronic one being human hubris and action, to date.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
Deep in that mix of articles is note about the request of assistance from the US military -- which goes, I'm sure, beyond the meager if yeoman-like efforts of the Coast Guard and the Dunkirkian-life efforts from the shrimp industry boats -- and further suggestion that the one thing that may actually be necessary to choke off the flow from the huge pressure coming from deeeeep beneath the Earth's crust, let alone the ocean, is the explosion of a nuclear weapon near the outflow point.
Heaven help us all, Tiny Tim. :banghead:
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"
Ed Jewett Wrote:The link below leads to a thread at my web site E Pluribus Unum.
It contains a blog entry written by me consisting of grouped reports called "Shrimp Linguini Lagniappe", a link to a four-page discussion at Rigorous Intuition, and other reports.
The event has major connotations for the ecology and economy of the Gulf of Mexico and beyond, the politics of oil and energy, the politics of the US, and more.
Is it Gaia's revenge, a "false flag" attack, corporate malfeasance?
It really is comeupance time! This one is a real long-term and large scale disaster. Almost no technology is known to shut off such a leak so deep under water. Some clever minds are now needed to invent one! While the leak is slow [low volume per day] it is, for now and perhaps for years, continuous!!! It could well kill nearly every living thing in and bordered by the Gulf of Mexico...and that is one hell of a lot of living things! BP seems to be doing nothing. They vaguely have referred to getting some submersibles down to look at the leaking pipe in a few months time.....gee, I hope they don't miss their golf games!.....
Its shaping up to be the biggest ACUTE environmental disaster - the biggest chronic one being human hubris and action, to date.
Murphy's Law in full effect. Shortly after politicians yell, "Drill Baby, drill" and even Obama endorses more drilling, an accident reminds us of the inherent dangers. We've just had another example here in Massachusetts. Some local wacko passed a law banning water sold in plastic bottles in a local city and today a huge water pipe break made all the water in Eastern Mass undrinkable. Some stores want to open at night to meet all the public demand for bottled water.
View full size(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano uses a map of the Gulf of Mexico during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 29, 2010. A leaked memorandum obtained by the Press-Register on the unfolding spill disaster in the Gulf makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the Deepwater Horizon well site could be on the verge of becoming an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf. 'The following is not public' document states
View full size(AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard Saturday April 24, 2010, shows oil leaking from the drill pipe of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig after it sank. A confidential government report on the unfolding spill disaster makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the well could be on the verge of becoming an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf. A confidential government report on the unfolding spill disaster in the Gulf makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the well could become an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.
"The following is not public," reads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Emergency Response document dated April 28. "Two additional release points were found today in the tangled riser. If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the flow could become unchecked resulting in a release volume an order of magnitude higher than previously thought."
Asked Friday to comment on the document, NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen said that the additional leaks described were reported to the public late Wednesday night. Regarding the possibility of the spill becoming an order of magnitude larger, Smullen said, "I'm letting the document you have speak for itself."
In scientific circles, an order of magnitude means something is 10 times larger. In this case, an order of magnitude higher would mean the volume of oil coming from the well could be 10 times higher than the 5,000 barrels a day coming out now. That would mean 50,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 million gallons a day. It appears the new leaks mentioned in the Wednesday release are the leaks reported to the public late Wednesday night.
"There is no official change in the volume released but the USCG is no longer stating that the release rate is 1,000 barrels a day," continues the document, referred to as report No. 12. "Instead they are saying that they are preparing for a worst-case release and bringing all assets to bear."
The emergency document also states that the spill has grown in size so quickly that only 1 to 2 percent of it has been sprayed with dispersants.
The Press-Register obtained the emergency report from a government official. The White House, NOAA, the Coast Guard and BP Plc did not immediately return calls for comment made early this morning.
The worst-case scenario for the broken and leaking well pouring oil into the Gulf of Mexico would be the loss of the wellhead and kinked piping currently restricting the flow to 5,000 barrels -- or 210,000 gallons -- per day.
If the wellhead is lost, oil could leave the well at a much greater rate.
"Typically, a very good well in the Gulf can produce 30,000 barrels a day, but that's under control. I have no idea what an uncontrolled release could be," said Stephen Sears, chairman of the petroleum engineering department at Louisiana State University.
On Thursday, federal officials said they were preparing for the worst-case scenario but didn't elaborate.
Kinks in the piping created as the rig sank to the seafloor may be all that is preventing the Deepwater Horizon well from releasing its maximum flow. BP is now drilling a relief well as the ultimate fix. The company said Thursday that process would take up to 3 months.
