Offshore Oil Drilling and the Oil Rig Disaster in the Gulf

[JC]

How would you propose doing this?  All that would be accomplished is shelving over 30% of US production and shipping in imported oil in tankers, statistically a much more risky practice than drilling. Also, we cannot "stop" drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  We can surrender our leadership, technology, and Territorial resources however, by "knee jerk" reaction.  

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gulf-of-mexico-oil-spills-lessons-learned-2010-05-07

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/18/obama-surrenders-gulf-oil-to-moscow/

This is certainly a disaster on many levels.  But the response must be professional and logical.  Oil is not going away anytime soon.  We must learn from such events and develop defenses against recurrence.  This is a setback, not a roadblock.

^^^Lack of imagination^^^

[NotNow]

^^^Lack of reality^^^

So your answer is to "ban" drilling?  How would you accomplish this?  How is it better to ship in that 30%+ of American production.  Again, shipping of oil is actually more likely to cause a spill than drilling.  You can not prevent the Cubans and others from drilling off of our shores.  Cuba and other countries are drilling and producing now.

[JC]

^^^Lack of reality^^^

So your answer is to "ban" drilling?  How would you accomplish this?  How is it better to ship in that 30%+ of American production.  Again, shipping of oil is actually more likely to cause a spill than drilling.  You can not prevent the Cubans and others from drilling off of our shores.  Cuba and other countries are drilling and producing now.

LOL... There is no point in answering your questions since you already have the answers!  Sorry but talking to you is a waste of time at this point. 

[Doctor_K]

Or another question would be, how would someone make every other country pull the plug and stop drilling?

Or is this uniquely an American problem and no other rigs owned by any other company or in anyone else's waters blow up and leak oil?

America needs to stop drilling, but everyone is free to do so?  How does that make sense?

[Sportmotor]

Or another question would be, how would someone make every other country pull the plug and stop drilling?

Or is this uniquely an American problem and no other rigs owned by any other company or in anyone else's waters blow up and leak oil?

America needs to stop drilling, but everyone is free to do so?  How does that make sense?

Cause then it wont be America's fault if it happens again...

[JC]

Or another question would be, how would someone make every other country pull the plug and stop drilling?

Or is this uniquely an American problem and no other rigs owned by any other company or in anyone else's waters blow up and leak oil?

America needs to stop drilling, but everyone is free to do so?  How does that make sense?

If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you follow?

[buckethead]

If everyone else drilled for oil near your shores, sold you the oil, then subsidized your downfall, would you continue to refuse to sell drilling rights and have oversight of the oil production near your shores?

I am ready for the alternative green renewable sustainable fuels but so far, pie in the sky.

[Sportmotor]

If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you follow?

I would! Only if it was a really tall bridge...I would also have a parachute, BUT I WOULD!

I am ready for the alternative green renewable sustainable fuels but so far, pie in the sky.

What kinda pie? I like pecan pie

[JagFan07]

Well, as you all know.  The time has come.  I live a block away from  Fort Zachary Taylor  were the 20 tar balls were found along the shore.

Looks like the tarballs weren't from this spill. Still curious as to where they came from.

May 19, 2010 | 0 comments
CORRECTED: Florida tarballs not from spill, impact still

In first paragraph, corrects value of Florida tourism industry to $60 billion-a-year, instead of $60 billion-a-day

By Michael Haskins

KEY WEST, Florida (Reuters) - Florida's tourism gained a respite on Wednesday when tar balls found on Keys beaches were shown not to come from the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, but officials said the $60 billion-a-year industry was already taking a beating from the unchecked month-old spill,

With energy giant BP Plc still struggling to contain its gushing undersea well that has spewed a huge rust-colored slick into Gulf waters, oceanographers have forecast crude from it will be carried by currents southeast to the Florida Keys and possibly even farther afield, to Miami and Cuba.

The spill has already dumped oil debris ashore, especially in Louisiana but also on the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, threatening fisheries and wildlife refuges. The Obama administration is grappling with a widening environmental and economic disaster for which it holds BP responsible.

To the relief of Florida officials, the Coast Guard said laboratory tests had shown that 50 tar balls found this week on the Lower Keys -- a mecca for divers, snorkelers, fishermen and beach goers -- were not from the Gulf spill.

Local tourism authorities said damage had already been inflicted by the negative publicity linked to the spill.

"Even if we don't get even a gumball-sized tar ball down here in the next month, there has already been significant perception damage to Florida Keys and Florida tourism," said Andy Newman of the Monroe Tourism Development Council.

"We understand we are not out of the woods yet, that there's more oil out there," he said.

Newman said tar balls were not uncommon in the Florida Keys, as 8,000 commercial vessels pass through the Florida Straits each year and some, defying anti-pollution rules, wash fuel oil from their tanks, which then forms into balls.

But he hoped the news there was no link to the oil spill would be good for this month's Memorial Day weekend.

BP, under pressure from the U.S. government and public, gave no immediate update on its efforts to contain the spill.

It has said a siphon tube inserted into the well is capturing an estimated 2,000 barrels (84,000 gallons/318,000 liters) per day from the ruptured undersea Macondo well, about 40 percent of the amount that was gushing out.

BP shares were down more than 1.5 percent in London.

LOST BUSINESS EXPECTED

Environmentalists warn that the spill, which followed an April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf, could prove worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska -- the worst such incident in U.S. history.

