Archive for the ‘Gulf Oil’ Category
What happened to the BP deep-sea oil plumes in the Gulf? The bugs ate it!
No really – Deep-Sea Oil Plume Enriches Indigenous Oil-Degrading Bacteria. The key word is Indigenous (meaning native or natural). From the abstract:
The biological effects and expected fate of the vast amount of oil in the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon blowout are unknown due to the depth and magnitude of this event. Here, we report that the dispersed hydrocarbon plume stimulated deep-sea indigenous {gamma}-proteobacteria that are closely related to known petroleum-degraders. Hydrocarbon-degrading genes coincided with the concentration of various oil contaminants. Changes in hydrocarbon composition with distance from the source and incubation experiments with environmental isolates demonstrate faster-than-expected hydrocarbon biodegradation rates at 5°C. Based on these results, the potential exists for intrinsic bioremediation of the oil plume in the deep-water column without substantial oxygen drawdown.
Posted in Where is all that BP oil that was in the Gulf?
Well most of it, about 75%, is still in the Gulf. Tropical storm Bonnie mixed up the area pretty good – stirred, not shaken. That just may have been a very good thing. From cooking to Chemistry 101, we all know the importance of stirring. Put cream in your coffee and it is pretty much two separate liquids until you stir the liquids. Bonnie may well have dispersed the dispersants and thoroughly mixed it all up – and that is good.
Luckily, retired Admiral of the Coast Guard,Thad Allen was in charge. As head of the Coast Guard, he likely knew about all those tests of burning oil. After all, if you’re going to light fires on water, the Coast Guard has to be present because they are the fire department. He also seemed to understand that when it comes to oil leaks, containment and reduction of long term effects are the most important. That means you attack the leak at its source as vigorously as possible using every arrow in your quiver. Or, he perhaps just asked himself, “What would mom do?”. So he used skimmers, burning, and dispersants.
This may be the best RNC ad ever
There you have it. A crisis that went to waste! Except that it did demonstrate a total lack of executive leadership. Oh wait, only Sarah Palin had elected executive leadership experience.
Cap and tax will not die!
Here it comes again. Harry Reid’s comments explains it all.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Tuesday he had assembled a “rough draft” of an energy bill and would aim to bring the legislation to the Senate floor the week of July 26.
Reid (D-Nev.) said the bill would include provisions aimed at cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico and preventing further offshore drilling disasters, along with alternative energy and conservation incentives. The package is part of a broader effort by Democrats to promote initiatives with job-creation potential, as members of Congress head out on the 2010 campaign trail.
Got that? It is legislation for the 2010 campaign so they will have to put something in to make the Republicans vote no. The Democrats deserve to lose the 2010 election in a way that makes them wish it was 1994 again. Gulf cleanup does NOT belong in a general energy bill.
BP oil well – no flow into the sea
Well tests are still in process so the final verdict is still out. If there are no breaks in the well wall, this should put and end to oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. But even if they don’t shut the well off, they can capture the oil at its source. Until a hurricane comes calling. That is why they need the ability to shut it off because the ships would have to unhook and move out of the hurricane track.
Undersea Cameras:
PBS Newshour Ustream – BP site. If you go to the BP page you can click a camera (lower right corner) and read the text. Not much happening now as everything is closed off and none of the pressure sensors are visible. Now they are just looking for leaks and surveying the sea floor for seepage that might indicate an underground leak.
More on drillers leaving the Gulf
PBS Nightly Business Report – Select the video for July 14th and then watch what they call Chapter 3 of 7 (Move your cursor over the video frame – starts at about 6 minutes). Cpt 4 is about Toyota acceleration problem. No firm evidence yet as to the real problem.
Moratorium on drilling will almost certainly cost US consumers. How much is uncertain.
Setback: BP cap in limbo over gov’t questions
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – BP’s work to cap its Gulf of Mexico gusher was in limbo Wednesday after the federal government raised concerns the operation could put damaging pressure on the busted well and make the leak worse.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the government didn’t want potentially dangerous pressure tests on a new, tighter cap that has been placed on the well to go ahead until BP answers questions about possible risks.
This should have been done days or weeks ago when the operation was planned. One of the reasons for slowly closing, and thereby restricting the flow, was to test if the well pipe was compromised. If the pressure doesn’t rise as you restrict the flow, then there are other leak paths.
UPdate: Okay, go ahead.
Gulf Drilling Ban = Uncertainty = Jobs Lost
This is from Nation Business Report (c) PBS 13 Jul 2010. You can watch full broadcast here or play / download the mp4 video file here. Web posting times vary so check both locations. (Segment posted in accordance with NBRT Terms of Use.)
First meeting of the Oil Spill Commission
Full name is the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling enacted by Executive Order 13543. Member list – from Wikipedia. More info on the 5 non-chair members from Whitehouse.gov. This is a POLITICAL commission. If you have any doubt, just check the total lack of technical expertise of the members. It is a bunch of environmentalists and policy wonks. The President is holding up drilling in the Gulf waiting for these people? This administration fails crisis management 101 – big time! Talk to knowledgeable people in the oil industry and they will tell you BP was penny wise and pound foolish. Just look at their safety and procedural violations. BP was, it most likely will fail or be bought up in the end, a bean-counter, business and law degreed, managed company. When management has no technical knowledge, they use consultants and farm out things like writing the emergency plan. They never read the plan or were so SDD challenged that they missed references to Sea Lions, Seals, Sea Otters, and Walruses.
Federal appeals court rules against restoring the drilling ban in the Gulf
From New Orleans:
A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected the federal government’s effort to restore an offshore deepwater drilling moratorium, opening the door to resumed drilling in the Gulf while the legal fight continues.
The ruling is not the final word on the Obama administration’s fight to suspend new drilling projects so it can study the risks revealed by the disastrous BP oil spill.
The Obama administration sought to block drilling while the case was decided. That was rejected but now they will hear the whole case sometime in late August or early September. Because of uncertainty – there’s that word again – few drillers are likely to resume drilling.