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Dispersants may have forced crude to the ocean floor: Report
The largest environmental disaster in American history will get larger still
University of South Florida researchers believe that crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill may have settled to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico at levels toxic to marine life and further east than previously thought.
“The dispersant is moving the oil down out of the surface and into the deeper waters, where it can affect phytoplankton and other marine life,” said John Paul, a marine microbiologist at USF, CNN reported.
I’m a hypocrite and a liar? Tell the phytoplankton to sue me!
President B.O. and daughter Sasha swim at Alligator Point [sharks!] in Panama City Beach, Fla. August 14, 2010. Official White House [of horrors] Photo by Pete Souza.
BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico – Satellite Image
Natural-color image captured on July 28, 2010 by MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite. Source: NASA E/O. Click image to enlarge.Download large image (818 KB, JPEG).
“U.S. lawmakers on Thursday pressed the Environmental Protection Agency for assurances that BP was using safe agents to disperse its massive oil spill, saying they didn’t want the chemicals to become another ‘Agent Orange.'”
“Oil is no longer spewing into the Gulf of Mexico — at least temporarily — as BP Plc said it choked off the flow from its undersea well that ruptured in April and caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.”
Oil from BP’s damaged Macondo oil well floats on the Gulf of Mexico. MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image on July 11, 2010. A particularly bright patch of oil is seen appears southeast of the Mississippi Delta, close to the location of the sunken Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Source: NASA E/O. Click image to enlarge.Download large image(4 MB, JPEG)
Or Simply More Concerned About Pleasing the Big Oil?
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans has ruled 2-1 against the administration’s request to stay a lower court decision that lifted the 6-month drilling m moratorium, arguing the admin had failed to demonstrate “how it would be irreparably harmed if it were not granted,” a report said.
Meanwhile, the Interior Department confirmed that it was finally getting its act together and would issue a new order on deepwater drilling below 500 feet, but failed to say when the new ban would come into effect.
“Based on what we have learned since the BP oil spill, it has become increasingly clear that companies may not have adequate containment and response capabilities to respond to a spill and therefore, as the secretary has said previously, he will be issuing a new moratorium,” Interior Department spokesperson said. More …
Oil from BP’s damaged Macondo oil well (Deepwater Horizon platform) swamps the Mississippi Delta on July 4, 2010. Natural-color image captured by MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. Source: NASA E/O. Click image to enlarge. Download large image (4 MB, JPEG)
Mississippi Barrier Islands and Gulf Coast Satellite Images
Petit Bois Island is 10 km (6 miles) long and is is one of 7 barrier islands included in the Gulf Islands National Seashore. “As of June 27, 2010, the entire gulf-facing beachfront of several barrier islands in eastern Mississippi (offshore of Pascagoula) had received a designation of at least “lightly oiled” by the interagency Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Team that is responding to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. A few small stretches of Petit Bois Island had been labeled heavily or moderately oiled.” Image acquired by ALI on NASA’s EO-1 satellite on June 26, 2010. Source: NASA E/O. Click image to enlarge. Download large image (3 MB, JPEG)
Oil Slick Continues to Spread Like Malignant Cancer
Large patches of thick oil washes ashore in Mississippi for the first time: Report
Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster. Oil from BP’s leaking Macondo oil well I seen spreading in this natural-color acquired by MODIS on NASA’s Terra on June 25, 2010. Source: NASA. Click image to enlarge. Download large image (883 KB, JPEG)
Oil from BP’s leaking Macondo well has washed ashore at Ocean Springs beaches, about 15 km (9 miles) east of Biloxi, Mississippi, and at another beach close to an inland marsh, reports say.
“We cannot clean up or catch the oil until BP gets here. They have all of our people,” said Earl Etheridge, a spokesman for Mississippi’s Department of Environmental Quality, Reuters reported.
