Mapping the Response to BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

CBS MarketWatch
June 14, 2010, 9:55 a.m. EDT

By Steve Gelsi

"NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Monday launched a new mapping Web site for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico at http://www.GeoPlatform.gov/gulfresponse. NOAA said the Web site will provide detailed, near-real-time information about the response. Originally designed for responders who make operational decisions, the Web site was the result of a joint partnership between NOAA and the University of New Hampshire's Coastal Response Research Center."

From http://www.geoplatform.gov/gulfresponse/

"The dynamic nature of the BP oil spill has been a challenge for a range of communities – from hotel operators to fishermen to local community leaders. We know the American people have questions about how the federal government is responding to this crisis, and we are committed to providing the answers with clarity and transparency. The site you’re viewing right now is a symbol of that commitment.

GeoPlatform.gov/gulfresponse is a new online tool that provides you with near-real time information about the response effort. Developed by NOAA with the EPA, U.S. Coast Guard, and the Department of Interior, the site offers you a “one-stop shop” for spill response information.

The site integrates the latest data the federal responders have about the oil spill’s trajectory with fishery area closures, wildlife data and place-based Gulf Coast resources — such as pinpointed locations of oiled shoreline and current positions of deployed research ships — into one customizable interactive map.

GeoPlatform.gov/gulfresponse employs the Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA^®) a web-based GIS platform developed by NOAA and the University of New Hampshire’s Coastal Response Research Center. ERMA was designed to facilitate communication and coordination among a variety of users — from federal, state and local responders to local community leaders and the public. The site was designed to be fast and user-friendly, and we plan to keep it constantly updated.

The mapping tool includes only those vessels equipped with the automatic identification system and therefore is not representative of all the vessels supporting the largest oil spill response and recovery operation in U.S. history.

Click the map below (link>>>>) to use the tool yourself and see the latest information about the oil spill’s trajectory, shipping information, fishery closures and where responders are taking action."

Sorry shareholders, there will be BP blood

June 11, 2010, 11:50 a.m. EDT

By MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Drip, drip, drip.

Excerpt:

"In some camps, a dividend cut has been criticized for penalizing innocent shareholders, widows and orphans invested in pension funds. They argue that BP shouldn't bow to the Obama administration and lawmakers who argue that the move is prudent given the inability to stop the leak, the $1 billion spent so far to fix, contain and clean it up and the hundreds of billions in potential economic damage to Gulf communities. Read First Take on potential hit to pensions.

But before those shareholders cry foul, they should ask themselves how much of the $63.68 billion in profits BP made in the previous three years should have been spent on additional precautionary measures. They should ask themselves why they ignored the company's poor track record for safety -- two BP refineries account for 97% of all industry's flagrant violations during the last three years, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Read AJC blog post on BP."

More>>>>

Louisiana Business Challenges Moratorium On Offshore Drilling

Courthouse News Service

Friday, June 11, 2010Last Update: 10:34 AM PT

"NEW ORLEANS (CN) - An offshore oil-drilling support business has challenged the 6-month moratorium on deepwater drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf in Federal Court. Hornbeck Offshore Services claims that all 33 oil rigs affected by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's moratorium had "previously satisfied the rigors" of the Minerals Management Service's permitting process. The drilling moratorium was a response to BP's catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico." More>>>>

BP Offering to Suspend Dividend if US Politicians are Nice to BP

There is a stir brewing across the pond about the American anger towards the UK headquartered, multi-national company BP, and about the BP stock plunge due to the oil disaster.

MailOnline

BP offers dividend olive branch to U.S.

By Sam Fleming
Last updated at 10:18 PM on 10th June 2010

"BP is seeking a deal with the White House under which it would sacrifice its dividend in return for a calming of the political hysteria over the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Chief executive Tony Hayward will proffer the olive branch in meetings over the coming days in the hope of quelling the increasingly vicious invective in Washington.

