Nuking the oil spill: nuclear option being considered?

(Top image from Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and bottom image from Oil-Price.Net)

By MERLIN FLOWER for OIL-PRICE.NET, 2010/05/24

"Nuclear option

At 5,000 feet below water, battling the low temperature and high pressure is not easy. The pressure of the oil was so high that the BOP couldn't prevent the explosion- and the resultant spill-when eleven people died on 20 April. Also the leak appears to be more than the 5,000 barrels of oil a day estimated earlier, now analysts say the spill was about 13m litres a day with oil plumes more than 10 miles long discovered. As it could only get worse, now is the time to consider the option on a nuclear explosion:

The public opinion, after the initial disbelief which was suspended by images of the spill has rallied in favor of a nuclear explosion. So, finally there's some hope at the end of the tunnel. President Obama has stepped in and has sent a team of nuclear experts to contain the spill. The man in charge to contain the spill is Steven Chu, U.S. Energy Secretary and also the one who helped develop the first hydrogen bomb in the 50s (? -- a little young, is he not?). The five member multidisciplinary team are a creative lot involved in the first hydrogen bomb, finding ways to mine in Mars and ways to position biomedical needles. The team will work along with BP's scientist to find a solution. Meeting at BP's crisis centre in Houston, Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward said after the meeting, 'lots of nuclear physicists and all sorts of people coming up with some quite good ideas actually.' They are said to have reached 'one good idea' which he declined to reveal. A nuclear option perhaps?

Truth is that Russia has used it at least five times starting with a blast near Bukhara Uzbekistan in 1966. Then a 120 meter tall flame, fuelled by massive natural gas was blazing for three years with deafening sound. When all efforts to contain the flame in the desert failed, a 30 kiloton atom bomb was used. The explosion did seal the well-it worked displacing tonnes of rock over the spill thus cutting it." More>>>>

See also:

Oil-spill fix? Blow it up!

Posted: May 25, 2010
8:25 pm Eastern

By Drew Zahn
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

"Both in Russia and in the U.S., some scientists are suggesting nuclear blasts to bury the oil rig and send molten rock down to seal the leak. Other scientists say smaller, controlled explosions can stop the flow with shock waves." More>>>>

Panel's makeup in dispute

The Las Vegas Optic

May 31, 2010

"By David Giuliani
Some are alleging that San Miguel County’s new task force on oil and gas regulations is heavily weighted toward the industry.

Of the 10 members, four of them have ties to oil and gas.

In April, the County Commission formed the panel to make recommendations for an ordinance that would deal specifically with oil and gas drilling. No requests for drilling are pending, but officials said they wanted to be prepared.

Both the county and the city of Las Vegas have enacted moratoriums on any drilling until they can enact new regulations.

For its task force, the county has divided the members into four groups — oil and gas industry, environmental and educational, citizens and county representatives.

The oil industry members consist of Karin Foster, an attorney with the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico, and John Michael Richardson of the Petroleum and Mineral Land Services firm.

The environmental and educational members are Jeffrey Mills of the state Environment Department and Ken Bentson, a forestry professor at Highlands University.

The citizen members are general contractor J. David Blagg, retiree Ernesto Borunda and resident Larry Webb.

The county representatives are County Commissioner Nicolas Leger, County Manager Les Montoya and Planning and Zoning Supervisor Alex Tafoya.

Besides Foster and Richardson, both Webb and Mills are linked to the oil and gas industry. " More>>>>

State Land Office Officially Withdraws White Peak Oil & Gas Exploratory Drilling Leases for Auction

A link the White Peak tracts withdrawn from the State Land Office Oil & Gas lease auction, click here>>>>

See post below.

Oil leases for sale in Mora Co.

The Las Vegas Optic
By David Giuliani

"The State Land Office wants to sell oil and gas leases in Mora and Colfax counties.

According to Land Office documents, the agency aims to sell leases for two dozen parcels in Mora County and 29 in Colfax County on June 15.

The environmental group, the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, said the parcels are within the area of White Peak, where the Land Office has proposed controversial land trades.

However, the Land Office said Thursday that the nearest parcel is around seven miles away, but it is small and isolated. All of the others are much more distant, officials said.