Sanitized images and writeup are available at the following sites:
1. As BP stock plunges to a 14-year Low, UK PM fears the firm’s “destruction”
“It is also in all our long-term interests that there is some clarity, some finality, to all of this, so that we don’t at the same time see the destruction of a company that is important for all our interests,” UK PM David Cameron told Canadian broadcaster CBC.
2. Gulf braces for storm, halt to oil containment
“Federal officials Friday say a tropical storm or hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico could shut down spill-containment operations at BP’s leaking oil well for two weeks, a report said.
3. Govt asks appeals court to keep deepwater drilling ban
“Captain William Allen-Kruse was found dead with a gun on board his boat by fellow workers. Coroner Stan Vinson told US media that witnesses believe Mr Kruse, who had been a charter boat fisherman for 20 years, had been distraught at the spill.”
Shocking video, filmed in River Ridge, near New Orleans shows visible sheen gathering in the puddles after a recent rainfall in the area. The filmmaker says the residue is “thick,” “foamy,” and “smells like the oil.”
Undersea remote control vehicle (RCV) damages the ruptured wellhead’s “vent system”
Oil gushed unhindered from BP’s ruptured wellhead after an undersea RVC collided with a makeshift vent system placed above the wellhead to capture some of the crude from the world’s deadliest oil spill. [Watch this space.]
Methane gas is up to 1 million times higher than the normal level near the Gulf of Mexico oil spill: U.S. Researchers
Such incredibly high levels of methane could deplete oxygen and create a larger than usual dead zone in Gulf of Mexico.
An oceanography professor at Texas A&M University, who spent ten days researching the water quality near the BP Plc oil spill in the gulf, says methane gas levels in some areas close to the spill source are “astonishingly high,” a report said.
“There is an incredible amount of methane in there,” Kessler said, noting that his team of 12 researchers has found concentrations of methane that were 100,000 times higher than normal within an 8 km (5-mile) radius of BP’s ruptured wellhead.
“We saw them approach a million times above background concentrations” in some areas, Kessler said.
“At some locations, we saw depletions of up to 30 percent of oxygen based on its natural concentration in the waters. At other places, we saw no depletion of oxygen in the waters. We need to determine why that is,” he added.
The oxygen depletion are still above a critical level, he said, but the oil still leaking into the Gulf, at about 60,000 barrels per day.
“What is it going to look like two months down the road, six months down the road, two years down the road?”
The researchers believe measuring the methane level could provide a more accurate estimate of the rate of oil spill, and are hoping to have their own estimate soon.
“Give us about a week and we should have some preliminary numbers on that,” he said.
Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico Grows Like Malignant Cancer
Oil Cancer Growing in the Gulf of Mexico. Heavier concentrations of the oil spreads as gray tentacles as seen in this photo-like image acquired by (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on June 19, 2010. “The location of the leaking well is marked with a white dot. North of the well, a spot of black may be smoke” rising from controlled fires. Source: NASA E/O. Click image to enlarge. Download large image (10 MB, JPEG).
Gulf of Mexico: Alive, a Major liability; dead, a valuable asset for the oil industry!
Gulf of Mexico is now a major liability for not just BP, partners in crime and the oil industry at large. However, this situation can be turned around, if the Gulf were to die. It would become a major asset but for the oil industry. It’s worth more to them dead than alive.
What to do?
Instruct the least ethical lawyers in the country and reverse the moratorium on deep water oil and gas exploration in the Gulf.
Nature Didn’t Train Fish to Thrive, Even Swim in Oil!
