Is BP Doing Enough To Clean Up The Oil Spill?

[Throatwarbler_Mangrove]

Obama deliberately delayed the response to the spill so that he can shut down offshore drilling because he “has never supported big oil!” :eek:

Michael Brown: Obama Wanted The Oil Spill To Happen

EDIT: Those poor big oil companies.

[Try2B_Comprehensive]

@Princhester

You read the first sentence of my post you were responding to, right?

You’re accusing me of being some kind of stereotypical capitalist. It’s trite.

Because there have been any number of massive oil spills in the past and no magic wand has been waved since that would give anyone cause to believe that major spills couldn’t happen again.

I am a proponent of phasing out oil in favor of superior alternatives. Ending oil spills isn’t a matter of magic.

Voodoo isn’t really magic either when you get right down to it.

[Try2B_Comprehensive]

@Telemark

In order for that policy to be enacted, you’ll have to make the case for far more expensive oil and reduced supplies. The US public hasn’t been willing to make that tradeoff; perhaps they will now. In essence, we’ve hired BP and the other oil exploration companies to do our bidding and these results were, IMO, inevitable. Not that BP can’t shoulder some of the blame, but we have met the enemy and they is us.

Ah, as Supreme Eco-Fascistic Autocrat of the Globe, I won’t have to make any case. My will be done!!!

I understand that sentiment as well.

STFU

[Try2B_Comprehensive]

@LonghornDave

I know this has already been essentially dealt with, but here are the latest numbers for the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating as of 4/30/10 according to Baker Hughes. Rig count estimates vary depending upon the source that you go to.

Land: 1,417
Inland Waters: 14
Offshore: 52
TOTAL: 1,489

Of these, the majority (~64%) are drilling primarily for natural gas. Further, a high number of the offshore rigs are not working in the deepwater.

So… the rate of blowouts per offshore rigs is actually shockingly high, no?

[LonghornDave]

@Try2B_Comprehensive

So… the rate of blowouts per offshore rigs is actually shockingly high, no?

I haven’t seen any statistics that show that. If I were to guess it would be less than 0.1% of offshore wells, maybe much less than that. I haven’t seen any frequency statistics on it though. Further, just because there is a blowout doesn’t mean there is a significant leak of oil.

[Princhester]

@Try2B_Comprehensive

You’re accusing me of being some kind of stereotypical capitalist. It’s trite.

No, that’s precisely what I wasn’t doing. Read again.

[Squink]

From: http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery

Spill does not look significantly larger on 05/04 than it did on 04/29.

Perhaps rough seas dispersed a chunk of oil, but I’m not seeing anything on the scale of some of the scarier news-graphics.

[gonzomax]

Big Oil Fought Rules Requiring Equipment To Prevent Blowouts | HuffPost Impact It is not that we have a spill but why. The industry ,as all industries do, fought for more and more deregulation. In 1996 the Bush admin. went for voluntary compliance. Trust us we will take care of you. Like the bankers, they need regulation. Like the coal mine operators they need regulation. For some reason we begin to trust them when we go without trouble for a while. Then we get all pissed off when something happens and scream at the regulators. They were taken out of the equation long ago. If you trust profit making corporations to act with public interests in mind, they will disappoint you over and over.

[mangeorge]

@Squink

From: http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery

Spill does not look significantly larger on 05/04 than it did on 04/29.

Perhaps rough seas dispersed a chunk of oil, but I’m not seeing anything on the scale of some of the scarier news-graphics.

I saw part of some coverage on BBS America (I think it’s calles). Not very much in the way of scary news-graphics there. I haven’t seen much US news coverage, but I was just listening to news in the other room and they seemed pretty calm now.
I did see a video of the cofferdam. What a beautiful kluge.

[mangeorge]

@gonzomax

Big Oil Fought Rules Requiring Equipment To Prevent Blowouts | HuffPost Impact It is not that we have a spill but why. The industry ,as all industries do, fought for more and more deregulation. In 1996 the Bush admin. went for voluntary compliance. Trust us we will take care of you. Like the bankers, they need regulation. Like the coal mine operators they need regulation. For some reason we begin to trust them when we go without trouble for a while. Then we get all pissed off when something happens and scream at the regulators. They were taken out of the equation long ago. If you trust profit making corporations to act with public interests in mind, they will disappoint you over and over.

That’s a given, isn’t it? In fact, doing as you describe is their job.

[Waenara]

@Squink

From: http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery

Spill does not look significantly larger on 05/04 than it did on 04/29.

Perhaps rough seas dispersed a chunk of oil, but I’m not seeing anything on the scale of some of the scarier news-graphics.