Assistant Land Commissioner John Bemis said that eight years ago, Mora County didn’t have any oil and gas leases. He said the industry has nominated state land parcels for possible oil and gas activity." More>>>>

Related Post:

Peak Oil: State Land Office mistakenly offers leases in areas near White Peak for oil and gas drilling

Live BP Oil Spill Cam

NATURAL GAS: DeGette withdraws fracking amendment

E&E Publishing via Greenwire
Paul Quinlan, E&E reporter
May 26, 2010

"Colorado Democrat Diana DeGette withdrew a proposed amendment today from House water legislation that would have expanded regulation of a controversial oil and gas production technique some say has contributed to groundwater pollution.

DeGette's amendment to a water-infrastructure bill (H.R. 5320), which the Energy and Commerce Committee went on to pass with only one no-vote, would have required drillers under the Safe Drinking Water Act to disclose the chemicals used during hydraulic fracturing to state regulators or U.S. EPA.

DeGette, who has led House efforts to better regulate the practice, said she believed such reporting would be helpful to both an ongoing committee investigation and a two-year EPA investigation into the practice also under way. But she ultimately withdrew the measure, saying she had been contacted by industry representatives who suggested that compromise language was possible.

"We're going to work with the committee staff and the industry to have some compromise language," DeGette said.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who chairs the committee and had negotiated extensively with committee Republicans over other controversial amendments to the water bill, acknowledged the need to investigate and cited the parallel EPA and committee investigations before asking DeGette to withdraw the amendment.

"This is an issue that merits further consideration," Waxman said. "Now is not the right time for this change."' More>>>>

See related post:

MMS Director's Game of Telephone Ends in Firing

MMS Director's Game of Telephone Ends in Firing

One point about the recent federal regulatory debacle and lack of oversight that played part in the worst oil spill in U.S. history, it highlights why there must be local oil and gas drilling and production protective ordinances.

The New York Times

By MIKE SORAGHAN of Greenwire

Published: May 28, 2010

"Minerals Management Service Director Liz Birnbaum might have kept her job a little longer if she'd stayed in her office and kept her phone on the hook yesterday.

More News From Greenwire

• NOAA Chief: BP Delayed Video Feed Necessary to Determine Extent of Gulf Leak
• Interior Chief Vows Crackdown on MMS's 'Bad Apples'
• Obama: Gulf Spill Should Propel Passage of 'Long-Term Energy Strategy'
• Colo. Lawmaker Withdraws Natural Gas 'Fracking' Amendment to Water Bill
• Drought Spurs Life-Or-Death Struggles in Kilimanjaro's Shadow

Instead, she was forced to resign in a move that highlights the Obama administration's struggle to stay ahead of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis. The ongoing spill is flinging loose years of dirty laundry from the agency Birnbaum ran for less than a year.

The now-ex MMS director was in her office early yesterday, preparing to testify before an congressional panel about the agency's role in handling BP's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as she had several times in recent weeks.

Yesterday morning was different, according to congressional sources. Someone from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's office called and said the secretary did not want her to attend the House hearing. Following a harsh New York Times profile that highlighted her low profile in the crisis, that might have seemed like a bad omen.

But Birnbaum, the former veteran congressional staffer, was worried more about stiffing a committee chairman than what this meant for her job. She called Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), chairman of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, where she was supposed to testify, to tell him she would not be appearing.

Moran called Salazar, who then walked out of his sixth-floor hallway with Deputy Secretary David Hayes. They went one floor down and four hallways over to Birnbaum's office in 5400 corridor of Main Interior and asked her to resign.

Hayes, who has taken the lead for Salazar on the spill, testified in Birnbaum's place at the hearing." More>>>>

Shell Buys U.S. Shale Gas Assets for $4.7 Billion

The New York Times

May 28, 2010, 6:08 am

"Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas producer, said Friday that it had struck a deal to buy most of the assets of East Resources for $4.7 billion in cash, moving into the coveted sector of natural gas contained in shale deposits.

The Shell deal is with East Resources, an independent oil and gas company, its private equity backer Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and its financial adviser Jefferies.

“The opportunity now is to consolidate our tight gas portfolio, divest from non-core positions across North America, and to invest for profitable growth,” said Peter Voser, chief executive of Shell, calling the East Resources assets “the premier shale gas play in the Northeast U.S.”

Shell is getting 1.05 million acres of so-called tight gas properties in North America, in the northeastern states and the Rockies, which will make up most of the 1.3 million gas acres it is acquiring on the continent this year, and which it expects will produce 16 trillion cubic feet of gas in total." More>>>>

Shell is also targeting fragile ecosystems in Northern New Mexico for exploratory drilling....