Poggy fish lie dead stuck in oil in Bay Jimmy near Port Sulpher, Louisiana June 20, 2010. REUTERS/Sean Gardner. Image may be subject to copyright. For more images click link below
The Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster is the Routine Way of Doing Things on Planet Oil Slick
Gulf of Mexico Oil Slick. MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image at 1:55 pm (CDT) on June 12, 2010. “Oil appears to have reached beaches and barrier islands in Alabama and the western Panhandle of Florida.” Source: NASA E/O. Click image to enlarge. Download large image (11 MB, JPEG)
Other Images:
Leaking oil and gas are seen during dispersant operations at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, in this screen grab taken from a BP live video feed June 14, 2010. BP Handout (via Reuters)
One of two, giant one-ton tarballs recovered June 11, 2010, south of Perdido Pass, Florida, June 11, 2010. US Coast Guard Handout (via Reuters)
“[Our parents thought they had] voted in a hands-on President and all we got was a roomful of [lousy] voyeurs.
Original caption: U.S. President Barack Obama (C) listens during a briefing about the situation along the Gulf Coast following the BP oil spill, at the Coast Guard Venice Center, in Venice, Louisiana, in this White House handout photo taken on May 2, 2010 and released on June 7, 2010.
Get the Firebugs from California!
Smoke billows from a controlled burn of spilled oil off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico, in this handout photograph taken June 9, 2010 and released on June 11. U.S. Coast Guard Handout [via Reuters]
Fire Earth Estimate for Crude Oil and Gas Spewed into the Gulf: 69,000 BPD
Fire Earth Estimate for the rate of crude oil and associated gas leak from the undersea ruptured wellhead into the Gulf of Mexico is based on the analysis of recent video images released by BP, which are available via Internet, and other information.
The Moderators estimate that about 69,000 barrels of crude oil and associated gas per day (BPD) are currently spewing out of the damaged wellhead. The associated error margin is ± 16%. [Updated June 13, 2010]
Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico
Worsening Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico. Photo-image acquired by (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on June 7, 2010. Source: NASA. Click image to enlarge.Download large image (12 MB, JPEG)
“The White House Action Comedy: A Roomful of Voyeurs”
“[Our parents thought they had] voted in a hands-on President and all we got was a roomful of [lousy voyeurs.] Original caption: U.S. President Barack Obama (C) listens during a briefing about the situation along the Gulf Coast following the BP oil spill, at the Coast Guard Venice Center, in Venice, Louisiana, in this White House handout photo taken on May 2, 2010 and released on June 7, 2010.
Black Pelicans
A pelican sits covered with oil from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead in Barataria Bay, Louisiana just off the Gulf of Mexico, June 6, 2010. Greenpeace Handout (via Reuters).
BP Submarine Volcano
Gas and oil continue to surge out from the containment cap at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site in the Gulf of Mexico, in this frame grab taken from a BP live video feed on June 8, 2010. BP Handout (via Reuters).
‘Top Kill’ Had Less Than Zero Percent Chance of Succeeding
But, it was a psychological game to re-establish the power domains and send a clear message as to who was actually in charge.
“We have not been able to stop the flow. We have made the decision to move on to the next option,” said Doug Suttles, BP Exploration and Productions chief operating officer in the U.S.
Image of the Day:
Redfish Bay in Louisiana’s birdsfoot delta turns black, May 27, 2010. Source: Gulf Restoration Network Handout (via Reuters).
Collapse Survivors Note: The ultimate ethical expression would be to neutralize the politicians, industry executives and their chains of command responsible for crimes against nature. Corrective action against the wrongdoers should not be viewed as acts of “revenge,” or “punishment,” but as a necessary means of preventing repetitions of similar crimes.
These unique images of the Deepwater Horizon oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico were obtained by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument aboard NASA’s Terra spacecraft on May 17, 2010, at around 16:40 UTC (11:40 a.m. CDT). The top panel is a false-color image created by combining data from the red band of the 26-degree forward-viewing camera, where the oil appears dark, with the blue and green bands of the nadir (vertical-viewing) camera, where the oil appears bright. The result causes the oil spill to stand out dramatically in shades of cyan, while other features like clouds and the land appear close to their natural color. The Mississippi Delta is visible in the upper left portion of the image. The red symbol indicates the former location of the drilling platform. The image dimensions are 346 by 258 kilometers (215 by 160 miles) and north is toward the top of the image.