Options include scrapping the payout for one quarter or until the Macondo well is capped; putting the payment in 'escrow' - i.e. deferring it - until BP's liabilities are clearer; or paying it in shares rather than cash."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1285689/BP-offers-dividend-olive-branch-U-S.html#ixzz0qVU7vc44

Time for Mr Cameron to speak up for BP

By Daily Mail Comment
Last updated at 1:43 AM on 11th June 2010

Excerpts:

"One thing is sure: the President's campaign is now threatening the very future of BP, whose share price has virtually halved - opening it to the possibility of a takeover from rivals, including the state-funded Chinese oil giant.

It is hard to overstate the significance of BP to the British economy.

It employs over 10,000 people here, its overseas revenues support our balance of payments and it generates nearly £6billion a year in taxes.

Its shares are owned - directly or through pension funds - by 18million Britons, and its dividends amount to £1 in every £7 paid by British firms.

Mr Obama's attacks, coming from a President who had put deepwater drilling for oil at the heart of his energy policy only weeks before the disaster, are rank hypocrisy.

And they don't sit well from a nation whose own response after U.S. firm Union Carbide was implicated in the deaths of 20,000 Indians in Bhopal was to protect American interests - and citizens - at all costs."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1285749/Time-Mr-Cameron-speak-BP.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz0qVWCQFbD

NNMCP: Rio Grande Sun--Commission Sides With Landowner Over Drilling (Rio Arriba County)

Northern New Mexico Conservation Project: "Normally I (NNMCP) try to make very up-to-date posts. This article is about a week old but, as it is very close to home, I decided to post it."

Commission Sides with Landowner over Drilling

Direct link to Rio Grande Sun article>>>>

BP Logo Redesign Contest

(A logo design by a contestant.)

Huffington Post

"LogoMyWay.com is holding a contest challenging designers to recreate BP's logo. The contest requests that the designers' new logos communicate the toxic nature of the oil spill, the death of wildlife, and the incompetence shown by BP. The winner, which will be chosen through public voting, will be awarded $200 dollars.

Here are 12 redesigned BP logos currently entered into the contest, which ends this weekend.
Check out the contest website to see the other entries and vote for your favorite there." Link to HP>>>>

Privatize profits, socialize losses

Huffington Post
First Posted: 06-10-10 01:56 PM
Chamber Of Commerce Says Taxpayers Should Help Pay For BP Spill Cleanup; GOP Leader Agrees, Then Recants

Excerpts:

"It is generally not the practice of this country to change the laws after the game," said Tom Donohue, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ". . . Everybody is going to contribute to this clean up. We are all going to have to do it. We are going to have to get the money from the government and from the companies and we will figure out a way to do that."...

..."In response to a question from TPMDC, House Minority Leader John Boehner said he believes taxpayers should help pick up the tab for the clean up.

"I think the people responsible in the oil spill--BP and the federal government--should take full responsibility for what's happening there," Boehner said at his weekly press conference this morning." Link>>>>

AP IMPACT: BP spill response plans severely flawed

Amazing. Read at your own risk.

By JUSTIN PRITCHARD, TAMARA LUSH and HOLBROOK MOHR (AP) – 1 hour ago

"NEW ORLEANS — Glaring errors and omissions in BP's oil spill response plans have exposed a slapdash effort to follow environmental rules, outraging Gulf Coast residents who can see on their beaches how unprepared the company was.

BP PLC's 582-page regional spill plan for the Gulf, and its 52-page, site-specific plan for the Deepwater Horizon rig vastly understate the dangers posed by an uncontrolled leak and vastly overstate the company's preparedness to deal with one, according to an Associated Press analysis. The lengthy plans were approved by the federal government last year before BP drilled its ill-fated well.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was incensed Wednesday after reading the AP story and said BP has been reactive — not proactive — all along.

"Look, it's obvious to everybody in south Louisiana that they didn't have a plan, they didn't have an adequate plan to deal with this spill," Jindal said. "They didn't anticipate the BOP (blowout preventer) failure. They didn't anticipate this much oil hitting our coast. From the very first days, they kept telling us, 'Don't worry, the oil's not going to make it to your coast.'"

