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Post by moabiter on Jun 18, 2010 20:57:42 GMT -8
NEWS: Deregulation & cost-cutting may have led BP to omit costly standard safety item Sunday, 02 May 2010 "The U.S. considered requiring a remote-controlled shut-off mechanism several years ago, but drilling companies questioned its cost and effectiveness, according to the agency overseeing offshore drilling," said Russell Gold, Ben Casselman, and Guy Chazan. The agency, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, says it decided the remote device wasn't needed because rigs had other back-up plans to cut off a well." -- "An acoustic trigger costs about $500,000, industry officials said." ... "The industry argued against the acoustic systems. A 2001 report from the International Association of Drilling Contractors said 'significant doubts remain in regard to the ability of this type of system to provide a reliable emergency back-up control system during an actual well flowing incident.' -- By 2003, U.S. regulators decided remote-controlled safeguards needed more study. A report commissioned by the Minerals Management Service said 'acoustic systems are not recommended because they tend to be very costly.'" www.ufppc.org/us-a-world-news-mainmenu-35/9569-news-deregulation-a-cost-cutting-may-have-led-bp-to-omit-costly-standard-safety-item.htmlManufacturers: Kongsberg Maritime AS, Sonardyne Ltd. and Nautronix PLC
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Post by moabiter on Jul 16, 2010 19:27:34 GMT -8
RELIEF WELLS: RISK ASSESSMENT, DISASTER PREPAREDNESS Spill relief well draws scrutiny, fears updated 6/13/2010 6:06:51 PM ET But BP didn't begin drilling the relief well until 12 days after the start of the disaster as the company and government rushed through environmental reviews, permits and other plans. The government does not require oil companies to have relief well plans in place ahead of time, and the lack of planning cost the company valuable time to get the spill under control. ...The gaps in the relief well process mirror other regulatory issues and oversights that have been exposed since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killed 11 workers and sent tens of millions of gallons of oil gushing into the Gulf. The Associated Press earlier found that BP's voluminous spill plans for the Gulf and rig were riddled with omissions and glaring errors, leading to criticism that the company has essentially been making things up as it goes. Among the omissions were a lack of a clear plan for a relief well. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37674027/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf/
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Post by moabiter on Aug 21, 2010 9:57:48 GMT -8
Relief well best hope for sealing oil leak updated 6/1/2010 6:41:33 AM ET But the best-case scenario of sealing the leak is two relief wells being drilled diagonally into the gushing well — tricky business that won't be ready until August. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37432881/
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Post by moabiter on Sept 8, 2010 21:15:02 GMT -8
SO, THE RELIEF WELL WAS SUPPOSED TO SOLVE THE WHOLE THING BY AUGUST. WHERE IS THE RELIEF WELL. WHERE IS NEWS OF THE RELIEF WELL, DUE IN AUGUST. WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE RISER? LEAKING IN 3+ PLACES? Aug 11 - Storm delays BP relief well by 2-3 days www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65O5TA20100811Aug 13 - But the relief well will allow engineers to pump in mud and cement from below in a "bottom kill" attempt to permanently seal the well. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38687424/Sept 4 - BP stalls completion of relief well:Fear of another oil well explosion? www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6685822-bp-stalls-completion-of-relief-wellfear-of-another-oil-well-explosion"Shortly after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sank, the U.S. Coast Guard and BP told the public that the Macondo well would be killed via relief wells by mid August. That time has come and gone," Socyberty said. Adding, "It became very difficult to determine exactly what was going on when BP, the Coast Guard and our government just started blatantly lying about things, on a daily basis. The lies have gone so deep that the real truth would probably be indecipherable even if it were placed in front of our faces."