The white arrow in the right-center of the image points to a plume of smoke, most likely from a controlled burn of oil collected on the surface. It appears as a dark streak against the brighter reflection of the sunlight from the ocean. The lower two panels are enlarged images of the area around the smoke plume acquired by MISR’s 46-degree forward-viewing and 46-degree backward-viewing cameras. At these view angles, and for the illumination conditions on this date, the smoke particles appear bright and sunglint from the ocean surface is much weaker. The views at the two different angles cover the same physical area of 42 by 30 kilometers (26 by 19 miles). Controlled burns of the oil began in early May in an attempt to remove oil from the open water. The clouds in the lower right quadrant of these panels have an apparent shift in position with angle of view due to their altitude above the surface. However, a bright point to the south of the plume does not show such a shift, and is likely a boat observing the controlled burn. The apparent shift in position of the smoke plume itself places its altitude at about 560 meters (1,840 feet) above the surface.
MISR was built and is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Terra spacecraft is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The MISR data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center in Hampton, Va. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. Source: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team
“Controlled burns” give the false impression that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is under control. May 19, 2010. Source: Chief Petty Officer John Kepsimelis, U.S. Coast Guard.
A dead Northern Gannet covered in oil lies along Grand Isle Beach in Grand Isle, Louisiana, May 21, 2010. Credit: REUTERS/Sean Gardner. Image may be subject to copyright. More images posted here.
Oil Disasters [Index Page includes links to other oil spills, news and information]
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Serial No 1,751. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).
More Turtles Are Dying Than Before Oil Leak: Experts
At least 156 dead or dying sea turtles have been found along the U.S. Gulf Coast since April 30, some 10 days after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded.
This number of dead or dying turtles that have been washed up along the coasts of Alabama, Florida Louisiana and Mississippi is greater than the number of dead and injured turtles that that we expect to see this time of the year, said Dr. Michael Ziccardi, a veterinarian and director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network in California.
“The toll among sea turtles has been steadily rising since the deep-sea well ruptured last month, and the stranding count began to reach an unusually high level in the past week,” Ziccardi was reported as saying.
Moderators introduced the Thunder Horse platform, the world’s largest semisubmersible facility, as another likely candidate that might cause another oil spill mega disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Which of the Gulf of Mexico’s Deepwater Wells Would Leak Next?
Located 150 miles (241 kilometers) southeast of New Orleans in Mississippi Canyon Block 778 in a water depth of approximately 6,050 feet (1,844 meters), the Thunder Horse platform is the world’s largest semisubmersible facility. British Petroleum received approval from the Minerals Management Service to debottleneck the topside production facilities to 275,000 barrels of oil and 220 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day. As of March 20, 2009, production was approximately 260,000 barrels of oil and 210.5 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day from seven wells. The Thunder Horse Field is the largest producer in the Gulf of Mexico. (Image courtesy of BP America Inc.). Source: DOI, MMS Report. Mississippi Canyon Block 778 could turn out to be another “Challenger” of deepwater oil production.
In 2005 Hurricane Dennis forced the crew to evacuate Thunder Horse, which was later found listing when the crew returned.Source: USGC.
The Atlantis
Blog Moderators have since learned that the U.S. government has decided to investigate another big BP oil rig, the Atlantis.
Atlantis PQ is believed to be a BP plc/BHP Billiton joint venture deepwater semi-submersible oil platform which is located over the Green Canyon Atlantis Oil Field in Gulf of Mexico, about 300 km (185 mi) south of New Orleans.
The Atlantis PQ oil and gas production platform is the deepest moored oil and gas extraction facility in the world producing about 200,000bpd. BP is the majority shareholder with 56 percent of the oil field while BHP owns the remaining 44 percent. Image is a BP copyright and is included here for educational purposes.