In a sign of the widening environmental impact, the United States nearly doubled a no-fishing zone to 19 percent of U.S. waters in the Gulf seen affected by the spill.

The spill has forced President Barack Obama to put a hold on plans to expand offshore oil drilling and has raised concerns about planned oil operations in other areas like the Arctic.

London-based BP, which has seen its reputation battered and market value cut by $30 billion, has said it plans to increase the amount of oil captured from its blown well as it works on a permanent fix.

But with most of the leaking oil still gushing unchecked, upbeat media pronouncements by BP CEO Tony Hayward, which have played down the size of the oil spill and its environmental impact, have angered U.S. Gulf Coast residents who fear their livelihoods will be destroyed.

"I'm fielding lots of calls with questions about fishing in the Keys, especially from people that have reservations two or three weeks out ... I have not lost business, yet, but expect I will when the spill, in whatever form, gets here," said Andy Griffiths, who owns a charter company in Key West.

Gulf Coast shrimp and oyster fishermen and boat operators say their business has already plummeted.

Of all the threatened states, Florida has the most to lose. Tourism is its economic lifeblood, its largest industry, generating $60 billion in spending from more than 80 million visitors a year, bringing in 21 percent of all state sales taxes and employing nearly 1 million Floridians.

Many forecasters see oil from the massive spill being sucked by a powerful ocean flow, the Loop Current, around the Florida Keys and possibly up to Miami beaches.

IN THE LOOP?

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said oil sheens have been seen on the northern edge of the current. Private forecasters say they believe oil is already in the Loop Current.

Authorities have stressed the accident's so-far limited impact on the region's fisheries, coastal shorelines and wildlife, but that has failed to calm residents who fear extensive damage to local economies and communities.

BP has said it will cover the costs of the spill. It estimated the bill for the oil cleanup at $625 million, with analysts saying costs could reach into the billions.

But President Barack Obama's drive to lift corporate liability limits for oil spills stalled in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.

BP, rig operator Transocean, and another contractor involved with the ruptured well, Halliburton Co, have traded blame about last month's accident.

The chief executive officer of Halliburton said on Wednesday that the company does not expect to incur costs related to its work on the blown Macondo well.

(Additional reporting by Jane Sutton and Pascal Fletcher in Miami, Matt Bigg in Louisiana, Anna Driver in Houston, Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

[CS Foltz]

Gentlemen.............shallow water drilling has been done for years and excluding the several incidents that have taken place over the years, its been done pretty safely! Deep water drilling is another ballgame with its own set of rules and criteria! It is in its infancy and they are still learning how to do it safely.........plain and simple! If a cutoff valve fails, usually it is mechanical failure or a design flaw or simple human error! Either way, I need to point out, there were no backup plans for what ifs!  There was no Plan B if there were a blowout and darn sure no Plan C for addressing environmental issue's! A severe lack of planning on BP's part and everyone involved in that particular operation. I never depended on being lucky, I was good because I planned for all contingency's!

[keywest09]

 Finding tar balls in Keys waters or on area beaches is not an unusual occurrence. The Keys are located along a busy commercial shipping route, with some 8,000 vessels passing by on an annual basis, and commercial vessels sometimes discharge bilge water that has oil in it. Tar balls can drift into Keys waters from other areas, not just the northern Gulf region. "
Also, this would got back to the question about do you really want cruise ships in Jacksonville. And, more ships in the area.  With the Military and personal boat on the waters already.

[CS Foltz]

keywest09..............no one seems to think about that aspect! Most appear to think about the tax base and the so-called jobs added and can not dispute that, but! Wait till they have the first waste tank mishap and the whole basin turns into a toilet but what do I know! Bilges are bilges and most everyone pumps them out even inside the 200 mile limit! Military ships used to be limited outside that line, but don't know about present day!

[Doctor_K]

Or another question would be, how would someone make every other country pull the plug and stop drilling?

Or is this uniquely an American problem and no other rigs owned by any other company or in anyone else's waters blow up and leak oil?

America needs to stop drilling, but everyone is free to do so?  How does that make sense?

If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you follow?

Not again!

[Timkin]

I simply wish Safety procedures were followed/implimented so as to prevent accidents such as this one from happening... This accident IMO , was preventable..

Again I state...before we lose one life, not to mention sea life, beaches, etc,  The almighty dollar and our dependence on oil should be second.  Unfortunately this must not be a realistic approach in todays highspeed world.

Perhaps the tar balls washing up are from the LaBrea Tar Pitts in California.. Interesting and ironic that they show up amidst this spill in progress.. Horrible progress did I mention .

[BridgeTroll]

How would you propose doing this?  All that would be accomplished is shelving over 30% of US production and shipping in imported oil in tankers, statistically a much more risky practice than drilling. Also, we cannot "stop" drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  We can surrender our leadership, technology, and Territorial resources however, by "knee jerk" reaction. 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gulf-of-mexico-oil-spills-lessons-learned-2010-05-07

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/18/obama-surrenders-gulf-oil-to-moscow/

This is certainly a disaster on many levels.  But the response must be professional and logical.  Oil is not going away anytime soon.  We must learn from such events and develop defenses against recurrence.  This is a setback, not a roadblock.

^^^Lack of imagination^^^

LOL... Looks like President Obama and 90% of the world share that weird characterization...