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Post by moabiter on Sept 8, 2010 21:22:21 GMT -8
July 14, 2010 The BP Relief Wells … And the Two Nightmare Scenarios to Fear By Kent Moors, Ph.D., Contributing Writer, Money Morning Although the global energy sector is entering its most-promising stretch in decades - with more new technologies and more investment opportunities than ever before - I just can't seem to get away from BP PLC (NYSE ADR: BP) and its problems. Take last Thursday, for instance. I began the day at FOX Business News, where the interviewer wanted me to explain what will happen if the BP relief wells fail. Then I spent an hour as the guest on a radio talk show from Johannesburg, South Africa, detailing what options are available to BP. Later still, I served as a consultant to a Wall Street investment crew - via conference call - once again on the status of the BP relief wells. The BP relief wells are right now the dominant topic on everyone's mind. But there are two potential scenarios - of "nightmare proportions" - that investors need to know about. Let me explain... moneymorning.com/2010/07/14/bp-relief-wells/
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Post by moabiter on Sept 9, 2010 12:07:09 GMT -8
BP Disagrees With Thad Allen on Relief WellsLast Updated: Thu, August 26, 2010 - 10:36 am CST GULF COAST - The comments by Senior Vice President Kent Wells on Thursday indicated there may still be disagreement between BP and Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man on the spill response. Even though a cap stopped the flow of oil in mid-July, Allen has long insisted the relief wells will be the final solution. Wells danced around a question posed by federal investigators probing the causes of the April 20 explosion that killed 11 people. He says there are "multiple options" to stop the flow of oil and the relief wells are "the ultimate backup if everything else fails." www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/article/bp-disagrees-with-thad-allen-on-relief-wells/920510/Aug-26-2010_10-36-am/
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Post by moabiter on Sept 9, 2010 14:29:05 GMT -8
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Post by clone on Sept 13, 2010 1:41:32 GMT -8
Admiral Allen (September 8, 2010): ... If they – and it depends on how long it takes them to do the diagnostics in the fishing. Under an optimistic timeline, they could begin that two-phase cementing probably somewhere around the 17th or the 18th. If it takes them longer to do the diagnostics on the well, that could slip potentially to the – around the 26th or the 27th of September. www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/894553/
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Post by clone on Nov 12, 2010 16:17:35 GMT -8
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Post by moabiter on Jan 12, 2011 11:27:40 GMT -8
May-14-2010 22:30 Gulf Oil Spill: Ties to Cheney and Acoustic Switch Not Installed Ground work for Gulf disaster was established with a permissive tone with oil industry set in secret meetings in 2001. An acoustic switch to automatically shut down oil wells was reversed by Federal agency in 2003 may be a major factor in blowup. (WASHINGTON, D.C.) - In secret meetings with the oil company officials in 2001, incoming Vice President Cheney set the foundation for a permissive, welcome mat with the oil industry. After stocking the Federal government’s Material Management Service with his cronies, this agency reversed an earlier 2000 decision requiring a mandatory accusatorial regulator, allowing BP and others not to install a $500,000 acoustic switch to automatically shut down oil gushers. salem-news.com/articles/may142010/oil-cheney-ro.php
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Post by moabiter on Jan 12, 2011 11:31:10 GMT -8
What Every CFO Should Learn From BP Oil One of the reasons the oil spill was not prevented is BP’s lack of a remote-controlled switch called the “acoustic switch.” The acoustic switch functions to turn off a rig’s valve on the seabed if other spill-preventing contraptions fail to close the valve. The use of an acoustic switch on a rig is not yet mandated by U.S. regulators, and the Deepwater Horizon – the rig that caused the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history when it exploded on April 22nd, 2010 – did not have an acoustic switch as a back-up safety plan. An acoustic switch costs roughly $500,000 (Wall Street Journal). View how an acoustic switch works: Nautronix / Cameron NASMUX System Demonstration www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNYP9KHT75owww.rencarlton.com/Blog/2010/07/what-every-cfo-should-learn-from-bp-oil/
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Post by moabiter on Jan 12, 2011 11:34:34 GMT -8
Traceable to George Bush and Dick Cheney? This has happened because most of our politicians take money from the oil companies and therefore are beholden to the oil companies. The US is one the most technologically advanced countries in the world. But we do not secure our oil rigs with acoustic switches - an automatic shut-off device attached to the blowout preventer that stops oil escaping in the case of an explosion. Operators in places like the Persian Gulf and Norway have them [in Norway and Brazil they are a legal requirement], but not in the US. That's because the Bush and Cheney administration allowed safety precautions to be circumvented. [The US discussed making acoustic switches a legal requirement several years ago, but it was decided by the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, which is closely tied to the oil industry, that the devices, which cost 500,000 dollars (400,000 euros) each, were an unnecessary cost]. Potential catastrophe This is not just an American disaster, it's an international disaster. If - or rather, when - the spill gets into the Gulf Stream, it will be transferred to the Atlantic. That means it's going to hit the Everglades National Park in Florida, Jamaica, the Bahama Islands, Cuba... Another potential hazard is that if the light sheen on the edge of the slick is evaporated then the oil will be rained down on the south coast. observers.france24.com/en/content/20100513-bp-oil-spill-bush-administration-allowed-safety-precautions-circumvented-gulf-mexico
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Post by moabiter on Jan 12, 2011 11:39:15 GMT -8
Oil in the gulf [UPDATED] May 4, 2010 at 1:12 pm UPDATE: The news keeps getting worse: The oil well spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico didn’t have a remote-control shut-off switch used in two other major oil-producing nations as last-resort protection against underwater spills.
The lack of the device, called an acoustic switch, could amplify concerns over the environmental impact of offshore drilling after the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig last week…
U.S. regulators don’t mandate use of the remote-control device on offshore rigs, and the Deepwater Horizon, hired by oil giant BP PLC, didn’t have one. With the remote control, a crew can attempt to trigger an underwater valve that shuts down the well even if the oil rig itself is damaged or evacuated.mind.ofdan.ca/?p=3547
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