Growing Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico
Nearly a month after a deadly explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, the damaged well on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico continued to spill oil. In the weeks since the accident occurred, the oil slick has periodically drifted northeast toward the Mississippi Delta and reached the the Chandeleur Islands. On May 17, 2010, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this natural-color image, a large patch of oil was visible near the site of the accident, and a long ribbon of oil stretched far to the southeast. Image and [edited] caption: NASA E/O. Download large image (1 MB, JPEG) Click image to enlarge.
Oil Disasters [Index Page includes links to other oil spills, news and information]
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Serial No 1,742. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).
The oil leak from Deepwater Horizon ruptured wellhead is closing in on a circulating current in the Gulf of Mexico called the Loop Current, and it’s feared that it will enter the Gulf Stream possibly by early next week.
The University of South Florida College of Marine Science Ocean Circulation Group (OCG/CMS/USF) has prepared a video showing the trajectory of the oil spill (4 -8 May) and the how the Gulf currents are being impacted. See animation update here (18 – 21 May 2010).
Trajectory of the oil spill – Actual and Forecast (OCG/CMS/USF)
Projected Movement of BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (4 – 8 May 2010)
New Lawsuit Targets Federal Officials
The environmental law firm Earthjustice has filed a new lawsuit on behalf of Gulf Restoration Network seeking to reverse what it called an illegal waiver of safety regulations, which was granted to BP (It also covered other oil companies drilling off the coasts o Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi) in 2008 and runs through 2013.
The suit names Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Assistant Interior Secretary Wilma Lewis and the MMS Director Elizabeth Birnbaum as plaintiffs, and is one of at least 10 dozen various suits filed against BP Plc.
To Earthjustice Law Firm: How much more evidence of corruption and/or incompetence will you need to sue the entire U.S. Administration out of office? Please respond!
Oil Disasters [Index Page includes links to other oil spills, news and information]
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Serial No 1,740. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).
About 1.4 million barrels of crude may have already spewed into the Gulf of Mexico
[NOTE: Fire-Earth estimate for the amount of crude oil already leaked into GOM is about 700,000 barrels as of May 18.]
BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has already exceeded by a factor of 2.5 to 5 the magnitude of Exxon (Exxon Valdez) disaster in Prince William Sound, on the south coast of Alaska in 1989.
In the Exxon Valdez disaster an estimated 11 million gallons (262,000 barrels) of crude oil were released into the Alaskan waters. An estimated 30,000 gallons of crude still remains in the sand and soil.
Even at NOAA’s hugely underestimated calculation of 5,000bpd, the spill total now stands at 140,000 barrels (6 million gallons and counting).
Oil disasters are usually measured in terms of how many barrels of oil are spilled into the waters; however, the plight of so many millions of people whose livelihood depends on what was already an ailing body of water, has added a new socioeconomic dimension.
What BP Says:
BP Plc says its “quick fix” is sort of working. Using undersea remote control devices [‘robots,’] their technicians have inserted a mile-long tube into the leaking riser, the massive ruptured pipe, and are siphoning about a fifth of the oil that is gushing out of the well.
GULF of MEXICO – Gas from the ruptured Deepwater Horizon wellhead is flared by the drillship Discoverer Enterprise May 16, 2010. A fraction of the gas and oil from the wellhead are being brought to the surface via a narrow siphoning tube that was placed inside the much wider damaged riser. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick Kelley. [Caption edited by FEWW]
“I do feel that we have, for the first time, turned the corner in this challenge,” BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said in Florida.
“Over the last 48 hours, we’re beginning to meet with some significant success.”
Clearly the criteria for success in BP minds is different to the rest of us. WE see the leak as still continuing.
Center for Public Integrity has released a new paper that shows 2 of the BP-owned U.S. refineries were responsible for 97 percent of the worst refining industry safety violations in the past three years, according to federal inspectors.
Let the federal inspectors call it safety violations, what BP has done in the Gulf of Mexico is corporate terrorism.