To see updated projection maps related to the oil spill in the Gulf, visit the Deepwater Horizon Response Web site established by government officials.
How to help: Volunteers eager to help cope with the spill and lessen its impact on the Gulf Coast environment and economy.
"I'm not sure what's happening down there right now. I have heard there is a kink in what's called the riser. The riser is a long pipe that connects the wellhead to the rig. I really don't know if that kink is a big restriction. Is that really a big restriction? There could be another restriction further down," said LSU's Sears.
"An analogy would be if you have a kink in a garden hose. You suspect that kink is restricting the flow, but there could be another restriction or kink somewhere else closer to the faucet.
BP Plc executive Doug Suttles said Thursday the company was worried about "erosion" of the pipe at the wellhead.
Sand is an integral part of the formations that hold oil under the Gulf. That sand, carried in the oil as it shoots through the piping, is blamed for the ongoing erosion described by BP.
"The pipe could disintegrate. You've got sand getting into the pipe, it's eroding the pipe all the time, like a sandblaster," said Ron Gouget, a former oil spill response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
View full size(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)Oil scooped up from the Gulf of Mexico 17 miles southeast of the South Pass of the Mississippi River is seen on the hand of deck hand Jordan Ellis on the Louisiana coast Friday, April 30, 2010. The oil originated from a leaking pipeline after last week's explosion and collapse of the Deepwater Horizon."When the oil is removed normally, it comes out at a controlled rate. You can still have abrasive particles in that. Well, now, at this well, its coming out at fairly high velocity," Gouget continued. "Any erosive grains are abrading the inside of the pipe and all the steel that comes in contact with the liquid. It's essentially sanding away the pipe."
Gouget said the loss of a wellhead is totally unprecedented.
"How bad it could get from that, you will have a tremendous volume of oil that is going to be offgassing on the coast. Depending on how much wind is there, and how those gases build up, that's a significant health concern," he said.
The formation that was being drilled by Deepwater Horizon when it exploded and sank last week is reported to have tens of millions of barrels of oil. A barrel contains 42 gallons.
Smullen described the NOAA document as a regular daily briefing. "Your report makes it sound pretty dire. It's a scenario," he said, "It's a regular daily briefing sheet that considered different scenarios much like any first responder would."
(Updated 5:57 p.m. to add response from NOAA spokesman.)
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"
Oy veh!
And I bet this is just the beginning. Naturally it will be paid for by the US tax payer. Privitisation of profits and socialisation of costs is they game they play isn't it? Poor sea creatures and fisher men and their families.
Quote:Cost of oil spill could exceed $14 billion
Tom Bergin
LONDON
Sun May 2, 2010 3:54pm EDT
LONDON (Reuters) - The total bill related to the oil spill drifting toward Louisiana from a well operated by BP Plc in the Gulf of Mexico, could exceed $14 billion, analysts said. U.S. | Green Business
Since an explosion almost two weeks ago on the Deepwater Horizon rig, a disaster scenario has emerged with hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil spewing unchecked into the Gulf and moving inexorably northward to the coast. The responsibility for the cleanup operation lies with the owners of the well, led by 65 percent shareholder, London-based oil company BP Plc.
BP said last week that it was spending $6 million a day on the clean up but admitted this figure would rise sharply when the slick hits land.
Neither the company or its 25 percent partner, explorer Anadarko Petroleum, have put an estimate on total costs, although BP CEO Tony Hayward told Reuters in an interview on Friday that he would pay all legitimate claims for damages.
The final bill for cleaning up the spill could be $7 billion, Neil McMahon, analyst at investment firm Bernstein said.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley put the figure at $3.5 billion, while analysts at Citigroup, Evolution Securities and Panmure Gordon put cleanup costs at under $1.1 billion.
Compensation that must be paid to those impacted by the slick could also amount to billions of dollars.
The cost to the fishing industry in Louisiana could be $2.5 billion, while the Florida tourism industry could lose $3 billion, Bernstein predicted.
BP will also have to spend $100 million to drill a relief well to try and stem the flow of the well, while the loss of the Deepwater Horizon well represents a hit of around $1 billion for its owner, Swiss-based drilling specialist Transocean.
COMPENSATION FOR WORKERS
Eleven workers are missing, presumed dead, following the rig explosion and compensation will have to be made to their families.
BP was forced to pay out $2 billion in compensation after 15 workers died in an explosion at its Texas City refinery in 2005, although Peter Hitchens at Panmure said it was likely liabilities related to the rig would be Transocean's responsibility.