Among the glaring errors in the report: A professor is listed in BP's 2009 response plan for a Gulf of Mexico oil spill as a national wildlife expert. He died in 2005.

The plan lists cold-water marine mammals including walruses, sea otters, sea lions and seals as "sensitive biological resources." None of those animals live anywhere near the Gulf.

Also, names and phone numbers of several Texas A&M University marine life specialists are wrong. So are the numbers for marine mammal stranding network offices in Louisiana and Florida, which are disconnected." More>>>>

BP looks for bankruptcy protection, fearing cleanup cost

HULIQ

"BP North America is looking for options to protect itself against large claims stemming form the April 20th oil spill and bankruptcy filing would give the Company that shelter and protection from any lawsuit.

Sources confirmed last night that BP North America’s legal counsel is looking into the option to protect itself from what may become the largest settlement ever. A bankruptcy protection, or Chapter 11 filing, would shield the company from any and all claims filed against BP until it restructures its debt

and obligations before emerging from the court ruling.

NOAA Says BP Oil Spill Already 142 Miles Spread

Such a filing would mean that any individual or business that has joined a class action lawsuit against BP North America due to loss of jobs or damage due to the oil spill will have to wait and see whether they will ever get compensated.

That is bad news for Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida as well as any local business owners since they will be considered secondary creditors for the duration of the bankruptcy protection." More>>>>

BP Buys Search Term "Oil Spill" From Google

By REUTERS

Published: June 9, 2010

Filed at 10:17 a.m. ET

"LONDON (Reuters) - BP Plc has bought terms such as "oil spill" from search engine providers including Google Inc to help direct Internet users to its website as it attempts to control the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

A spokesman said BP would pay fees so its own website would rank higher or even top in the list of results when Internet users search on terms such as "oil spill," "volunteer" and "claims."

BP did not say how much it was paying for the service but President Barack Obama has criticized the company for spending $50 million on TV advertising to bolster its image during the crisis." More>>>>

U.S. releases stricter rules on offshore drilling

CBS MarketWatch
June 8, 2010, 4:59 p.m. EDT
By Steve Gelsi

"NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Minerals Management Service on Tuesday released new guidelines for offshore drilling in a move that will free up the permitting process for new wells in shallow waters. A drilling ban in waters deeper than 500 feet continues." More>>>>

Plumes of Oil Deep in Gulf Are Spreading Far, Tests Find

The New York Time
By JUSTIN GILLIS, CAMPBELL ROBERTSON and JOHN BRODER
Published: June 8, 2010

"The government confirmed Tuesday that plumes of dispersed oil were spreading far below the ocean surface from the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, raising fresh concerns about the potential impact of the spill on sea life." More>>>>

Gulf of Oil -- Another Leak?

Taylor Energy Will Soon Put Out Comment On Saratoga Oil Leak

The Business Insider

"A spokesperson from Taylor Energy contacted us about the second oil leak everyone's talking about. Denise Fields declined to comment, saying only that the Louisiana-based company will release an emailed statement later this afternoon.

Although the Ocean Saratoga is leaking less than Deepwater Horizon and has been leaking for at least five weeks, all parties are treating this with great caution. Rig operator Diamond Offshore has refused to comment. NOAA told us its scientists were "looking into the leak."'

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-energy-to-comment-on-saratoga-leak-soon-2010-6#ixzz0qITIb5mH

Gas Pipeline Explodes in Texas

CBS Marketwatch

June 7, 2010

"A natural-gas pipeline explodes south of Fort Worth, Texas. There were injuries and possible fatalities, according to reports. Video from NewsCore." Link>>>>

BP capturing more oil; U.S. will reassess flow estimates

International Business Times
By Gerald Helguero | June 7, 2010 10:58 AM EDT

"As BP increases the amount of oil it is capturing from the ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. officials said they will reassess their estimates of how much oil is still flowing into the water.