Peak Oil: State Land Office mistakenly offers leases in areas near White Peak for oil and gas drilling

Santa Fe Reporter
By Alexa Schirtzinger on May 27th, 2010

"Yesterday, New Mexico Wildlife Federation Director Jeremy Vesbach told SFR that State Land Commissioner Pat Lyons was planning to open up lands near the scenic but embattled White Peak area to oil and gas development. Vesbach called it “a violation of [Lyons] January promise not to lease the white’s peak [sic] area” and illustrated his point with maps (after the jump).

Good thing he noticed. State Land Office spokeswoman Kristin Haase says Lyons didn’t actually know that the 20,000 acres in Mora and Colfax counties that were up for lease sale on June 15 included a 1,000-acre tract close to White Peak.

“Frankly, we’re not really sure how that [got] through, because the Commissioner has said he doesn’t want to lease land in the vicinity of White Peak for oil and gas development,” Haase tells SFR. “We’re a little concerned about how that got through.”

Haase says Lyons pulled leases for the 1,000 acres closest to White Peak “when as we found out.” How’d they find out? Yesterday, from Vesbach, who got a tip from Las Vegas resident Pat Leahan.

“We’re concerned about the oil and gas industry, and we’re concerned about the White Peak land swap,” Leahan tells SFR. “That has a lot of us at the grassroots level keeping an eye on White Peak.” When a colleague of Leahan’s found the leases, she asked the Wildlife Federation for help in mapping out where they’d be. Here are the maps NMWF made:" (see post:

State Land Office White Peak Exploratory Oil and Gas Leases Auction

For more of the SFR article, click here>>>>

Tomgram: Subhankar Banerjee, Oil Follies in the Arctic

{Inupiat cemetery with Bowhead jawbones, Kaktovik, 2001. (Credit: Subhankar Banerjee)}

Posted @ TomDispatch by Subhankar Banerjee (a Santa Fe, NM resident) at 3:45pm, May 25, 2010.

"[Note for TomDispatch Readers: As a companion piece to Subhankar Banerjee’s unique eyewitness report on how the search for oil in northern waters may destroy America’s Arctic ecology, let me suggest -- just in case you missed it -- Michael Klare’s recent TD post, “The Relentless Pursuit of Extreme Energy.” Together, they offer an unparalleled picture of a global energy nightmare in the making. ]

Sometimes the future is filled with surprises. On other occasions, it can be painfully predictable. In the case of drilling for oil in the extreme reaches of America’s Arctic seas, the latter is the case. BP’s catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, growing worse by the hour, is a living lesson in what will happen, sooner or later, if America’s Arctic waters are opened to the giant oil companies. If their drill rigs arrive, rest assured, despoliation will follow; and barring the sort of quick action by President Obama or Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar that Congressional representatives are increasingly calling for, rest assured as well that they will come. Despite the sobering vision of BP's colossal mess in the Gulf, Shell Oil is reportedly “moving vessels and other equipment from distant locations, in preparation for assembling its Arctic drilling fleet” in Alaskan Arctic waters this summer to bore test wells. The company apparently has no second thoughts on the subject.

The difference between the Gulf of Mexico and those northern waters is this: the climate is far less conducive to clean-up operations. If Shell were to "BP" the Alaskan Arctic, despite its effusive claims for the safety of its drilling operations and similarly profuse promises that it’s ready to cap and clean the oil spills it essentially insists can’t happen, real help would be in short supply and a long way off." More>>>>

State Land Office White Peak Exploratory Oil and Gas Leases Auction

Above is (are) a map(s) from the New Mexico Wildlife Federation indicating a portion of the White Peak area that the State Land Office is auctioning next month for exploratory oil and gas drilling leases. The lands are where State Road 199 enters the high country around White Peak and on lands Patrick Lyons is proposing to trade to the UU-Bar.

For related posts:

More of Mora County to be Auctioned Off by the State Land Office

Land Swap Tension Rises Lyons Faces Off With Opposition

Amid strife, first Whites Peak land swap closes

Land commissioner to meet with lawmakers about land swap

0il and gas leases sold in Mora County

KSFR: State Land Office Auction of Mora County Oil & Gas Leases

Mora County State Trust Land Auctioned for Oil & Gas Leases

Mora Co. commissioners meeting, Sept. 16, 10 am; also, state land auction

Mora Tries To Head Off Drilling

State Trust Land must comply with Mora County laws, says New Mexico Environmental Law Center

Land Office puts acres up for lease (in Mora County)

Nearly 13,000 acres of Mora County state trust land being offered for oil & gas leasing

A document obtained by The Daily Beast shows that BP, in a previous fatal disaster, increased worker risk to save money.

