Halliburton - Gulf Oil Rig Explosion

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Linnea
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Halliburton - Gulf Oil Rig Explosion

Post by Linnea » 05-10-2010 06:30 PM

Ah well. Here is Cheney's Halliburton in the cross hairs again.

....from HuffPo

Gulf Spill Halliburton: Company Worked On Rig 20 Hours Before Explosion
WASHINGTON — Oil services contractor Halliburton Inc. says it safely finished a cementing operation 20 hours before a Gulf of Mexico rig went up in flames. In testimony prepared for a congressional hearing Tuesday, Halliburton says it completed work on the well according to accepted industry practice and federal regulators.

Halliburton executive Tim Probert says a pressure test was conducted after the work was finished, and the well owner decided to continue. A copy of the testimony was obtained by The Associated Press.

The cause of the April 20 explosion is under investigation, but lawsuits filed after the disaster claim it was caused when Halliburton workers improperly capped the well – a process known as cementing. Halliburton denies wrongdoing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/1 ... 70484.html

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Post by Cherry Kelly » 05-11-2010 09:50 AM

Last night they talked about a remote capping ability that the owners decided not to include because it would cost 500k. Seems Huffington should be looking into that aspect with a comment ....

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Post by Linnea » 05-11-2010 10:45 AM

It's my understanding the decision regarding the basic design which included this equipment was made as the platform was designed and built - which has nothing whatever to do with the recent activities of Halliburton at the site.
The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Giant oil-services provider Halliburton may be a primary culprit in causing the Deepwater Horizon Blowout and the resulting deaths, injuries and oil spill (see the blog entry below). According to the Wall Street Journal, many drilling experts are of the opinion that flaws in the cementing process may be to blame and Halliburton was in charge of the cementing process for the Deepwater Horizon Rig.
http://www.ferrell-lawfirm.com/practice ... -injuries/

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Post by Cynthia Lynn » 05-11-2010 11:01 AM

Cherry Kelly wrote: Last night they talked about a remote capping ability that the owners decided not to include because it would cost 500k. Seems Huffington should be looking into that aspect with a comment ....


Many, many pages of articles and original commentaries here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/bp-oil-spill


The acoustic switch story was reported just days after the explosion (and I probably found this link at Huffington Post):

Leaking Oil Well Lacked Safeguard Device
By RUSSELL GOLD, BEN CASSELMAN And GUY CHAZAN
Wall Street Journal
April 28, 2010

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 36798.html

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Post by Cynthia Lynn » 05-11-2010 11:11 AM

Linnea wrote: It's my understanding the decision regarding the basic design which included this equipment was made as the platform was designed and built - which has nothing whatever to do with the recent activities of Halliburton at the site.


http://www.ferrell-lawfirm.com/practice ... -injuries/


I expect them all to play the blame game for many years to come.


By the way, RFK, Jr. is also suing.

Robert Kennedy Files Lawsuit Against BP Oil
Politicol News
April 30, 2010

Attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr along with other lawyers filed a 17 page lawsuit against BP Oil for leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico damaging shoreline along the four states and for damaging the fishing industry.

The leak had been misreported in the media days ago when it was thought that only 5,000 gallons were spilled per day which was again incorrectly report as it turns out the oil is more than 200,000 gallons per day and it is being blown to the south coast shore of the USA.

The suit represents the fishing industry and the first suit was filed by 2 commercial shrimpers from Louisiana which research and experts have said the wetlands will never be rid of the oil -ever. This means the wetlands will be poisoned with oil that cannot be removed at any cost but the clean up alone after the oil is stopped will be into the billions and billions of dollars.

The best practices of a corporation also would have BP Oil claim that the US government did not require oil rigs to have a safety shut off valve although other European countries do make that required by their laws. The US under the Bush administration did a favor for his oil friends and dropped the requirements. However, this does not mean that BP oil could not be intelligent enough to not lose its own oil -and put a shut off valve on the rig or the oil rig owner Deepwater Horizon Company.

It would not have taken billions of dollars to install a blow out preventer on the rig which is installed to prevent an explosion and this would have saved the oil from spilling into the ocean. As there are thousands of rigs in the Gulf of Mexico now, this should be quickly installed into law by the Obama administration but they haven’t thought of that yet.