BP and its partners in the oil block where the leaking well is located will have to cover the cleanup costs and damages on a basis proportionate to their shareholdings, which will leave BP with 65 percent of the bill.
The company self-insures through its own insurance company, named Jupiter. Contrary to press reports, Jupiter does not lay off risks onto reinsurers or syndicates at Lloyds of London, a spokesman said on Sunday.
Hence, BP will end up paying any costs out of its own pocket.
However, it is possible BP and Anadarko could seek to reclaim any damages from Cameron International Corp, the supplier of the well head equipment which has been blamed for the accident or companies involved in maintaining the drilling machinery.
The oil is leaking because a shut-off valve that should automatically kick in when a problem occurs, has not functioned.
The valve, known as a blow-out preventer, was supplied by Cameron and operated, as an integral part of Transocean's rig.
Oil services provider Halliburton said it performed a variety of work on the rig.
If BP could prove that Halliburton or Cameron did something wrong, they could lay part of the blame on them, Mike Breard, an energy analyst with Hodges Capital Management in Dallas said last week.
Shares in BP have fallen around 13 percent since the accident, wiping out $20 billion of the company's market value.
Shares in Anadarko, Transocean, Cameron and Halliburton have also been hit.
If regulators find any wrongdoing or incompetence on the part of the companies involved, it could levy fines, although analysts said that going by previous fines, these would likely be in the range of tens of millions -- immaterial to the total bill.
In such a situation, the courts could also award punitive damages.
Exxon Mobil was hit with $5 billion in punitive damages after the its tanker Valdez leaked 258,000 barrels of heavy crude into Prince William Sound in Alaska in 1989. The award was based on the fact Exxon had not taken due care when it employed a man with a drinking problem to skipper its tanker.
However, the damages against it were subsequently reduced to around $500 million on appeal.
All analysts agreed that the final bill for the Deepwater Horizon incident will depend on how much damage is caused.
Bernstein said the experience from the first Gulf War in 1991 suggested the damage across Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi
and Florida could be less than many expect because of the warm water in the area.
"The Iraqi army opened valves on the Sea Island terminal, dumping up to 450 million gallons (around 11 million barrels) of crude into the sea in order to obstruct a potential landing by coalition forces," McMahon said in a research note.
"While the magnitude of the spill was vastly greater than the Exxon Valdez, it actually did relatively little long-term damage, as it dispersed in the warm waters," he added.
(Reporting by Tom Bergin, editing by Bernard Orr)http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6412H820100502
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
View full size(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano uses a map of the Gulf of Mexico during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 29, 2010. A leaked memorandum obtained by the Press-Register on the unfolding spill disaster in the Gulf makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the Deepwater Horizon well site could be on the verge of becoming an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf. 'The following is not public' document states
View full size(AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard Saturday April 24, 2010, shows oil leaking from the drill pipe of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig after it sank. A confidential government report on the unfolding spill disaster makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the well could be on the verge of becoming an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf. A confidential government report on the unfolding spill disaster in the Gulf makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the well could become an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.
"The following is not public," reads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Emergency Response document dated April 28. "Two additional release points were found today in the tangled riser. If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the flow could become unchecked resulting in a release volume an order of magnitude higher than previously thought."
Asked Friday to comment on the document, NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen said that the additional leaks described were reported to the public late Wednesday night. Regarding the possibility of the spill becoming an order of magnitude larger, Smullen said, "I'm letting the document you have speak for itself."
In scientific circles, an order of magnitude means something is 10 times larger. In this case, an order of magnitude higher would mean the volume of oil coming from the well could be 10 times higher than the 5,000 barrels a day coming out now. That would mean 50,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 million gallons a day. It appears the new leaks mentioned in the Wednesday release are the leaks reported to the public late Wednesday night.
"There is no official change in the volume released but the USCG is no longer stating that the release rate is 1,000 barrels a day," continues the document, referred to as report No. 12. "Instead they are saying that they are preparing for a worst-case release and bringing all assets to bear."
The emergency document also states that the spill has grown in size so quickly that only 1 to 2 percent of it has been sprayed with dispersants.
The Press-Register obtained the emergency report from a government official. The White House, NOAA, the Coast Guard and BP Plc did not immediately return calls for comment made early this morning.
The worst-case scenario for the broken and leaking well pouring oil into the Gulf of Mexico would be the loss of the wellhead and kinked piping currently restricting the flow to 5,000 barrels -- or 210,000 gallons -- per day.
If the wellhead is lost, oil could leave the well at a much greater rate.