The Daily Beast

May 25, 2010

"This is a story about the Three Little Pigs. A lot of dead oil workers. And British Petroleum.

From the minute the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig exploded, BP has hewed to a party line: it did everything it could to prevent the April 20 accident that killed 11 men and has been spewing millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico ever since. Some critics have questioned the veracity of that position.

Now The Daily Beast has obtained a document—displayed below—that goes to the heart of BP procedures, demonstrating that before the company’s previous major disaster—at a moment when the oil giant could choose between cost-savings and greater safety—it selected cost-savings. And BP chose to illustrate that choice, without irony, by invoking the classic Three Little Pigs fairy tale." More>>>>

More of Mora County to be Auctioned Off by the State Land Office

It appears that the New Mexico State Land Office will be offering more of Mora County acres for oil and gas exploratory leases on June 15, 2010. For a listing of the tracts, go to the following link>>>>.

Las Vegas, NM Passed 2 Year Moratorium on Oil & Gas Exploration and Drilling

An email from the Las Vegas Peace and Justice Center relates that the Las Vegas, NM City Council passed Ordinance 10-16, imposing a 2-year moratorium on oil and gas exploration and drilling within city limits.

Scientists Fault Response of Government to Oil Spill in Gulf

The New York Times

By JUSTIN GILLIS

Published: May 19, 2010

"Tensions between the Obama administration and the scientific community over the gulf oil spill are escalating, with prominent oceanographers accusing the government of failing to conduct an adequate scientific analysis of the damage and of allowing BP to obscure the spill’s true scope.

Enlarge This Image

Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, before a Senate panel this week.

As the oil spill reaches land, we would like your updates and photographs of what you’re seeing. Photos are optional but recommended.

Multimedia

Multimedia Feature

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Multimedia Collection

Related

• Some Oil From Spill Reaches Current (May 20, 2010)

• Times Topic: Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill (2010)

A blog about energy and the environment.

Go to Blog

The scientists assert that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies have been slow to investigate the scope of the spill and the damage it is causing in the deep ocean. They are especially concerned about getting a better handle on problems that may be occurring from large plumes of oil droplets that appear to be spreading beneath the ocean surface.

The scientists point out that in the month since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, the government has failed to make public a single test result on water from the deep ocean. And the scientists say the administration has been too reluctant to demand an accurate analysis of how many gallons of oil are flowing into the sea from the gushing oil well.

“It seems baffling that we don’t know how much oil is being spilled,” Sylvia Earle, a famed oceanographer, said Wednesday on Capitol Hill. “It seems baffling that we don’t know where the oil is in the water column.”' More>>>>

Inventors say BP ignoring their oil spill ideas

Associated Press (AP)

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and MIKE BAKER (AP) – 58 minutes ago

NEW ORLEANS — A suggestion box or publicity stunt? BP has received thousands of ideas from the public on how to stop a blown oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, but some inventors are complaining that their efforts are getting ignored.

Oil-eating bacteria, bombs and a device that resembles a giant shower curtain are among the 10,000 fixes people have proposed to counter the growing environmental threat. BP is taking a closer look at 700 of the ideas, but the oil company has yet to use any of them nearly a month after the deadly explosion that caused the leak.

"They're clearly out of ideas, and there's a whole world of people willing to do this free of charge," said Dwayne Spradlin, CEO of InnoCentive Inc., which has created an online network of experts to solve problems." More>>>>

PETITION IN SUPPORT OF AN ORDINANCE TO REPEAL EXCEPTIONS TO THE BASE HYDROLOGICAL ZONING OF THE SANTA FE CO. DEVELOPMENT CODE EST. IN ORD. NO. 1996-10

Received a request from the United Communities of Santa Fe to post at Drilling Santa Fe the following petition:

"Whereas the current provisions of the Santa Fe County Land Development Code regarding “hydrologic zoning” have proved to be an ineffective means of providing growth management in the County and has resulted in uncontrolled sprawl development in many parts of the County, resulting in significant citizen concern regarding inadequate controls and regulation for sustainable land use and the related cultural, environmental, and historical aspects;

We, the undersigned residents of Santa Fe county ask the Board of County Commissioners assembled to support Ordinance No. 2010- () which repeals certain sections (Article 111, Section 10, 10.1 – 10.4) of the Santa Fe County Land Development Code, established in Ordinance 1996-10, that permit density reductions from base zoning by reason of hydrologic findings and calculations, until adoption of the Sustainable Land Development Code."