The obligation of an oil company is to extract oil in the most ecological manner and there are eco laws that BP would have known about since they have a barrage of lawyers on staff.

If for any reason BP should have had a shut off valve if only to stop any loss of oil for its bottom line profits, losing oil into the ocean is not profitable. The device is used on oil rigs internationally and BP Oil is an international company and you would think that they would have a safety valve on each and every rig they own, leased or rented or used in any location.

Copyright © 2010 Politicol News

http://www.politicolnews.com/robert-ken ... st-bp-oil/

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Post by Cherry Kelly » 05-11-2010 12:23 PM

BP is the primary, but there are other owners as well - as stated on C2C last evening or evening before...and from what was stated on news (top hour) was that it was BP and co-owners decision to not include that remote bit.

I do like the one callers suggestion -to have a massive effort to calm winds or get the leak sealed.

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Summary of missing posts...

Post by Linnea » 05-14-2010 01:23 PM

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An extremely troubling aspect to this oil rig disaster has been the governments seemingly routine waivers regarding compliance with environmental policies at these oil rigs - this very same oil rig platform was exempted just one month ago.

More troubling is the fact that SINCE the disaster at this rig took place, the government has continued this policy of exemptions on environmental impact studies.

It's mind boggling. What is the point of environmental regulations if they are not going to be enforced? I am a BIG supporter of expanding our use of nuclear energy, but I don't ever want to hear about the government exempting such facilities from environmental studies because it is deemed redundant, or their is a perceived lack of danger.

And screw the party affiliation crap, this is happening now with the Obama Administration, it would have happened under a McCain Administration, and it most likely happened under Bush and Clinton as well. Lobbying dollars are coming out ahead of our interests, and it doesn't matter one bit who is in power - both parties have been gluttons for corporate dollars for too long to differentiate them on matters such as this.

Washington Post

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Last edited by Kaztronic on 05-12-2010 at 10:01 PM

Old Post 05-12-2010 09:34 PM


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Agree, agree and agree. For the record here, I mentioned Cheney/Halliburton whom I believe are villainous no matter what the party affiliation. It's the big oil, big corporation connection. The influence on government, no matter who heads it up, is undeniable.

Old Post 05-12-2010 09:43 PM



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None of this offshore drilling is going to Americans, from what I understand not a drop. Many are at fault, but efforts should be made to clean this mess up and then point fingers. Speaking as a Floridian, we are already losing business even though I was swimming in the ocean 3 days ago. 15 yrs of petitions and phones calls for me down the drain as I fight to speak for the wild life that has no voice. I am just sickened.

Old Post 05-12-2010 09:52 PM


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Totally agree with you about Halliburton Linnea (and obviously on the influence of corporate money on our elected officials), not that it is related to this thread, but I was angry as hell to find out that the Pentagon just gave them ANOTHER no-bid contract in Iraq, this time for $500 million.

While I understand the generals over there saying it would be disruptive to have another company come in and take over at this late stage, I frankly don't give a hoot - it's a matter of principle. Halliburton is a prime example of everything that went wrong with the previous Administrations handling of their military affairs in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we need to be done with them.

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Old Post 05-12-2010 09:59 PM


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A new rig - cap is in the Gulf - maybe this one will work...sure hope so.

===
The main company Halliburton has several subsidiaries who have been key in cleaning up oil spills. According to info they did exactly what they were hired to do by BP - ergo let's put the blame on BP where it belongs.

BTW found contracts with US gov't going back to 1996 (quick search) and have not had time to go back further...they've been around a long time ehh?

Old Post 05-13-2010 07:32 AM



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CK, do you feel some kind of overwhelming need to defend any entity that might be tied to Republicans in a negative way?

Sometimes I think that you and Rombaldi deserve each other.

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Old Post 05-13-2010 09:29 PM


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Here is what I would like to know:

It's becoming increasingly apparent that BP continues to hold back information about the extent of the oil leak, thus far they have proven ineffective in stopping the leak as well. How much credibility can they possibly have on this issue? And at what point will our government step the hell up and take over the process of stopping this leak?