They’ve been using large amounts of chemical dispersants to break up the oil, so less visible oil is reaching the surface. Not much has come ashore yet, but that will increase. Cite:

BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said the chemical dispersants seem to be keeping oil from reaching the surface, but he did not provide any details. So far, the slick remains mostly away from the shore, but it measures hundreds of miles in circumference.

The company said it carried out a second approved trial injection of dispersants directly into the oil flow at a point close to the main leak on the seabed, a mile below the water surface.

“The technique is intended to efficiently mix the oil and dispersant, breaking up and dispersing accumulations of oil and allowing it to degrade naturally and reduce surface impact,” BP added.

[flickster]

@gonzomax

Big Oil Fought Rules Requiring Equipment To Prevent Blowouts | HuffPost Impact It is not that we have a spill but why. The industry ,as all industries do, fought for more and more deregulation. In 1996 the Bush admin. went for voluntary compliance. Trust us we will take care of you. Like the bankers, they need regulation. Like the coal mine operators they need regulation. For some reason we begin to trust them when we go without trouble for a while. Then we get all pissed off when something happens and scream at the regulators. They were taken out of the equation long ago. If you trust profit making corporations to act with public interests in mind, they will disappoint you over and over.

Horse Hockey…The industry in not self-regulated nor do they rely on voluntary compliance. All procedures and processes and regulated and approved by the MMS

[Magiver]

I’m wondering why a 3 or 4 foot floating wall/boom hasn’t been invented to coral oil slicks for burning. It can’t be much of an engineering challenge. The current booms are near worthless.

[Magiver]

Corral, not coral.

[Try2B_Comprehensive]

Telemark: In case you haven’t already guessed… I’m going crazy! The good news is I’m not criminally inclined and ought to be back to my nominally level-headed self soon. In the meantime however there is no reason to lash out at you. I take it back, I hope you accept my apology.

[Try2B_Comprehensive]

And, it appears BP lied to the government about its ability to deal with a blowout:

In an exploration plan filed with the government in February 2009, BP said it had the capability to handle a “worst-case scenario” it described as a leak of 162,000 barrels per day from an uncontrolled blowout.

If this is their idea of ‘handling’ a blowout, it isn’t good enough.
If they were honest, do you think they would have got permission to drill?

[penultima_thule]

@Magiver

I’m wondering why a 3 or 4 foot floating wall/boom hasn’t been invented to coral oil slicks for burning. It can’t be much of an engineering challenge. The current booms are near worthless.

An enclosure with a 4 foot sail several miles long is going to be problematic to maintain. You aren’t going to impound the oil spill to a significant height above sea level once it has dispersed from the source leak.

Just out of interest I presume we are outside hurricane season? Us folks in the southern hemisphere aren’t always up to speed with the northern seasonal events.

[Squink]

Soviets used nukes to stop blowouts five times:

In fact there were several cases where catastrophes in the fields of fighting in this way. In the former USSR - five times. When nothing else has not helped. It’s now in the Gulf of Mexico, where oil oozes out of the way from three places.

First underground nuclear explosion was used to extinguish burning gas wells in "Urt-Bulak (80 km from Bukhara) 30 September 1966. For comparison, the Hiroshima bomb exploded about 20 kilotons. But at a height of 600 meters. near Bukhara - at a depth of six kilometers.

The idea of the method is simple: an underground explosion pushes the rock, presses it and actually squeezes the channel well.

Powerful nuclear “plugs” - sometimes 3 Hiroshima - we have enjoyed until 1979. In 1972 in Kharkov region failed to block the emergency gas blowout. The explosion was mysteriously left on the surface, forming a mushroom cloud. Although the charge was minimal - just a 4 kiloton. And laid deep - for more than two kilometers.

These were likely carried out under “Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy”, the Soviet version of Operation Plowshare.

[NinetyWt]

@penultima_thule

Just out of interest I presume we are outside hurricane season?

Hurricane season begins June 1.

[Magiver]

@penultima_thule

An enclosure with a 4 foot sail several miles long is going to be problematic to maintain. You aren’t going to impound the oil spill to a significant height above sea level once it has dispersed from the source leak.

Just out of interest I presume we are outside hurricane season? Us folks in the southern hemisphere aren’t always up to speed with the northern seasonal events.

It wouldn’t pile the oil higher but it would prevent it from migrating. It doesn’t take much wave action to negate the current boom system. The idea would be to get a wall around the point of origin and either pump or burn the oil as it surfaces.

Considering how long there have been offshore wells I would expect something a little more advanced than what I’ve seen.