Link to petition in pdf>>>>>

Giant Oil 'Plumes' Detected in Gulf of Mexico

"May 16, 2010 — Associated Press — Scientists have found huge plumes of oil lurking under the surface of the water in the Gulf of Mexico, as BP hit a snag in its latest effort to slow down the oil blasting out of a broken undersea pipe." Video ink>>>>

Giant plumes of oil discovered underwater suggest "official" estimate of leak may be incorrect

{Oil covered water off the coast of Louisiana on May 9. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)}

examiner.com

May 16, 5:30 PMOrlando Independent ExaminerGregory Patin

"A review of widely varying estimates of the amount of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico showed huge discrepancies between the "official" government and BP estimate and those of various scientists.

The discovery of huge underwater plumes of oil by University of Georgia researchers suggests that scientists may be correct and that BP and the U.S. government have grossly underestimated the amount of oil gushing into the waters of the Gulf.

The New York Times reported yesterday that "scientists are finding enormous oil plumes in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick. The discovery is fresh evidence that the leak from the broken undersea well could be substantially worse than estimates that the government and BP have given."

According to the Times' report, the undersea plumes may go a long way toward explaining the discrepancy between the flow estimates, suggesting that much of the oil emerging from the well could be lingering far below the sea surface. ...

... All reports indicate that the situation in the Gulf is going from bad to worse, and that the severity of it has been either grossly underestimated, or hidden from the public by BP and the U.S. government. Unfortunately, the truth will inevitably hit the beaches and the economy of the Gulf states." More>>>>

Brief commnet: OK. Enough already. Since industry is not being forthright and assuming accountability, President Obama needs to stop making speeches about the situation and take executive actions to remedy this unmitigated disaster, immediately.

Court Backs Oil Project

The New York Times

By WILLIAM YARDLEY

Published: May 13, 2010

"A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected an effort by environmental and Native American groups to stop exploratory oil drilling off the coast of Alaska that could begin this summer.

The decision, by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, rejected several claims by the groups, including that the United States Minerals Management Service did not adequately consider the possibility that the project could cause a large oil spill in the remote Arctic.

The project is led by Shell Oil, which paid $2.1 billion in 2008 for rights to drill in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, off Alaska’s north coast." More>>>>

Obama rips execs over oil spill blame game

chron.com

By JENNIFER A. DLOUHY

WASHINGTON BUREAU

May 14, 2010, 11:24PM

"WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday sharply scolded corporate executives for “finger-pointing” over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster and promised to end the “cozy relationship” between oil companies and the federal regulators.

He also ordered a broad examination of the environmental laws and analyses that govern oil and gas exploration, in response to reports that government regulators ignored warnings from federal ocean analysts about offshore drilling plans.

“It is pretty clear the system failed, and it failed badly,” Obama said. “For that, there is enough responsibility to go around.”

Obama delivered his stinging rebuke of industry and regulators in remarks at the White House Rose Garden, flanked by Cabinet secretaries involved in the massive response and cleanup effort. They were his sharpest remarks since the April 20 oil well disaster that destroyed the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, killed 11 people and triggered the spill gushing from crumpled pipe at a BP well about 40 miles south of Louisiana.

Obama castigated company executives for “a ridiculous spectacle” during two days of congressional hearings on the oil spill this week, as the business leaders — all targets of negligence lawsuits — traded blame over what went wrong.

“You had executives from BP, Transocean and Halliburton falling all over each other trying to point the finger of blame at someone else,” Obama said.

“This is a responsibility that all of us share,” he said.

Obama also zeroed in on the Minerals Management Service, the beleaguered Interior Department agency tasked with regulating drilling safety as well as issuing federal drilling leases and collecting revenues from oil and gas production on federal lands and waters.

“For too long ... there has been a cozy relationship between the industry and the (regulators) that permit them to drill,” Obama said." More>>>>

U.S. Said to Allow Drilling Without Needed Permits

The New York Times

By IAN URBINA

Published: May 13, 2010

"WASHINGTON — The federal Minerals Management Service gave permission to BP and dozens of other oil companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting required permits from another agency that assesses threats to endangered species — and despite strong warnings from that agency about the impact the drilling was likely to have on the gulf. ...

