• BP warned of oil rig fault 10 years ago
    24 replies, posted
[url]http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article7114087.ece[/url] [release]BP faces fresh questions over the cause of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill after it emerged that problems with the type of equipment that led to the disaster were first reported a decade ago. In June 2000, the oil giant issued a "notice of default" to Transocean, the operator of the rig that blew up last month. The dispute was over problems with a blowout preventer, a set of iron slabs that should close out-of-control wells. It failed on the Gulf of Mexico rig, triggering the explosion and oil spill. Transocean acknowledged at the time that the preventer did "not work exactly right". The rig in question, the Discover Enterprise, was unable to operate for extended periods while the problem was fixed. The preventer was made by Hydril, now owned by GE's oil and gas arm, and Cameron International, a Houston company. Cameron also made the preventer on the Deepwater Horizon, the rig that exploded. Its preventer was fitted at about the same time BP was complaining of problems with its sister vessel. BP's past problems with the preventer emerged as a giant oil slick, fed by the uncapped well, began lapping the coast of Louisiana, threatening to create America's worst environmental disaster since the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. The US Coast Guard estimated that it is releasing 5,000 barrels of oil a day into the sea - though some experts claim it may be flowing at fives times that rate. Fears were growing this weekend that the well head could fall apart, potentially unleashing an unresticted flow into the ocean. Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, flew to Houston today to manage the worsening crisis. More than $23billion (£15billion) has been wiped off BP's market value amid growing worries over the costs of the clean-up. Estimates range from $3billion to $12billion. Hayward pledged to pay all "legitimate" claims arising from the spill. Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida have all declared states of emergency as winds pushed the slick toward sensitive marshlands and fishing areas. President Barack Obama issued a moratorium on new drilling until the cause of the disaster was determined. He also ordered the Department of Defense to use cargo planes to spray chemical dispersant. The government, BP and Transocean have all launched investigations. These are focused primarily on the preventer that did not shut, allowing a torrent of high-pressure oil and gas to shoot up through the rig floor and cause the explosion. BP has sent a small fleet of submersible robots to the well, 5,000ft down, to try to activate the preventer, but they have been unsuccessful. A Cameron spokesman said that this was the first time one of its preventors had failed to stop a blowout.[/release] Goddammit. This is why we need regulations on these greedy fuckers.
Or hitmen. either one is good I suppose.
Can't we just switch to solar and wind power, and electric cars? I'm sick of fossil fuels.
You want to try running your computer on a windmill?
Major companies are always warned shit like this is going to happen, but the task of actually fixing the problem always slips through the cracks and then you end up with thousands of gallons of crude in the ocean.
[QUOTE=Glaber;21708058]You want to try running your computer on a windmill?[/QUOTE] Yes, in fact. Modern wind farms put out a shitload of power. Offshore wind farms would be a great idea.
[QUOTE=Glaber;21708058]You want to try running your computer on a windmill?[/QUOTE] Why yes I would, seeing as how the alternative involves digging into Earth's crust and burning what we mine out.
[QUOTE=Glaber;21708058]You want to try running your computer on a windmill?[/QUOTE] Windmills no, Wind Turbines yes
Or, if wind turbines aren't your thing, make a nuclear reactor that can use thorium instead of uranium. Much more plentiful, better energy yield, and produces far less nuclear waste.
[QUOTE=Askaris;21708643]Or, if wind turbines aren't your thing, make a nuclear reactor that can use thorium instead of uranium. Much more plentiful, better energy yield, and produces far less nuclear waste.[/QUOTE] Takes up less area than a wind farm too.
Panau News Network reports that the explosions heard in the gulf today were simply a training exercise by the fantastic Panau Military and not a known-faulty oil rig exploding as some have been reporting. Thousands of gallons of oil have definitely not spilled out into the sea and a giant wall of flames is not moving towards the mainland. Our leader has congratulated the military on a successful training exercise. This is the Panau News Network
[QUOTE=OvB;21708705]Takes up less area than a wind farm too.[/QUOTE] However, we need petroleum to make plastics and such. Recycling would be nice too.
The irony of powering your computer by wind power so you don't use fossil fuels is huge. I mean its not like oil has any other use, like in the construction of computers (plastics etc).
[QUOTE=Jsm;21708972]The irony of powering your computer by wind power so you don't use fossil fuels is huge. I mean its not like oil has any other use, like in the construction of computers (plastics etc).[/QUOTE] There isn't as much plastic in a PC as you think. Fans are really the only all-plastic component.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;21709032]There isn't as much plastic in a PC as you think. Fans are really the only all-plastic component.[/QUOTE] It's not made out of beaver belts and bunnies' ears either. [editline]12:09AM[/editline] Also, your peripherals are like 80% plastic.
[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;21709060]It's not made out of beaver belts and bunnies' ears either. [editline]12:09AM[/editline] Also, your peripherals are like 80% plastic.[/QUOTE] Peripherals don't count.
You are just thinking of the computer directly, the equipment that makes the components need oil as well. Not to mention that oil is in a lot more things than petrol and plastic. Also I am quite sure you need to burn oil to turn it into petrochemicals.
[QUOTE=GamerKiwi;21708033]Can't we just switch to solar and wind power, and electric cars? I'm sick of fossil fuels.[/QUOTE] People has tried hard, but the oil companies always send their massive army of lawyers and lobbyists to say "It will cost Americans their jobs" or "Illegal because of this obscure law" and block everything. Makes you love the system.
I wish we could just simply nationalize everything and just convert.
We have about 100 years of oil left, and about 300 years of coal left.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;21708706]Panau News Network reports that the explosions heard in the gulf today were simply a training exercise by the fantastic Panau Military and not a known-faulty oil rig exploding as some have been reporting. Thousands of gallons of oil have definitely not spilled out into the sea and a giant wall of flames is not moving towards the mainland. Our leader has congratulated the military on a successful training exercise. This is the Panau News Network[/QUOTE] Way better than GNN.
[QUOTE=MRTW113;21709165]People has tried hard, but the oil companies always send their massive army of lawyers and lobbyists to say "It will cost Americans their jobs" or "Illegal because of this obscure law" and block everything. Makes you love the system.[/QUOTE]Doesn't make you love the system, it makes you hate it. What it DOES make you love, is the thought of how much chaos will ensue when we finally run out of oil. :D I really hope there is an afterlife, just so I can watch the panic.
I say we send them boxes in real life, one for the dumbness that they have, and two for all the cash they'll need to send in spare change to congress to pay for it. I mean seriously, how do you not know shit like this? They let a timebomb detonate after watching it for 10 years.
[QUOTE=nicatronTg;21710006]I say we send them boxes in real life, one for the dumbness that they have, and two for all the cash they'll need to send in spare change to congress to pay for it. I mean seriously, how do you not know shit like this? They let a timebomb detonate after watching it for 10 years.[/QUOTE] I see a way out of the budget deficit
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.