Since a containment cap was installed atop the broken pipe emerging from the BP's Deepwater Horizon well on Thursday, the daily oil rising to a container ship above has increased from 6,000 barrels on Thursday to 11,000 barrels on Sunday, according to BP." More>>>>

There are 42 gallons in a barrel.

The well is still leaking. What was BP's original leak estimate for the Deepwater leak?

BP And Halliburton Build Legal Teams, Attempt To Buy Off Government Officials (?)

Check this article out circulating the net. If the assertions are true...

Think Progress
by Alex Seitz-Wald
June 3, 2010

"Facing possible jail time for their roles in the largest oil spill in American history, BP and Halliburton are building high-powered legal teams with “deep Department of Justice and White House ties.” But the companies are pursuing other means to defend themselves as well.

Halliburton’s campaign donations have spiked as it tries to curry favor with key members of Congress investigating the disaster. The company donated $17,000 in May, making it “the busiest donation month for Halliburton’s PAC since September 2008,” Politico reports. Thirteen of the 14 contributions from May went to Republicans, while seven went to members of Congress who are “on committees with oversight of the oil spill and its aftermath”: More>>>>

Cap Slows Gulf Oil Leak as Engineers Move CautiouslyCap Slows Gulf Oil Leak as Engineers Move Cautiously

(Dave Martin/Associated Press: Oil cleanup workers used high-pressure hoses to decontaminate oil retention booms in Theodore, Ala., on Saturday.)

The New York Times

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and MICHAEL COOPER

Published: June 5, 2010

"HOUSTON — Oil continued to gush from a runaway oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday as engineers worked to close the vents on a capping device they successfully lowered onto the gushing riser pipe late Thursday night.

“The vents remain open,” Adm. Thad Allen of the Coast Guard, who is in charge of the federal response to the oil spill, said in a briefing Saturday morning.

Admiral Allen said that while engineers had so far been able to bring 6,000 barrels of oil to the surface, they had been hesitant to close the vents. If they do so, they fear, water will rush in and form the kind of icy hydrates that doomed a previous attempt to cap the leak.

“When we put the cap down, there were four vents on the cap that allow oil to escape that’s not going up through the pipe,” he said. “What you want is you want to keep oil in the containment cap and not let water in, because when water gets in you form hydrates.”' More>>>>

Drilling Santa Fe post with BP Oil Spill Live Cam:

Live BP Oil Spill Cam

Pelicans, Back From Brink of Extinction, Face Oil Threat

(Top Photo: Charlie Riedel/Associated Press: An oiled brown pelican being rescued from Barataria Bay off the coast of Louisiana. Bottom photo: Brown pelican - public domain National Park Service photo
by Rodney Cammauf: Everglades Wildlife Images)

The Louisiana State Bird (Brown Pelican) nearly lost but was saved, yet now is threatened -- again.

The New York Times
By JOHN COLLINS RUDOLF and LESLIE KAUFMAN
Published: June 4, 2010

"FORT JACKSON, La. — For more than a decade, the hundreds of brown pelicans that nested among the mangrove shrubs on Queen Bess Island west of here were living proof that a species brought to the edge of extinction could come back and thrive.

The island was one of three sites in Louisiana where the large, long-billed birds were reintroduced after pesticides wiped them out in the state in the 1960s.

But on Thursday, 29 of the birds, their feathers so coated in thick brown sludge that their natural white and gray markings were totally obscured, were airlifted to a bird rehabilitation center in Fort Jackson, the latest victims of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Another dozen were taken to other rescue centers. " More (& check out the multimedia column)>>>>

Gas spews for hours from out-of-control Pa. well

Miami Herald
By MARC LEVY
Associated Press Writer


"HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Natural gas and polluted drilling water from an out-of-control well shot 75 feet into the air in a remote area of Pennsylvania before crews were able to tame the flow of explosive gas more than half a day later, officials said Friday.