"Typically, a very good well in the Gulf can produce 30,000 barrels a day, but that's under control. I have no idea what an uncontrolled release could be," said Stephen Sears, chairman of the petroleum engineering department at Louisiana State University.
On Thursday, federal officials said they were preparing for the worst-case scenario but didn't elaborate.
Kinks in the piping created as the rig sank to the seafloor may be all that is preventing the Deepwater Horizon well from releasing its maximum flow. BP is now drilling a relief well as the ultimate fix. The company said Thursday that process would take up to 3 months.
To see updated projection maps related to the oil spill in the Gulf, visit the Deepwater Horizon Response Web site established by government officials.
How to help: Volunteers eager to help cope with the spill and lessen its impact on the Gulf Coast environment and economy.
"I'm not sure what's happening down there right now. I have heard there is a kink in what's called the riser. The riser is a long pipe that connects the wellhead to the rig. I really don't know if that kink is a big restriction. Is that really a big restriction? There could be another restriction further down," said LSU's Sears.
"An analogy would be if you have a kink in a garden hose. You suspect that kink is restricting the flow, but there could be another restriction or kink somewhere else closer to the faucet.
BP Plc executive Doug Suttles said Thursday the company was worried about "erosion" of the pipe at the wellhead.
Sand is an integral part of the formations that hold oil under the Gulf. That sand, carried in the oil as it shoots through the piping, is blamed for the ongoing erosion described by BP.
"The pipe could disintegrate. You've got sand getting into the pipe, it's eroding the pipe all the time, like a sandblaster," said Ron Gouget, a former oil spill response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
View full size(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)Oil scooped up from the Gulf of Mexico 17 miles southeast of the South Pass of the Mississippi River is seen on the hand of deck hand Jordan Ellis on the Louisiana coast Friday, April 30, 2010. The oil originated from a leaking pipeline after last week's explosion and collapse of the Deepwater Horizon."When the oil is removed normally, it comes out at a controlled rate. You can still have abrasive particles in that. Well, now, at this well, its coming out at fairly high velocity," Gouget continued. "Any erosive grains are abrading the inside of the pipe and all the steel that comes in contact with the liquid. It's essentially sanding away the pipe."
Gouget said the loss of a wellhead is totally unprecedented.
"How bad it could get from that, you will have a tremendous volume of oil that is going to be offgassing on the coast. Depending on how much wind is there, and how those gases build up, that's a significant health concern," he said.
The formation that was being drilled by Deepwater Horizon when it exploded and sank last week is reported to have tens of millions of barrels of oil. A barrel contains 42 gallons.
Smullen described the NOAA document as a regular daily briefing. "Your report makes it sound pretty dire. It's a scenario," he said, "It's a regular daily briefing sheet that considered different scenarios much like any first responder would."
(Updated 5:57 p.m. to add response from NOAA spokesman.)
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
Magda Hassan Wrote:And Halliburton and BP should have the bejesus sued out of them...throw the sorry bums of executives in jail for years after they have been forced to lick up every drop of oil off that coast with their own tongues.
The genius of this proposal is that some of them would pay for the privilege.
MH for President. Vote early, vote often.
"There are three sorts of conspiracy: by the people who complain, by the people who write, by the people who take action. There is nothing to fear from the first group, the two others are more dangerous; but the police have to be part of all three,"
Magda Hassan Wrote:And Halliburton and BP should have the bejesus sued out of them...throw the sorry bums of executives in jail for years after they have been forced to lick up every drop of oil off that coast with their own tongues.
The genius of this proposal is that some of them would pay for the privilege.
MH for President. Vote early, vote often.
Of course they should pay for the privilege! They are unworthy to lick my boots.ecruity: I would stand on their backs and drive my heel into their necks as they licked up the sand but I will not as this is a pleasure that must be denied them.
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
![[Image: spillnewserjpg-12eae2f4ef512a00_large.jpg]](http://media.al.com/live/photo/spillnewserjpg-12eae2f4ef512a00_large.jpg)
![[Image: plumejpg-5e73159717b16990_medium.jpg]](http://media.al.com/live/photo/plumejpg-5e73159717b16990_medium.jpg)
![[Image: view-from-above-dbfd8df0fa2c3e4d_medium.jpg]](http://media.al.com/mobile-press-register/photo/view-from-above-dbfd8df0fa2c3e4d_medium.jpg)
![[Image: oilinhandjpg-10a7af65c04260fd_small.jpg]](http://media.al.com/live/photo/oilinhandjpg-10a7af65c04260fd_small.jpg)
ecruity: I would stand on their backs and drive my heel into their necks as they licked up the sand but I will not as this is a pleasure that must be denied them.