If we are incapable of stopping the leak ourselves, surely we could very quickly gather together a strong group of experts from multiple oil companies, and oil rig experts to rally to offer solutions to stopping this leak. Perhaps the government should stop talking about the monetary cost of this disaster for 5 minutes and plug the damn leak first? There are moments where that seems to be the biggest concern here - who will pay for the clean-up costs? We're not there yet!

To that end, given the magnitude of the disaster before us, why the hell are we turning away foreign offers of assistance? So far nothing is working, at what point do we allow experts from other nations to get involved and give us a hand?

It appears clear that the branches of the government working on this crisis are working hard - but are they working smart?

NY Times

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Old Post 05-13-2010 09:38 PM


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How bad could this get?

Story from SLASHDOT, go over there and follow the links

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/...ario?art_pos=10

"Here's a listing of several scientific and economic guides for estimating the volume of flow of the leak in the Gulf of Mexico erupting at a rate of somewhere around 1 million barrels per day. A new video released shows the largest hole spewing oil and natural gas from an aperture 5 feet in diameter at a rate of approximately 4 barrels per second. The oil coming up through 5,000 feet of pressurized salt water acts like a fractionating column. What you see on the surface is just around 20% of what is actually underneath the approximate 9,000 square miles of slick on the surface. The natural gas doesn't bubble to the top but gets suspended in the water, depleting the oxygen from the water. BP would not have been celebrating with execs on the rig just prior to the explosion if it had not been capable producing at least 500,000 barrels per day — under control. If the rock gave way due to the out-of-control gushing (or due to a nuke being detonated to contain the leak), it could become a Yellowstone Caldera type event, except from below a mile of sea, with a 1/4-mile opening, with up to 150,000 psi of oil and natural gas behind it, from a reserve nearly as large as the Gulf of Mexico containing trillions of barrels of oil. That would be an Earth extinction event."

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Old Post 05-14-2010 12:59 AM



Rombaldi
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quote:Originally posted by Kaztronic
CK, do you feel some kind of overwhelming need to defend any entity that might be tied to Republicans in a negative way?



She gets her morning talking points and does what she's told...

quote:Sometimes I think that you and Rombaldi deserve each other.



Oi! 'nuff of that now...

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Old Post 05-14-2010 01:00 AM

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Post by Kaztronic » 05-14-2010 09:46 PM

The news regarding the Minerals Management Service goes from bad, to worse.

They've been operating this way for years. Even after this agency is fixed, every single permit, or waiver they have authorized is going to have to be thoroughly reviewed.

~Snip~

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.

Those approvals, federal records show, include one for the well drilled by the Deepwater Horizon rig, which exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and resulting in thousands of barrels of oil spilling into the gulf each day.

The Minerals Management Service, or M.M.S., also routinely overruled its staff biologists and engineers who raised concerns about the safety and the environmental impact of certain drilling proposals in the gulf and in Alaska, according to a half-dozen current and former agency scientists.

Those scientists said they were also regularly pressured by agency officials to change the findings of their internal studies if they predicted that an accident was likely to occur or if wildlife might be harmed.

NY Times
Last edited by Kaztronic on 05-14-2010 09:50 PM, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Halliburton - Gulf Oil Rig Explosion

Post by SETIsLady » 05-14-2010 09:50 PM

Linnea wrote: Ah well. Here is Cheney's Halliburton in the cross hairs again.
Not surprising, Cheney is never that far away.

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Mission Impossible: Obama Taps Crack Team Of Scientists To D

Post by Linnea » 05-14-2010 10:09 PM

...from that 'rag' TPM Muckracker ;-> Ah well. Interesting. And scary maybe?

Mission Impossible: Obama Taps Crack Team Of Scientists To Do The Job BP Can't

Zachary Roth | May 14, 2010, 5:36PM
President Obama's new plan to fix the Gulf oil spill is so crazy it just might work...

As BP's high-priced industry experts flail, the president has turned to a rag-tag band of big-think scientific renegades, and sent them on a mission to somehow MacGyver a way to stop up the leak -- before it's too late.