The well was brought under control just after noon Friday, about 16 hours after it started spewing gas and brine, said Elizabeth Ivers, a spokeswoman for driller EOG Resources Inc. She said she could not immediately respond to questions about how the accident happened."

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/04/1663498/pa-natural-gas-spewing-from-out.html#ixzz0pute2E5Z

Another Torrent BP Works to Stem: Its C.E.O.

Gerald Herbert/Associated Press

As this is being posted, BP is attempting yet another cap of the oil well that has spawned a potentially planetary disaster, but obviously a national one. Yet according to CNN Anderson Cooper 360, while this tragedy continues to unfold, BP is spending millions of dollars crafting its image via advertisements/PR and hiring more lobbyists. Along these lines, see the below articles.

The New York Times

By JAD MOUAWAD and CLIFFORD KRAUSS

Published: June 3, 2010

Excerpt:

..."The company has enlisted the help of the Brunswick Group, a public relations and crisis management firm, to deal with the accident. It has dedicated the home page of its Web site, BP.com, to the crisis and taken out full-page advertisements in major newspapers.

BP has also hired a new head of media relations in the United States, Anne Womack Kolton, who worked at Brunswick and is a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and Energy Department spokeswoman.

In Washington, BP has become a toxic political symbol that is a target on all fronts, even as it is seeking to work with the government get out of its current predicament.

Before the spill, BP had maintained a low profile in Washington relative to other companies, with its lobbying work and political contributions usually trailing other oil-and-gas giants like Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Conoco Phillips. Unlike many other companies with federal interests, BP kept most of its lobbying work in-house, although it had retained several prominent Washington lobbyists, including Ken Duberstein and Tony Podesta, to make its case on issues including tax incentives for gas production and climate control regulations." More>>>>

And the following excerpt:

For new ad campaign, BP looks outside Madison Avenue

Posted: June 3rd, 2010 06:42 PM ET

From CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash

..."Even before the oil spill, BP had beefed up its Washington presence, spending more than $3.5 million in the first three months of this year on lobbying, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.

The lobbying firms working for BP are among the most influential in Washington, including the Podesta Group (headed by Tony Podesta, one of Washington's top lobbyists and the brother of former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta) and the Duberstein Group (headed by former Reagan Chief of Staff Ken Duberstein). They were originally hired to represent BP's interests as major energy and financial legislation moves through Congress.

However, sources involved in BP's lobbying efforts, say that since the April 20 oil rig explosion, the lobbying firms have had an all-hands-on-deck approach in trying to help BP deal with the myriad of congressional inquiries." More>>>>

ifitwasmyhome.com

An interesting map circulating the internet. It allows to overlay the BP Oil Disaster over your area of residence to put the adverse impacts into perspective. The link is ifitwasmyhome.com and the image above (click on it for enlargement) is a screen-shot overlaying Albuquerque, NM.

While viewing the interactive map, keep in mind the calls for more deregulation of an industry that currently enjoys many subsidies, the "drill, baby, drill!" chants, the Twitter of Sarah Palin blaming environmentalists for the BP Oil Disaster, and the politicians promises. When it comes to the latter, follow the money. You might find it interesting of who is contributing to the campaigns of politicians that promise to roll back the New Mexico Pit Rule -- and more.

NM Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments on June 7th

New Mexico Environmental Law Center

"On Monday, we will witness an historic hearing before the New Mexico Supreme Court. The NMELC's own Bruce Frederick will ask the justices to order a Lovington judge to stop interfering in the Environmental Improvement Board's right to hear our climate change petition. But this case is now far more than a greenhouse gas case: the Lovington decision - if not thrown out - will not only kill our petition, but threatens the State's process for considering all regulations (environmental and non-environmental) at the State level.

The hearing will be at 1:30 pm on Monday, June 7th at the Supreme Court in Santa Fe.

If you wish to attend, arrive early - we anticipate that the arguments will take place before a packed room. If you can't attend, you can check our website on the afternoon of the 7th to learn the outcome, or sign up for our Twitter feed."

NM Pit Rule a Driller Killer?

