[Closed] Advice about the BP Spillage

Wiki Bhopal. That is all.

aye bhopal

also point them towards this: [url] http://www.incidentnews.gov/map [/url]

oh and this [url] http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/international/obama-starting-to-sound-like-a-bit-of-an-arse-201006102804/ [/url]

Surf Mat is an expert in this area.

Thanks, I thought about Bhopal but was hoping to be able to use an oil example

cynic-al:
Surf Mat is an expert in [s]this[/s] all areas.

Fixed that for you.

nacho - i too work for an American company, BPs big rival as a matter of fact, i cannot help think there is some over the top stuff attacking BP but the incident and its causes and inherent failures are filtering through the industry now and BP have been very silly on this well from the start. It is going to be very expensive for years to come for BP.

Your also right on US Companies failings around the World but the point is you dont shit in your hosts garden and get away with it, especially when you CEO tries to play it down like Haywood is doing and especially when the US President is involved.

BPs days in the Gulf are numbered they reckon so standby for sell offs of their US assets and a case that make the Exxon Valdez look like a drop in the ocean.

Haliburton.

(no massive oil spills, but many thousands dead in the name of profit - Dick Cheney has a lot to answer for)

and Bhopal.

What is the normal scheme of events when it comes to taking control of an oil spill? Is it normally the government that gets it sorted or is it the oil companies?

Haliburton

Yeah and we have BAE systems.....i don't think anyone is going to come out of this smelling of roses.

anokdale - I agree ref BP's failings but am sick of some of my colleagues superior approach and just want to let them know the US isn't so good on this front either.

I too, work in the industry, as a safety engineer no less, an personally think that Obama's shouting at BP is at least partially to divert attention from the fact that the US minerals management service both sold the drilling leases and regulated the drilling, which is a slight conflict of interest.

Also a MMC report concluded that multiple BOP/subsea safety systems were not needed on cost grounds. Oops.

I used to work for a uk subsidary of halliburton too...

Its all politics and nimby action.

It was a US run rig, irrelevent of BP (and the various 'ownership' and company location of the various partners) - its more really a statement of how Americans operate stuff - and the sheer demand for oil by the US.

And BP's competitors are certainly 'oiling' the fire.

Reasonable view of what is going on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill

But people have to realise that the rig, its operation and the current 'fix' were all operating at the limits of our enginerring technololgy and why, homeland supply.

For oil based comparisons, just search 'Niger Delta Oil Pollution':

[i]When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska in March 1989, 257,000 barrels of oil were spilt and massive public outcry swept through America.

In the Niger Delta, between 1976 and 1998, over 2.5 million barrels of oil have been spilt into the Delta environment; and that is only spills officially recorded by the Department of Petroleum Resources.[/i]

Just draw up a list of ammrican f*** ups abroad.

Bohpall (sp?) was huge, Effectively the ammerican opperators turned off every safety system on the plant in order to save dosh. Then poured water into a tank of a reactive intermediate, creating wat was in effect the worlds largest chemical bomb. A pretty nasty death for almost everyone in the surrouding town.

Unfortunately for you/them the BP spill has now probably hit the top ten worst spills of all time.

http://www.offshore-technology.com/links.html

See the list of 22 minimum of 12 US companies involved. All offshore blowouts.

What will the Americans do when when of the major operators in the US is owned by a Chinese company?

Tell them it was an American Rig full of American workers that caused the leak in the first place. OK BP were leasing the rig and from what I understand the company they were using have a bit of a name for being shonky but it was American.

I agree BP are pretty much done in the Gulf but they'll not be too worried as they will be well established in the Falklands soon.

a great article by alistair heath in City AM

http://www.cityam.com/news-and-analysis/allister-heath/it%E2%80%99s-wrong-criminalise-all-accidents

Niger Delta article: It does seem to be mainly Shell (although Exxon get a mention), which doesn't help you much OP.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell

Exxon Valdez - price william Sands spill

Occidental Petroleum - Piper Alpa

Bring the BP story and tomorrow's world cup match together.

By chanting at them....

"Your not swimming
Your not swimming
Your not swimming anymore
Your not swimming anymorrrrrrrre"

It will go straight over thier heads mind.

It was a Halliburton (connections to Bush & Cheney) operation that seemingly triggered the rig explosion. Halliburton was pumping concrete down the well bore when it exploded. An operation that has been found responsible for about half of the 40 or so well blowouts in the Gulf of Mexico since 1995. Fortunately for Halliburton the explosion was big enough to destroy the evidence.

Anyway, I thought oily fish was good for you...

cynic-al:
Surf Mat is an expert in this all areas.
Fixed that for you.

[IMG] [/IMG]

Your not swimming anymorrrrrrrre

Anyway, I thought oily fish was good for you...

good work - esp if it's your own

😛 @ SM

Possibility of falling into the trap of imagining that the Americans are having a go at the Brits, when it is not the case.
But, it is an environmental disaster that affects the USA.

Thanks for some of the info and comments!
Macavity, it is the US having ago at the Brit's, not all but some. I feel for them big time ref this disaster and every time it's on the news I feel a bit sick, however they do have this attitude of "it's not our fault - we are the worlds do-gooders, let's blame someone else"
Apparently there were anti UK demo's in Louisiana recently and it wasn't that long ago they were banning French wine.