... The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is partly responsible for protecting endangered species and marine mammals. It has said on repeated occasions that drilling in the gulf affects these animals, but the minerals agency since January 2009 has approved at least three huge lease sales, 103 seismic blasting projects and 346 drilling plans. Agency records also show that permission for those projects and plans was granted without getting the permits required under federal law." More>>>>

First Horrifying Video Of Deepwater Horizon Gusher

Business Insider
Joe Weisenthal | May. 12, 2010, 5:17 PM

"This is really, really ugly. It's video of the Deepwater Horizon gusher that's spilling tens of thousands of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf of Mexico. (Below or at link>>>>)

And don't miss: stunning pictures of the spill from outer space >"

City oil and gas moratorium urged

Las Vegas Optic

By David Giuliani

"Oil and gas drilling just doesn’t occur in rural areas; it happens in cities, too.

As such, the City Council is considering passing a moratorium on such activity in the city limits. The county already did so a few months ago, so it could have time to draft a more detailed ordinance dealing with energy development.

Some New Mexico towns, including Carlsbad, Hobbs and Artesia, have oil and gas wells inside city limits. Seven years ago, a rig in Carlsbad had a blowout, causing the evacuation of part of that town.

Last week, the Las Vegas City Council held the first of two public hearings on whether to enact a moratorium.

Ten residents spoke for the proposed moratorium; no one spoke against it." More>>>>

BP, Transocean and Halliburton Take Stance of No Accountability for Massive Oil Spill

Grist

by Jonathan Hiskes

11 May 2010 3:37 PM

"Dodge a trois

A three-way blame game at oil-spill hearing

Here's your 30-second wrap of the first congressional hearing on the BP Gulf oil disaster:

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hauled in executives from BP America, which leased the Deepwater Horizon rig; Transocean, which owned the rig; and America's favorite, Halliburton, which laid cement for the rig.

Executives from the three companies -- shockingly -- blamed each other for the ongoing disaster. BP America's Lamar McKay focused on Transocean's failed blowout preventer. Transocean's Steven Newman talked about the failed Halliburton cement. Halliburton's Tim Probert said a drilling contractor misused a cement plug (it's unclear if he was blaming BP or Transocean, but it definitely wasn't Halliburton's fault!)." More>>>>

And from AP:

Senate hearings prompting spill blame game

By H. JOSEF HEBERT (AP) – 13 hours ago

"WASHINGTON — The blame game is in full throttle as Congress begins hearings on the massive oil spill threatening sensitive marshes and marine life along the Gulf Coast.

Executives of the three companies involved in the drilling activities that unleashed the environmental crisis are trying to shift responsibility to each other in testimony to be given at separate hearings Tuesday before two Senate committees, even as the cause of the rig explosion and spill has yet to be determined.

Lawmakers are expected to ask oil industry giant BP, which operated the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig 40 miles off the Louisiana coast, why its drilling plans discounted the risk that such a catastrophic pipeline rupture would ever happen, and why it assumed that if a leak did occur, the oil would not pose a major threat." More>>>>

(BP et. al. Oil Spill) Updated daily Situation: Saturday 08 May

(NOAA trajectory map and link for larger version>>>>)

NOAA

May 8, 2010

"The experimental containment dome was successfully positioned over the leaking riser pipe last night, but then had to be removed after a large volume of ice-like methane hydrate crystals accumulated inside of the structure. These crystal hydrates blocked the flow of oil and threatened to lift the dome off the sea floor. The 4-story containment structure now sits on the seafloor next to the leak while experts consider ways to solve this issue. The emergency relief well progress continues and a second well is planned to start next week. To date over 190,000 feet of boom have been placed, another 1.3 million feet have been staged, approximately 2.1 million gallons of oil and water mix have been recovered, and 290,000 gallons of dispersant have been applied to the spilled oil." More>>>>

U.S. Considers 'Malfeasance' in Leak

The Wall Street Journal
May 9, 2010
By DAMIAN PALETTA And FAWN JOHNSON

"Attorney General Eric Holder on Sunday said he had dispatched Justice Department officials to the Gulf Coast to determine whether there had been any "misfeasance" or "malfeasance" related to the leaking oil rig off the Gulf of Mexico.

Mr. Holder, speaking on ABC's "This Week," said he sent the officials to the area to advise him on "what our options are." He said the government's primary focus was on preventing the leaking oil from devastating the coast when it reaches land.