OK, maybe that's going a bit far. In fact, the news that Obama and his energy secretary, Steven Chu, have sent a team of leading physicists and engineers to the Gulf to work with BP offers further evidence of the administration's essentially technocratic approach to governance, and its faith in knowledge-based expertise. That might seem like common sense, but it represents a shift from the Bushies' faith in the problem-solving power of industry, and its willingness to let science take a backseat to the concerns of its religious base.

Still, asking one of the key inventors of the hydrogen bomb, along with an engineer who helped develop techniques for mining on Mars, counts as out-of-the-box thinking. Here's a quick rundown on the president's unlikely team:
Continues here:
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.c ... scient.php

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Post by Kaztronic » 05-14-2010 11:05 PM

We should have been doing this over a week ago IMO.

A solution to this disaster may indeed take "out of the box thinking" given the extreme depths we're dealing with here (which is why the Mars expert makes some sense consultation wise).

Let's hope they come up with a solution quickly.

If they do however come up with a solution that can be enacted fairly quickly, it will be worth reflecting on the amount of time the government allowed BP to take the lead on this (weeks), and the amount of time we spent keeping experts and foreign assistance at bay (as detailed in some of the links provided in this thread).

Again, the government (like BP) has been working hard, but have they been working smart? Too soon to tell, but we must remember that this disaster began to unfold back on APRIL 20th. It's nearly a month later and we haven't taken over effective control of this operation yet? We're still arguing about the release of information regarding the flow of oil? We are permitting BP to control the flow of pictures of the oil flowing out of that pipe? Why are we still refusing to get experts in there who CAN determine how many barrels per day are flowing - and are available to do so? Do we not want the truth out because it is so horrible to consider? How dare our government say that it "doesn't matter" how many barrels are flowing, it doesn't change the response".

These questions are going to come to the fore when the scope of this disaster truly becomes apparent on our shores.

Speaking of scary, look at this video of this disaster:

LiveLeak.com
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BP tube funnelling Gulf Coast oil leak to tanker

Post by Linnea » 05-16-2010 04:18 PM

Update from BBC News - May 16th, 2010
The oil company BP says it has started to siphon oil from its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico to a tanker on the surface.

At a news conference, BP executive Kent Wells said so far the system was "working extremely well".

BP has used underwater robots to insert a long narrow tube with a stopper into the leaking pipe.

Earlier, scientists said they had found vast underwater plumes of oil, one 10 miles (16km) long and a mile wide.

BP's 6in-wide (15cm) tube could capture more than three-quarters of the leak; a smaller spill nearby also has to be contained.

The tool became dislodged after it was first inserted a mile beneath the surface on Saturday night. But it was now back in place, senior executive vice-president Mr Wells said on Sunday at the firm's US headquarters in Houston, Texas.
Much more at link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8685368.stm

What about methane gases also, presumably, traveling up the pipe with the oil? Another potentially explosive situation?

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Post by SETIsLady » 05-16-2010 08:51 PM

Isn't is odd, that no one has heard anything from the 11 families that lost loved ones from this explosion ? I don't know why I keep thinking about it, but I have thought about it more since I realized Haliburton has their hands in this.

I was reading somewhere today, that they have found underwater plumes of oil that are at least 10 miles long & 300 feet deep. Even once they stop this gusher, its not a leak, the damage done may never be fixed. :(

We need to find balances between our needs and the environment.

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Post by Linnea » 05-16-2010 11:37 PM

Did notice not much is said for the victims of the oil rig explosion. Very tragic for so many.
:(

This event seems to be moving toward catastrophic proportions.

Linda, did you see Live365's post here:

showthread.php?threadid=42978

You can also find related videos at this link.

Maybe help is coming from the genius - and heart and soul of the American people. The unsung heros... Perhaps there is some hope coming from the people who love this land and sea.

Check out the vid. There is a spokesperson - Baker - from Florida's Emergency Management - in this group of you tube videos at the link.

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Post by megman » 05-16-2010 11:56 PM

Rest assured, the families not only got compensation for their loses, but also got paid an enormous amount to keep their traps shut.

Which of course would have come from a slush/contingency fund covered by insurance.

Its a win/win for all the morons involved.
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