# Can't we stop those dicks at BP from drilling the Gulf? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 12, 2011, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060 "2011-04-12T05:46:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/21 "2011-04-13T01:07:30Z")
> [@LonghornDave](#): > > The Transocean executives donated their bonuses to a fund they established for the families of the 11 men that died. [CITE](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f38872b4-5fe3-11e0-a718-00144feab49a.html#axzz1JFksHKv1) Only when the story came out. Then they could not justify it to the public. Public pressure ,sometimes does matter. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/22 "2011-04-13T01:09:05Z")
> **[Exclusive economic zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone)** > > An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind. It stretches from the outer limit of the territorial sea (12 nautical miles from the baseline) out to 200 nautical miles (nmi) from the coast of the state in question. It is also referred to as a maritime continental The Exclusive Economic Zone does seem to give us jurisdiction of the gulf. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/23 "2011-04-13T03:46:30Z")
> [@LonghornDave](#): > > That is absurd considering only six deepwater permits have been issued since April 20th. Also, I believe all permits that have been issued were on projects that were underway before the moratorium was put in place. Ten, not six: [http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7514069.html](http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7514069.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/24 "2011-04-13T10:39:05Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > BP knew the blowout preventer was leaking fluid, but went ahead anyway. > Fuck them! :mad: I think America could help lead the way for an international system for punishing companies who do not take environmental responsibilities seriously, and either fine them for their mistakes or even prevent them from operating at all if there’s a suitable serious fuckup. I think this would be a great thing, and if the Deepwater screwup is enough to get support from the US for such a system that would be something good to come out of this whole mess. Or is your concern purely for when it affects the US? ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/25 "2011-04-13T14:59:05Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Ten, not six: > > [http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7514069.html](http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7514069.html) It depends on exactly what you want to call a permit, but per the BOEMRE itself, updated on 4/12/11 at 11:30 AM CST, the number of new well deepwater permits issued is 6. [Status of Well Permits & Plans Subject to Enhanced Safety and Environmental Requirements in the Gulf of Mexico](http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/homepg/offshore/safety/well_permits.html) See the first line on the second chart. ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/26 "2011-04-13T15:21:35Z")
> [@Gary\_Kumquat](#): > > I think America could help lead the way for an international system for punishing companies who do not take environmental responsibilities seriously, and either fine them for their mistakes or even prevent them from operating at all if there’s a suitable serious fuckup. I think this would be a great thing, and if the Deepwater screwup is enough to get support from the US for such a system that would be something good to come out of this whole mess. > > Or is your concern purely for when it affects the US? I may be reading you wrong, but are you seriously saying you want the U.S. to be able to prevent a company from drilling in another country? So let’s say Australia has provided a permit for BP to drill off their coast. How exactly would the U.S. prevent that? ---
**Author:** ![Nadir](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nadir/32/7302_2.png) [@Nadir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadir)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/27 "2011-04-13T16:42:08Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Can’t we stop those dicks at BP from drilling the Gulf? Did you have a preference for some other dicks or disk’s particular international energy conglomerate’s oil-drilling arm whose services might be better suited to exploiting deep-water crude sources in the Gulf of Mexico? Just wondering… ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/28 "2011-04-13T16:49:14Z")
> [@Gary\_Kumquat](#): > > I think America could help lead the way for an international system for punishing companies who do not take environmental responsibilities seriously, and either fine them for their mistakes or even prevent them from operating at all if there’s a suitable serious fuckup. Even imposing a unilateral national system would be an improvement. As long as there’s oil down there, we lose nothing by declining any given company’s interest in the current year. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/29 "2011-04-13T17:04:05Z")