A spokesman for BP PLC, which leased the rig that suffered an explosion last month that caused the leak, declined to comment, citing a company policy not to comment on causes of the leak while investigations are ongoing." More>>>>

Transocean made $270M profit from insurance payout

By MarketWatch
May 9, 2010, 10:57 a.m. EDT

"LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Transocean Ltd., the owner of the rig leased by BP PLC (BP,BP.LN) which is currently leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico, made a $270 million profit from insurance payouts after the disaster, the Sunday Times reports." More>>>>

Gas Drilling Critics Gain Control Of Flower Mound Council

Shelley Kofler, KERA News (2010-05-09)

"FLOWER MOUND (KERA) - Saturday's election has turned the tables on gas drilling in Flower Mound. Voters overwhelmingly elected a slate of council candidates who support a moratorium on some drilling operations. KERA's Shelley Kofler reports discussions on new restrictions are planned for Monday.

The victory party began early for the so-called N-F-L slate of candidates.

The first voter returns made it clear, gas drilling critics had delivered landslide victories for three candidates, the ones that stood up to the current council and backed a moratorium on large facilities that store water contaminated by drilling." More>>>>

For BP, a History of Spills and Safety Lapses

The New York Times

By JAD MOUAWAD

Published: May 8, 2010

"After BP’s Texas City, Tex., refinery blew up in 2005, killing 15 workers, the company vowed to address the safety shortfalls that caused the blast.

The next year, when a badly maintained oil pipeline ruptured and spilled 200,000 gallons of crude oil over Alaska’s North Slope, the oil giant once again promised to clean up its act.

In 2007, when Tony Hayward took over as chief executive, BP settled a series of criminal charges, including some related to Texas City, and agreed to pay $370 million in fines. “Our operations failed to meet our own standards and the requirements of the law,” the company said then, pledging to improve its “risk management.”' More>>>>

Suit: Workers kept at sea hours after explosion

AP

By CURT ANDERSON (AP)

May 5, 2010

"MIAMI — Three workers forced to escape on lifeboats after an explosion aboard an offshore drilling platform claimed in a lawsuit Tuesday that they were kept floating at sea for more than 10 hours while the rig burned uncontrollably.

"After these guys were pulled off the rig, they were kept in lifeboats for over 10 hours and saw the whole thing burn. They knew their friends were still on that rig burning," said Kurt Arnold, the Houston-based attorney who filed the lawsuit on the men's behalf. "They couldn't call anyone at home and say they were OK." More>>>>

New Setback in Attempt to Contain Gulf Oil Spill

The New York Times

By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON

Published: May 8, 2010

"ROBERT, La. — The latest effort to contain the oil spill that has poured millions of gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico encountered a setback 5,000 feet underwater, officials said Saturday, meaning oil will continue gushing into the ocean for at least several more days, and possibly months. " More>>>>

Click here to find out more! Federal regulators haven't kept up with oil drilling expansion

Los Angeles Times

By Jim Tankersley, Tribune Washington Bureau, and Julie Cart, Los Angeles Times

May 8, 2010 | 6:15 p.m.

"When the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and oil started gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, neither the oil companies nor their watchdogs in the Interior Department were ready." More>>>>

The Bakken Bunk

There have many emails circulated and posts posted on blogs about the Bakken Formation. Below is an email example. Part of the Bakken Bunk is to compare apple to oranges; conventional to unconventional oil extraction. Oil production from such areas as Saudi Arabia is conventional; the Bakken Formation is an unconventional "resource." Thus, the commercial viability and the adverse impacts are issues. However, oil production from the Bakken Formation has occurred since the 1950s, as is well-known. Although the Bakken Bunk refers to the USGS as a source, the email has contradictions to the source. And so it goes...

Here are some basic links that are easily found:
FAQ's about Bakken Formation (USGS)>>>>
Wikepedia:
Bakken Formation>>>>
Unconventional Oil>>>>
Shale Oil Extraction>>>>>