The New Mexico Oil Conservation Division Pit Rule has become the whipping post for the oil and gas industry advocates. In addition, Sarah Palin has blamed environmentalists for the BP Oil Spill. Now juxtapose these stances to Gov. Richardson's press release below:

"For Immediate Release

Contact: Jodi McGinnis Porter

May 19, 2010 505.476.3226

Governor Bill Richardson Announces Oil and Gas Drilling Activity in New Mexico Is Strong

Environmental regulations are not driving business away

SANTA FE, NM - Governor Bill Richardson today announced that New Mexico's drilling activity has more than doubled this year according to the Baker Hughes rig count with 63 operating rigs reported on May 14, 2010, compared to 31 operating rigs a year ago on May 15, 2009. The number of oil- and gas-producing wells in New Mexico remains constant with new environmental regulations balancing our energy needs while protecting New Mexico's precious ground water and our environment.

"New Mexico's pit rules have shown that protecting our health and water resources are good for industry and the environment," said Governor Richardson. "The BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is a sobering reminder that preventing environmental contamination is always less expensive than cleaning it up."

Activity in southeastern New Mexico's Permian Basin is especially strong. Apache Corporation, an independent energy exploration and production company, recently announced it expects to drill in excess of 200 new wells during 2010 in the Permian Basin. Of the 200-plus wells, 100 will be drilled in New Mexico, which will represent the most wells drilled by Apache in the state in any year.

"We can produce oil and gas in New Mexico in an environmentally sound manner that works for industry and protects our natural resources." said Jon Goldstein, Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. "Drilling activity closely follows the price of oil and gas. As commodity prices rise, drilling activity increases."

The price of a barrel of oil was in the mid $30 range in 2009. Current prices in the $60-$70 range are driving healthy activity in New Mexico's southeastern oil fields. Unfortunately, natural gas prices have not increased to the same extent keeping activity at a lower level in the gas fields of the San Juan Basin.

The price of oil and gas fluctuates, but companies can find and produce oil and gas more safely, efficiently and with increased environmental protections using new technologies, such as directional drilling, reusing existing well pads for new wells and using closed loop systems to manage their waste.

Earlier this week, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar followed New Mexico's lead and announced that the Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management is reforming its oil and gas program to improve environmental protection of important natural resources on U.S. public lands while aiding in the orderly leasing and balanced development of the nation's energy supply.

#30#

Caitlin Kelleher

Media Coordinator for Governor Richardson

Office of the Governor

State Capitol, Suite 400

Santa Fe, NM

office 505.476.2299| cell 505.795.2480"

Upper Delaware River most endangered in U.S.: report

Reuters
June 2, 2010

"(Reuters Life!) - The Upper Delaware River in New York State, the source of drinking water for 17 million people, is the most endangered river in the United States, according to a new report.

It is one of 10 rivers on a list, compiled by U.S. environmental group American Rivers, which are threatened due to causes such as natural gas drilling, mining and poor flood management.

The Upper Delaware topped the list because of the threat of contamination from chemicals used in gas drilling in New York and on the Pennsylvania side of the watershed.

Gas drilling was also the reason why the Monongahela River in western Pennsylvania was rated ninth on the list." More>>>>

BP Oil Leak May Last Until Christmas in Worst Case Scenario

Bloomberg
June 02, 2010, 3:22 AM EDT

'“The worst-case scenario is Christmas time,” Dan Pickering, the head of research at energy investor Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. in Houston, said. “This process is teaching us to be skeptical of deadlines.”

Ending the year with a still-gushing well would mean about 4 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf, based on the government’s current estimate of 12,000 to 19,000 barrels leaking a day. That would wipe out marine life deep at sea near the leak and elsewhere in the Gulf, and along hundreds of miles of coastline, said Harry Roberts, a professor of Coastal Studies at Louisiana State University.

So much crude pouring into the ocean may alter the chemistry of the sea, with unforeseeable results, said Mak Saito, an Associate Scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts." More>>>>