> [@LonghornDave](#): > > I may be reading you wrong, but are you seriously saying you want the U.S. to be able to prevent a company from drilling in another country? So let’s say Australia has provided a permit for BP to drill off their coast. How exactly would the U.S. prevent that? You are indeed reading me wrong. I think the OP is spot on in his indignation that multinational companies can operate with impunity regarding any environmental issues they cause. I think America should lead an international campaign to establish some form of independent world tribunal to monitor such behaviour, with the authority to impose fines on such companies as are required to tidy up their mistakes. These fines should then be enforced by the countries where the companies operate out of. Because frankly it’d be fucking hilarious to see the like of BP, GE, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Dow Chemical, Monsanto and god knows how many other multinationals suddenly shitting themselves and restructuring like hell to avoid the megafinance equivalent of the ban stick. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/30 "2011-04-14T04:20:21Z")
> **[27,000 Wells Abandoned, Unchecked in Gulf](https://www.foxnews.com/us/27000-wells-abandoned-unchecked-in-gulf)** > > More than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells lurk in the hard rock beneath the Gulf of Mexico, an environmental minefield that has been ignored for decades. No one -- not industry, not government -- is checking to see if they are leaking, an... It does not matter. there are 27,000 abandoned oil wells in the Gulf. They use up, plug them and wash their hands of them. Yep lets just keep drilling away . The entire process is fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/31 "2011-04-14T06:13:46Z")
> [@villa](#): > > And here we go again. What, no credit for toning down my rhetoric? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/32 "2011-04-14T06:45:39Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > It does not matter. there are 27,000 abandoned oil wells in the Gulf. They use up, plug them and wash their hands of them.. I am truly fucking curious. What do you think should be done with an end of life well, rather than plugging it? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/33 "2011-04-14T11:53:11Z")
Some people feel that the companies that took the profits from each well should remain legally and financially responsible for them, including checking for leaks and resealing as necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/34 "2011-04-14T12:06:38Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Some people feel that the companies that took the profits from each well should remain legally and financially responsible for them, including checking for leaks and resealing as necessary. I’m going to have to check with a mate of mine there, but if memory servers operators are responsible for monitoring wells after completion/abandonment. In UKCS they certainly are, Norwegian sector too ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/35 "2011-04-14T12:39:16Z")
Well, you could start by reading **gonzo** ’s cite. If you have mates who can speak to the assertions therein, I’m sure we’d be interested to hear. But it sounds to me like the real oversight of abandoned wells in American waters is pretty close to nil. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/36 "2011-04-14T12:41:37Z")
> [@LonghornDave](#): > > It depends on exactly what you want to call a permit, but per the BOEMRE itself, updated on 4/12/11 at 11:30 AM CST, the number of new well deepwater permits issued is 6. [Status of Well Permits & Plans Subject to Enhanced Safety and Environmental Requirements in the Gulf of Mexico](http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/homepg/offshore/safety/well_permits.html) > > See the first line on the second chart. Not to defend the awesome energy Q&E of this Rachel Maddow (who I’ve never heard of in my life, and who appears to talk and act pretty much like Glenn Beck) but she only says “permits”, not “deepwater permits.” ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/37 "2011-04-14T14:11:52Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Well, you could start by reading **gonzo** ’s cite. If you have mates who can speak to the assertions therein, I’m sure we’d be interested to hear. But it sounds to me like the real oversight of abandoned wells in American waters is pretty close to nil. Fair enough. I see it is an operator’s legal responsibility, but MMS haven’t done jack shit to enforce it or check. At a guess, they’re putting temporary caps on anything that might possibly become economically/technologically viable in the future, rather than a proper plug. Risky. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/38 "2011-04-14T22:02:54Z")
MMS was understaffed. and underfunded , on purpose. Bush and his government gutted every arm of regulation they could. Of course the oil companies bribed MMS employees too. There was nobody looking out for the rights of the people, assuming we have any. The regulators have been renamed and restaffed to some degree. But it will take time to impact the mess we have. They will never have enough resources to make up for all the Cheney dereg. Drilling we;l;s does not translate to more oil. Sometimes they cap a working well for later when the price goes up. They don’t just drill and sell every drop. They tend to like controlling the supply . That also allows the oil companies to control the price. If you think corporations are something holy, you have no problem with that. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060/39 "2011-04-14T23:58:32Z")
[HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/14/experts-fear-another-oil-_n_849352.html) All is well. The new agency is under a 2002 rule that says they must accept that the oil driller can handle a spill, as long as they say so in writing. They have 2 years to actually submit a detailed plan. meanwhile they can drill as deeply as they want. I feel much better, don’t you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-we-stop-those-dicks-at-bp-from-drilling-the-gulf/578060.md?page=1)