Recently by eljefebob

UPDATED:  At 9 am CDT, a fire on the platform at South Vermilion Block 380 was reported.  The production platform, owned and operated by Mariner Energy, is reported standing in about 340 feet of water.  Mariner is in the process of merging into Apache Corp.  At the time of the fire, there were 13 workers on the platform, all are accounted for and in the water in exposure suits.  Current reports are that it was...

Admiral Allen announced today that BP's fishing job being undertaken on their Mississippi Canyon Block 252 well has been called off due to total failure.  You'll recall that I disagreed with the procedure when it was announced on the 21st, believing it was unwise and risky.  After now attempting to fish out the drill pipe (actually 3 pieces) for several days, they have called off the job after completely failing at achieving their goal.  Previously,...

Updated:  I've been watching the feeds the last 2 days as BP has started its fishing job on the MC252 well.  The quality yesterday was terrible, but today pretty decent.  This afternoon, they ran into the BOP with drillpipe, then ran a wireline video camera in for first look.  Depths on the feed are off from the well schematic, but it's clear they're in the blind shear rams of the legacy BOP stack now.  It...

Yesterday, Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post published what I consider one of the most revealing stories of the entire BP odyssey since their Mississippi Canyon Block 252 well blew out on April 20th.  My regular readers know that I have been critical of both BP and the government in their management of this catastrophe, and that I have been often baffled about some decisions that are made.  There have been surprise, last minute decisions,...

I'm happy to announce that Neil Aquino, well known to all of us as Texas Liberal, is joining our merry band of bloggers here at TDH.  He has his own blog, and is also widely read on the Houston Chronicle at chron.com.  He will add yet another voice and perspective on local, Texas, and national politics in his own style, which will hopefully enrich your reading and commenting experience.Please join me in welcoming Neil.Jefe...

MSNBC is showing video of US troops leaving Iraq, heading for the Kuwait border.  The Army's 4th Stryker Bridage Combat Team is escorting the last 14,000 combat troops out of Iraq.  It's a good step, in my opinion, but the US government is still leaving behind 50,000 "advisors" which is disconcertingly reminiscent of the Viet Nam exit strategy.  If they are truly used for training and support, all the better, but this shameful chapter of...

Yesterday, marine scientists from the University of Georgia and the Georgia Sea Grant issued a report that directly contradicts National Incident Command's Happy Talk Report that most of the oil in the Gulf from BP's blowout magically degraded in less than two weeks after getting the well shut in.  In a statement yesterday, Charles Hopkinson, director of Georgia Sea Grant and professor of marine sciences in the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences...

Things keep getting curiouser and curiouser with the Well that Won't Die.  In his presser this morning, Adm Allen announced that they are still trying to decide what to do about the relief well, the weak components on the old BOP, and how they're going to approach the relief well, which is still just sitting there, a tantilizing 3 1/2 feet from the blowout wellbore.  Dithering seems a strong word, but one I'll now use....

As the press has lost interest in this story, even though the blowout well is far from dead, the information coming from BP and the Unified Command has also begun to trail off.  In his presser yesterday, Adm Allen sounded downright bored and so ready to put this behind him.  The press, having grown to a very small group compared to two weeks ago, continue to ask the same questions over and over, and now...

For the last several days, I've been trying to figure out what BP is doing and what is the actual condition of BP's MC252 well after their "static kill" and cementing procedure last week apparently didn't work.  You'll recall that when Kent Wells announced this procedure, he actually used the words "killed" and "dead".  In his July 19th McBriefing, he said, "If we can do the static kill, it might kill - might kill just...

Adm Allen just finished his morning presser where he just casually mentioned that they are going to "test" the old BOP and capping stack and take pressure readings to determine if the  hydrocarbons in the annulus are "dormant" or if they're connected to the reservoir.  Translation:  "BP continues to have pressure on the wellhead from down below and have been letting me believe for a week that the well is static."  Of course, they've never...

Matt Simmons, who founded investment house Simmons & Co. and who wrote several books on peak oil, died yesterday at his summer home in Maine; reports are conflicting; the source in Maine says it was by drowning and others, a heart attack.  Matt was 67 years old.  A Peak Oil advocate, Matt wrote a great book in 2005 about the state of the oil fields in Saudi Arabia, called Twilight in the Desert.  He told me...

We all know that BP and the US government have been doing everything they can to get the blowout well off of the television news.  We've been talking for weeks how it was also to BP's advantage to not measure the flow from the well before killing it so they can argue lower fines.  Since Adm Allen ordered BP to set the "capping stack" on July 8th, they have gone through one machination to another...

I was on BNN last night talking about the latest attempt by BP to kill their blowout well.  BNN won't allow embedding, so here's the link....

From my friend, Christa Rock, shot in Plaquemines Parrish, Louisiana last week:I'm very disappointed in the Obama administration and the happy talk they're putting out from the White House how everything is okey dokey, and the all the oil just disappeared.  After BP put 5 million barrels into the open ocean?  Don't think so.  This video asserts that the oiling of the beaches is getting worse, not better.  Dead fish everywhere, right on the beaches.Serious...

At 1 am today, we got the "everything is fine" press release from BP proclaiming that the well, after the "textbook" static kill, is static.  They studiously avoided the words "dead" or "killed".  Per usual, they also provided no further information.  I was watching the feeds of the worsening leak coming from the lower flex joint flange at the moment I got the press release.  Odd.  If the well is static, then why is the...

I was on Countdown tonight with Keith talking about the "static kill" and the looped video feeds that BP is running on its website.  Have a look:Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy...

Updated for Kent Wells McBriefing:  Adm. Allen just finished his morning briefing by telling everyone that, even though the BOP is leaking, BP is going ahead with the "injectivity test" prior to pumping the top kill.  I guess in BPworld, pumping on a damaged and leaking wellhead, likely exceeding rated pressures for some of the components in that wellhead, somehow lowers risk.  I have now been listening to both BP and government representatives for 2...

I was on Countdown tonight with guest host, Lawrence O'Donnell, talking about BP being called out for blacking out the ROV video feeds that showed that the capping stack and old blowout preventer are leaking, contrary to what they are saying.  Have a look: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy...

Yesterday in his daily presser, Adm. Allen said that all is well with the well, and that BP may be ready to pump the Static Kill (Top Kill II) to cover up the evidence as early as Sunday.  The problem is, if everything with the Well Integrity Test (translation: Shut-In-Until-We-Can-Get-Mud-Pumped-in-to-Keep-from-Measuring-the-Flow-Test) is going so well, how come they cut off the ROV video feeds of the well 3 days ago?  Our pals over at Daily Kos,...