The suspected terrorist who left a car in New York’s Time Square recently which reportedly contained propane gas cylinders, which may or may not have exploded, and may or may not have killed anyone, would probably spend the rest of his life in a federal prison.
BP executives who have already killed 11 people, devastated at least twice as many families and left a number of orphans behind, on the other hand, are walking freely and discussing their next deepwater drilling project.
How Badly is Louisiana Affected?
Meanwhile, hundreds of shrimpers in Louisiana as well as many others whose income depends on fishing, tourism and related industries, have already lost their jobs, and are barely surviving, making ends meet by doing odd jobs where available.
And Florida?
US Coast Guard Rear Adm Peter Neffenger is on record as saying that the oil could be swept up into the “loop current” and move around Florida coastline.
“Currently it shows to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50 miles [65km-80km] from the southern edge of the spill,” he said.
“We are watching that carefully and as a result of that we are preparing for potential impact on the southern Florida coast and impacts around the southern Florida coast.”
Oil Disasters [Index Page includes links to other oil spills, news and information]
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Serial No 1,738. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).
Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster. A freeze frame of the oil leak video supplied by the BP showing only one of at least two separate oil leaks. Image may be subject to copyright.
As to whether the leak is closer to 5,000 barrels per day (bpd) or 25,000 bpd, here’s an estimate we prepared earlier:
Diameter of the ruptured pipe seen gushing oil on BP video: 53cm (21 inches)
Cross-sectional area of the pipe: 2,233cm²
Fire-Earth estimate of oil and gas flow: 50cm/sec [Simplified model of crude leak calculates the flow rate as the height of a cylinder filled every second.]
Volume of crude oil and natural gases released: 111,672cm³s-1
Number of seconds in each day: 86, 400 sec
Crude oil escaping from the pipe as a percentage of all materials: 90 percent [Fire-Earth estimate]
Volume of oil escaping into GOM: 8 million liters per day (rounded down to nearest million)
Amount of oil escaped: 2 million U.S. Gallons per day (rounded down to nearest million), or 50,000bpd
Escaped oil calculated at a generous margin of error of 50 percent: 25,000bpd
NOTES:
1. According to earlier reports at least two separate leaks remain on seafloor the second of which is not shown on the BP video.
2. A reader who claimed to be an oil industry insider contacted one of the blog Moderators saying diameter of the drill pipe that enters top of the well is 6 inches (15cm). That means the oil flows nearly 4 times faster in the drill pipe than it does in the 21-inch riser-pipe. It does NOT affect Fire-Earth estimate significantly.
Next Major Oil Disaster?
Probability of another major disaster occurring in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico between now and December 2011 : >90 percent [Fire-Earth Forecast]
Oil Disasters [Index Page includes links to other oil spills, news and information]
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Serial No 1,730. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).
Gulf of Mexico is a powder keg waiting to explode anytime, engulfing the region in a ball of fire
Gulf of Mexico is a natural asset, a life guarantee, but it’s being stripped of its natural services, turned into an industrial cash cow and bled to oblivion by unscrupulous money men.
It may be painful to live without too much fossil fuels, and the fattest “energy dinosaurs” would suffer most, but the price you pay for continuing on a high-energy path is much dearer—you shall all perish.
Which of the Gulf of Mexico’s Deepwater Wells Would Leak Next?
Located 150 miles (241 kilometers) southeast of New Orleans in Mississippi Canyon Block 778 in a water depth of approximately 6,050 feet (1,844 meters), the Thunder Horse platform is the world’s largest semisubmersible facility. British Petroleum received approval from the Minerals Management Service to debottleneck the topside production facilities to 275,000 barrels of oil and 220 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day. As of March 20, 2009, production was approximately 260,000 barrels of oil and 210.5 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day from seven wells. The Thunder Horse Field is the largest producer in the Gulf of Mexico. (Image courtesy of BP America Inc.). Source: DOI, MMS Report. Mississippi Canyon Block 778 could turn out to be another “Challenger” of deepwater oil production
Why are the Moderators so concerned about additional oil leaks in GOM , after all it’s not as if offshore drilling is a new trick, right?