Now for the email alert example:

~~~~~

"OIL, Here's an interesting read, important and verifiable information : About 6 months ago, the writer was watching a news program on oil and one of the Forbes Bros. was the guest. The host said to Forbes, "I am going to ask you a direct question and I would like a direct answer; how much oil does the U.S. have in the ground?" Forbes did not miss a beat, he said, "more than all the Middle East put together." Please read below. The U. S. Geological Service issued a report in April 2008 that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report (hadn't been updated since 1995) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota , western South Dakota , and extreme eastern Montana ...... check THIS out: The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Prudhoe Bay, and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable... at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5..3 trillion. "When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea.." says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature's financial analyst. "This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years," reports The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a formation known as the Williston Basin , but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bakken.' It stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada .. For years, U. S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves.... and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL! That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 2041 years straight. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's from 2006! U. S. Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006 Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted. With this motherload of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling? They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates: - 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia - 18-times as much oil as Iraq - 21-times as much oil as Kuwait - 22-times as much oil as Iran - 500-times as much oil as Yemen - and it's all right here in the Western United States . HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because the environmentalists and others have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy.....WHY? James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East -more than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post. Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price - even with this find? Think again! It's all about the competitive marketplace, - it has to. Think OPEC just might be funding the environmentalists? Got your attention yet? Now, while you're thinking about it, do this: Pass this along. If you don't take a little time to do this, then you should stifle yourself the next time you complain about gas prices - by doing NOTHING, you forfeit your right to complain. -------- Now I just wonder what would happen in this country if every one of you sent this to every one in your address book. By the way...this is all true. Check it out at the link below!!! GOOGLE it, or follow this link. It will blow your mind. http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911 <http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911 <http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911> >

Why not pass this on?"

~~~~~

Do you really want an answer?

And about the claim of America becoming independent of foreign oil by a "drill, baby, drill" policy? There is a problem. Oil is a fungible commodity. How about the following article as food for thought beginning with an excerpt: "Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens stood on the floor of the Senate a month ago and urged his colleagues to support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Do it to boost our domestic oil supplies, he said. Do it to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

What Stevens did not mention was this: Alaskan oil could wind up being sold overseas."

Where would ANWR oil go?

By Warren Cornwall

Seattle Times staff reporter

Originally published April 19, 2005

Sex, Lies and Oil Spills

The Huffington Post
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

President, Waterkeeper Alliance; Professor, Pace University

Posted: May 5, 2010 10:19 AM

"A common spin in the right wing coverage of BP's oil spill is a gleeful suggestion that the gulf blowout is Obama's Katrina.

In truth, culpability for the disaster can more accurately be laid at the Bush Administration's doorstep. For eight years, George Bush's presidency infected the oil industry's oversight agency, the Minerals Management Service, with a septic culture of corruption from which it has yet to recover. Oil patch alumnae in the White House encouraged agency personnel to engineer weakened safeguards that directly contributed to the gulf catastrophe.

The absence of an acoustical regulator -- a remotely triggered dead man's switch that might have closed off BP's gushing pipe at its sea floor wellhead when the manual switch failed (the fire and explosion on the drilling platform may have prevented the dying workers from pushing the button) -- was directly attributable to industry pandering by the Bush team. Acoustic switches are required by law for all offshore rigs off Brazil and in Norway's North Sea operations. BP uses the device voluntarily in Britain's North Sea and elsewhere in the world as do other big players like Holland's Shell and France's Total. In 2000, the Minerals Management Service while weighing a comprehensive rulemaking for drilling safety, deemed the acoustic mechanism "essential" and proposed to mandate the mechanism on all gulf rigs.

Then, between January and March of 2001, incoming Vice President Dick Cheney conducted secret meetings with over 100 oil industry officials allowing them to draft a wish list of industry demands to be implemented by the oil friendly administration. Cheney also used that time to re-staff the Minerals Management Service with oil industry toadies including a cabal of his Wyoming carbon cronies. In 2003, newly reconstituted Minerals Management Service genuflected to the oil cartel by recommending the removal of the proposed requirement for acoustic switches. The Minerals Management Service's 2003 study concluded that "acoustic systems are not recommended because they tend to be very costly."

The acoustic trigger costs about $500,000. Estimated costs of the oil spill to Gulf Coast residents are now upward of $14 billion to gulf state communities. Bush's 2005 energy bill officially dropped the requirement for the acoustic switch off devices explaining that the industry's existing practices are "failsafe."

Bending over for Big Oil became the ideological posture of the Bush White House, and, under Cheney's cruel whip, the practice trickled down through the regulatory bureaucracy. The Minerals Management Service -- the poster child for "agency capture phenomena" -- hopped into bed with the regulated industry -- literally. A 2009 investigation of the Minerals Management Service found that agency officials "frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana and had sexual relationships with oil and gas company representatives." Three reports by the Inspector General describe an open bazaar of payoffs, bribes and kickbacks spiced with scenes of female employees providing sexual favors to industry big wigs who in turn rewarded government workers with illegal contracts. In one incident reported by the Inspector General, agency employees got so drunk at a Shell sponsored golf event that they could not drive home and had to sleep in hotel rooms paid for by Shell." More>>>>