39 rig blowouts in the Gulf between 1992 and 2006: MMS Study
“Let me be clear: I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security” —Barrack Obama
Let us be clear, Mr President: Has it ever occurred to you that the people who are ‘securing’ our energy are cheats, liars and corporate profiteers?
Mr Obama has, to quote the famous line by John Maynard Keynes, ‘the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all.’
Click image to enlarge
The oil well 41 miles offshore is leaking an estimated 5,000 barrels (about 210,000 gallons, or 795,000 liters) of crude oil per day, into the gulf, according to the officials.
Fire Earth estimate is closer to 8,000bpd because that’s how much oil the well was producing before the blow-out.
Waves deposit oil on Louisiana beaches, unimpressed by booms deployed along the coastline, Thursday, April 29. The underwater well about 41 miles SE of Louisiana was damaged after a blowout which caused its drilling platform, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, to explode, burn out and sink. Photo Credit: Liz Condo/Ap. Image may be subject to copyright.
It would take about 2 to 3 months to drill a relief well that would allow plugging the damaged well on the sea floor which is gushing crude some 1.5 km (5,000 feet) below the surface. All activities at that depth can only be performed by remote control devices.
It has been revealed that British Petroleum downplayed the probability of a blow-out at the leaking well which caused the offshore rig Deepwater Horizon to explode, leaking what is by now at least 2.3 million [Fire-Earth estimate] gallons of crude oil in to the Gulf.
In its environmental impact analysis, BP repeatedly suggested that it was virtually impossible for an accident to occur that would be serious enough to damage the coastal areas or harm the marine species mammals and fisheries.
Worse than that, the BP’s plan for the Deepwater Horizon well was approved by the federal Minerals Management Service. The plan which was filed in February 2009, repeatedly states that it would be “unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities.”
Where the company conceded that a spill might “cause impacts” to the coastal areas, marine animals and wildlife refuges, it down plays the impact saying, “due to the distance to shore (41 miles) and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected.”
“Clearly, the sort of occurrence that we’ve seen on the Deepwater Horizon is clearly unprecedented,” BP spokesman David Nicholas told The Associated Press on Friday. “It’s something that we have not experienced before … a blowout at this depth.”
How can BP, the oil behemoth with 101 years of drilling experience in every nook and cranny in the world, cite this level of ignorance as a credible excuse?
What about the Minerals Management Service? Surely, they should have been aware of the blowouts in the Gulf.
“According to a 2007 study by the federal Minerals Management Service, which examined the 39 rig blowouts in the Gulf of Mexico between 1992 and 2006, cementing was a contributing factor in 18 of the incidents. In all the cases, gas seepage occurred during or after cementing of the well casing, the MMS said.” AP reported.
Perhaps an MMS spokesman could clarify this: Why in the Gulf did they allow BP to go ahead and drill the well without a control plan, and in the absence of safety checks and emergency procedures?
More Terrifying Stats and Findings :
- The catastrophe could escalate even further and enter a new nightmarish dimension if the damaged underwater well were to develop a major rupture, resulting in the entire content of the well, a humongous amount of crude oil, spilled into the Gulf.
- Fire Earth Forecasts at Least 10 Major Oil Spills Worldwide between May 2010 and December 2011.
- The joint industry-federal team responsible for the cleanup operation has sprayed about 200,000 gallons (757,000 liters) of dispersant to “attack” the spill so far. “Dispersant only alters the destination of the toxic compounds in the oil,” an expert said. “Dispersant only alters the destination of the toxic compounds in the oil. [There’ re ]no good answers to a mess this big, only degrees of damage to various life-forms.”
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