Here are some stats from the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS), the body [that should be] responsible for offshore drilling regulations and safety enforcement [sic.] Every time the number of deepwater operations is doubled, the probability of “accidents” increases by about 4 folds.
The MMS says since the early 1990’s, leasing, drilling, and production (pumping oil from the well) has moved increasingly into deeper waters.
As of 2008/09 approximately 7,310 active leases operated in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM)
About 4,240 (58%) were in deep water. (The actual numbers vary day to day, figure are approx.)
In contrast, there were only 5,600 active GOM leases in 1992, and only about 27% or 1,510 of those leases were in deep water.
In 1992 only 3 rigs drilled in deep water, compared to 31 rigs in 2008, and 77 operated in 2010, of which at least 47 are in commercial production.
Deepwater oil production rose by 786 percent and gas production increased about 1,067 percent from 1992 to 2007.
Seven deepwater fields became operational in 2008 including Thunder Horse, the largest daily producer in the GOM.
Gulf of Mexico – Oil and Gas Production. Between 1987 and 2007 pumping oil out of the deepwater fields increased by about 20 folds. Source: MMS. Enhanced by Fire-Earth. Click image to enlarge.
A Chilling Forecast
Based on the frequency of recent oil spills, the rate of rise in drilling deepwater wells and a number of other related factors, Fire-Earth Moderators forecast at least 10 more oil spills could occur between now and December 2011.
Oil spills share two common features with nightmares:
They keep on recurring.
They become more frightening each time they recur.
“Energy Security,” Doesn’t Mean Life Security
The pink in the picture are pipelines! Does the underwater jungle of pipelines create perception of energy security or life security? Image source: MMS. Click image to enlarge.
“Throughout our inspections, no deepwater facilities have been shut-in due to safety concerns,” said John Romero, spokesman for Minerals Management Service (MMS), the Department of Interior branch responsible [sic] for offshore drilling safety .
Romero said that his department at MMS will soon begin inspecting 47 deepwater production platforms that are already pumping crude oil commercially.
“These inspections may take up to a month to complete,” he said.
Future is Black, Future is Sticky, Future …
What are the chances that the rigs and oil platforms in GOM continue operating without “safety problems,” for another week, month, or a year?
What happens if an earthquake strikes the region, or an underwater landslide occurs near one or more of the wells?
Do BP, MSS, NOAA or anybody else have any disaster-prevention plans to deal with earthquakes, landslide and other “unexpected” natural hazards?
Serial No 1,719. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).
MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite took the above image on Tuesday p.m. local time, May 11. Image shows significant amounts of oil in the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the ongoing leak from the damaged Deepwater Horizon oil well. Image and caption: NASA E/O. [edited for brevity.] Click image to enlarge. Download large image (815 KB, JPEG)
Latest News Headlines:
BP is attempting to maneuver its “small top hat” containment dome over the wellhead leak on Wednesday, May 12. BP officials have no idea whether it will work.
“The ‘top hat’ was lowered to the seabed floor last night and is presently… in the immediate area of the leak and the plan is to have that positioned over the leak and functioning by the end of the week,” BP spokesperson Bryan Ferguson told AFP.
NOAA’s Magic Reduces the Oil Spill [at least diagrammatically]
While BP’s chances of stopping the leak aren’t that good right now, NOAA has managed to reduce the spill marks electronically. See image below and previous images posted.
Another euphemistic, watered-down 72-Hour Trajectory Map of the Oil Spill in the Gulf? Click image to enlarge (PDF file)
Oil Disasters [Index Page includes a plethora of resources on oil spills]
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Serial No 1,717. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).
Fire Earth 