Just remind the Spams that the only reason that they're having to drill offshore is because they made such a mighty ****up of invading Iraq for its oil at the cost of thousands of their own troops lives, a load of ours, and a shite load of civilians in the process, and that in comparison to that a few pelicans is a price worth paying.

should bring a peaceful end to the conversation 😀

Piper Alpha - UK NS, 80s - there was a comprehensive investigation and report. I did read it, but it was yonks ago, and have long-forgotten most of it. The platform management wouldn't pay overtime to get a pump back working was the start, the holes in the cheese lined up. One other thing I recall, they'd never practised 'black starts', ie with gennys shut down. OXY got a slap on the wrist, and later seemed to have pulled out of NS, other than that there was no kind of anti-american feeling.

I seem to remember there was no kind of firewall on the platform between production and accomodation, other than plywood, but I'm not completely sure.

Suggest you google 'piper alpha' and 'lord cullen report'.

I worked as a subcontractor for some UK based BP operations for about 2 years.

Their culture was closed, confrontational, devious, risk averse, cheap, narrow minded and it seemed to be the policy to grind the other people down, even if they needed to or not. They couldn't admit their mistakes and individual staff that got it wrong were treated as pariahs.

You've got to know you're onto a bad one when the first amendment they make to the contract is to remove the clause [i]'this contract shall be undertaken in the spirit of partnership, shared risk and responsibility'[/i]:(

Sadly my MD was too dense to spot the nasty contract, and too blinded by 'working for an international blue chip'

Although I feel its got nowt all to do with National origins, they deserve all they get IMO. Based on my experience they will have cut as many corners as possible, while making it look like they haven't [i]and[/i] it'll be done in such a way that it'll be the other guys fault.

slowoldgit - Yip think you are right.

Hence after piper alpha, its sister platform, claymore, had to add a separate accomidation block accessed by a bridge.

Think if i remember correctly was that a good number of safety systems failed but a main problem was that even when the fire started, claymore had to keep pumping oil into it. The OIM at the time had to get permission from the beach to stop production, or face the sack and legal issues. But there was nobody on the beach at that time of night so they just had to keep fueling the fire.

That is not the case now though OIM can decide fr himself and will not be held responsible if there is a potential safety risk.

Hiroshima was ACE for the environment i hear...

Chevron killed over 190 people in China at Chuandongbei! It was barely reported in the news. 190 is probably on the low side as china PR machine kept it quiet.

http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/node/3358

thanks all, now composing a mail that whilst polite will point out some shortcomings 🙂

Also look at the US shareholding of BP (around 40%) and the fact that BP is an amalgamation of several companies, including the US Amoco.

Who's in charge of the drillers who triggered the worlds first man made volcano? Probably not American thinking of it, but a great example of how bad things can get. Search google for Malaysia mud volcano, unbelievable (even to me who works at the frontline of the industry).

Scienceofficer + 1

Thats the buzz around the circuit, very bad rep although the rest have their moments and i have seen some things working for or contracted to three main players.

Incidently the reference in another posting not by scienceofficer i hasten to add to Nigerias oil pollution you have to remember the MEND Et Al have caused a lot of the problems by blowing the lines up and causing spills which are attributed to the Oil Companies, for my part the two years i endured there led me to believe the OICs do all they can to prevent spills as the locals are straight on their cases.

Once the nightmare started on Piper Alpha, they couldn't vent the pressure in the incoming lines, if I remember right, only a one-inch inspection line, or something. The platform was a hub for piping to shore. And was also the designated controll point for any mishap in that third of the NS, I seem to remember. Was there a backup?

Oh, try a google for 'Amoco Cadiz' and 'Lloyds open form'.

Nigeria is a nightmare of politics, piracy, tribal dispute and mixtures of them. I always avoided going there.

now composing a mail that whilst polite will point out some shortcomings

I wouldn't bother. Why get into playground tactics?

Someone with links to some regulatory body in the industry, told me that the rumours abound that this particular well had a double check-valve type affair. And that one of the valves failed.
And was never repaired on economic grounds by the rig operators...
Who are American.

I just think its a tragedy, & sadly one thats likely to happen again as oil reserves once deemed too risky to plunder become more viable due to diminishing reserves in more accesible fields. Imagine what state the Poles will be in when they start drilling them on a big scale.

Why send an Email - just complain to HR that you found the original email offensive and racist against you as a briton, and watch the sparks fly 😈

The worst thing is that the first thing you learn in safety engineering is that check valves have awful failure rates and as such should never be considered as a safeguard...

We are a small company (3 UK and maybe 20 US employee's) and I know the people sending the mails so I'll keep it friendly but I do feel the need to reply........

The Americans used to do atomic bomb testing in the open (atmospheric) in America (Nevada etc) and the fallout would land on them.
Makes Chernobyl look mild in comparison, and Three Mile Island a bit unexciting.
The fall out could be so bad that water (contaminated rainwater) used during manufacturing by Kodak Eastman would damage their film.
More info in this book: The Nuclear Barons by Peter Pringle and James Spigelman.
People used to drive out to the desert to watch the explosions.

Plus http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=030906175X

http://www.naav.com/