Children's Parade in Oslo, Stortinget (Parliament) in Background
Best wishes to our many Norwegian friends on their National Day, which celebrates the signing of their Constitution on May 17, 1814. Enjoy the holiday!
-Pacman like oil-eaters (don’t let these buggers loose in your crankcase!)
-Super-sorbents that soak up oil and convert it to an edible substance that makes you younger and better looking!
-Skimming systems that recovered 85% of the oil during the mysterious XYZ spill
To the hucksters: Show us the data!
To the media: Spend more time talking to the oil spill response professionals in the Coast Guard, MMS, NOAA, and EPA, and less time helping people promote themselves and their products.
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Jan Therkildsen (BOE’s Chief Rocky Mountains Correspondent) found this Aban Pearl update.
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Odd Finnestad dug up this information on the Aban Pearl sinking.
Venezuela appointed a high level commission to investigate the causes of the sinking of Aban Pearl rig, which exploited gas offshore, according to executives of that program on Friday.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged aban pearl, accidents, venezuela | 1 Comment »
There is nothing about the sinking on the Aban Offshore website, and very little new information elsewhere. The way the incident was announced – a tweet from Hugo Chavez – seems to be the big story to date.
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Chutzpah Thursday:
- First Prize: Mexico may sue over the Macondo spill. I guess they forgot about Ixtoc I, the largest spill in history, and the damages to the Texas coastline. When can we expect a suit by Hugo Chavez? Ironically, while the US has repeatedly cited the environmental threat of Cuban drilling, the Cubans don’t seem to have made any public comments about the spill.
- Second Prize: May 1, 2010 quote (scientist speaking about the slick): “It will be on the East Coast of Florida in almost no time. I don’t think we can prevent that. It’s more of a question of when rather than if.” Has the scientist ever heard of weathering, evaporation, dispersion, and other natural processes that act on spills?
- Third Prize: During a Today Show interview, a former oil company executive disparaged a spill response option (dispersants) that was an integral part of his company’s response plans, made condescending comments about the expertise of regulators, wondered why a tanker-skimmer response option that he had “heard about” wasn’t being tried, and repeatedly mentioned blowout “protectors” (most people get a pass when they make this mistake, but not retired oil industry executives).
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Aban Pearl
From BOE Europe Chief Odd Finnestad: All 95 workers are safe, says President Hugo Chávez. The rig was previously named named Bulford Dolphin and owned by Fred. Olsen (Norwegian rig owner) who sold it in 2007 when it was 30 years old. The rig started to take in water and capsized during the night. The workers were evacuated and two navy crafts are now patrolling the area.
Odd has done more research and has provided the following additional information:
The rig is currently owned by Aban Singapore Pte. Ltd. Aban Singapore (ASPL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aban Offshore Ltd, an Indian company. The rig’s previous names were Bulford Dolphin (Fred Olsen Energy) and Treasure Seeker (Wilh. Whilhelmsen). In 1975, Treasure Hunter, the first oil drilling rig was delivered to WW, followed by Treasure Seeker and Treasure Finder in the next two years. After a difficult start, the drilling rigs were secured on profitable long-term contracts with the oil companies, paving the way for the ordering, chartering and acquisition of still larger and more advanced rigs, culminating with Polar Pioneer from 1985 – one of the world’s most advanced rig for drilling in inhospitable waters. The WW offshore activities, however, were gradually phased out towards the end of the decade.
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I haven’t posted recently for a variety of reasons, but I see that folks are still visiting the blog. Thanks for checking-in. For those who are formulating their own views about what really happened and why, the documents at the House Energy and Commerce Committee site are mandatory reading.
Also, many thanks to those who have asked about my testimony before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. My statement is here. Kudos to Chairman Bingaman and the very capable committee staff for their thoughtful and professional approach to these hearings.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, House Energy and Commerce, macondo, offshore oil, ohmsett, oil spill, safety, Senate Energy and Natural Resources, well control | 5 Comments »
Here is why:
-I watched a news clip that was nothing more than a vicious, ill-informed attack on my former colleagues. The piece was totally unprofessional.
-I’ve read too much commentary from folks who already know what is wrong with the operator, drilling contractor, regulator, equipment manufacturers, spill responders, and everything else associated in any way with this tragic incident.
So I’m taking a self-imposed timeout while I calm down. I’ll be commenting publicly on Tuesday.
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"Macondome" Pollution Containment Chamber
Assuming well intervention efforts continue to be unsuccessful, the next big milestone will be the installation of the subsea containment dome and the floating production system that will support it. We should know a lot more in one to two weeks. Schematics of the subsea, riser, and surface arrangements would be useful for those of us watching at home.
Relief Wells
From the BP relief well schematic, it appears that both wells will have the same target, so the 2-well program is solely for the purpose of killing the well as soon as possible. No information has been provided as to whether the flow is thought to be originating at the production casing shoe or in the annulus surrounding the casing.
Subsea Dispersant Injection System
BP is reporting good results with the seafloor dispersant system.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, Macondome, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control | Leave a Comment »
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 