Tag: Deepwater Horizon

Facing problem with their reproduction Nearly hidden by brownish sand, the Kemps ridley sea turtle digging furiously with her back flippers as she carved out a flask-shaped hole to lay her eggs wasn't aware of the excitement she was generating among the scientists, volunteers and beach-goers watching from a distance.They included Donna Shaver, who has been working for more than two decades to save the endangered reptiles. Each spring, she counts their nests and collects the eggs for safe incubation before releasing the turtles' tiny offspring into the sea. Shaver knows this year that each nest she spots has added significance: the turtle that created it survived the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.While scientists in several states are studying the effects of the oil spill on loggerhead and other sea turtles, the Kemps ridley have been of particular concern. The Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20, 2010 happened when they typically would have been in the area. Most of the 456 visibly oiled turtles rescued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year were Kemps ridleys.At the peak of nesting season, their numbers looked good. As of May 24, 155 Kemps ridley nests had been spotted on ...

The chemicals used are more toxic than the oil spill BP succeeded in sinking the oil from its blown well out of sight and keeping much of it away from beaches and marshes last year by dousing the crude with nearly 2 million gallons of toxic chemicals. But the impact on the ecosystem as a whole may have been more damaging than the oil alone.The combination of oil and Corexit, the chemical BP used to dissolve the slick, is more toxic to tiny plants and animals than the oil in most cases, according to preliminary research by several Florida scientists. And the chemicals may not have broken down the oil as well as expected.Scientists reported some of their early findings last week at a Florida Institute of Oceanography conference at the University of Central Florida. The researchers were funded a year ago through a $10 million BP grant.The initial findings require more research for scientists to reach definitive conclusions. But scientists said they were struck by the studies so far.They added BP oil to a jar of sea water and saw all the oil float to the top. After adding a little Corexit to the mix, the entire bottle of ...

Director of Commercial Regulations and Standards US Coast Guard

Transocean has high-level talks with BP Transocean has had high-level talks with BP about last year's Macondo well disaster, for which it believes BP is responsible for the damages, an executive said.Asked about last week's deal between well operator BP and well co-owner Mitsui, Transocean chief financial officer Ricardo Rosa said its relationship as a BP contractor was different, and one should not compare "apples and pears", Reuters reported."This being said, we have had contacts at CEO level with BP," Rosa said in a webcast presentation Tuesday at the UBS Global Oil and Gas Conference in Austin, Texas, describing those talks as "constructive"."We would be foolish to discard any opportunity that may arise, so we keep an open mind," Rosa added.Rosa said no evidence has surfaced to show that Transocean, owner of the drilling rig destroyed in the Macondo well blow-out, was negligent, and his company has high confidence in the indemnity clause BP provided in their contract.Mitsui unit Moex, which owned 10% of the Gulf of Mexico well, had sought to avoid paying its share of the costs by claiming BP was negligent and Moex should be exempted, before agreeing last week to pay $1.1 billion for the clean-up.Transocean ...

The Coast Guard report blamed the Marshall Islands The ITF has welcomed the recent report of the US Coast Guard into the tragedy at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico last year, when 11 oil rig workers died in an explosion which led to the largest-ever accidental offshore oil spillage, polluting a wide area of the Gulf and the Mississippi coast of the USA. Transocean, the company operating the oil rig, had registered Deepwater Horizon in the flag of convenience (FOC) Marshall Islands.The Coast Guard report blamed the Marshall Islands for not surveying the rig and abdicating its responsibilities by delegating inspections to other organisations.David Heindel, chair of the ITF seafarers section, said that the Coast Guards report: Reinforces the ITF's long-held position that so-called flag of convenience or runaway-flag vessels often facilitate and even encourage unsafe business practices. many FOC operators have no regard for the mariners, their competency and other victims who suffer as a result of the runaway-flag system. Putting swift profits ahead of safety, runaway-flag entities also risk catastrophic environmental damage, like that which occurred last year when the rig exploded.Applauding the Coast Guard's focus on the flag states failure to ensure ...

Mitsui & Co. Ltd. agreed to pay the U.K. oil company nearly $1.1 billion BP PLC scored a modest victory in its efforts to force other companies involved in last year's disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill to cough up a share of the clean-up costs as Japan's Mitsui & Co. Ltd. agreed to pay the U.K. oil company nearly $1.1 billion.The move increases the likelihood that another partner in the well, Anadarko Petroleum Corp., will also settle. Anadarko Chief Executive James Hackett has previously indicated the Texas oil company was prepared to reach a compromise with BP "under the right circumstances."The settlement with Mitsui, which held a 10% stake in the project, marks the first time another company has acknowledged that BP is not exclusively to blame for the Deepwater Horizon disaster. It represents an about-face for the Japanese trading firm, which had previously claimed that BP's negligence absolved it of liability for the costs of the spill. Anadarko has taken a similar position.Analysts said it reduced the likelihood that BP will be found guilty of gross negligence, an outcome that would substantially increase the amount of environmental fines and penalties it is liable for over the Gulf of ...

The largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry

Deepwater Horizon drilling rig blowout

The issue includes matters which may advance the investigation The US Coast Guard issued a letter to Parties-In-Interest (PIIs) in Deepwater Horizon Investigation reminding them of the opportunity to provide input to the Coast Guard on matters which may advance the investigation.Issues of interest include: the explosions, the resulting fire, evacuations, the flooding and sinking of the MODU, and the safety systems onboard the Deepwater Horizon.To view the letter please click hereSource: USCG

Addendum to Final Report The USCG-BOEMRE Joint Investigation released Addendum to the Final Report of Det Norske Veritas (DNV) regarding its forensic examination of the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer (BOP).To view the Report please click hereSource: DNV