Oil industry 'double checking' deep drilling safety

BBC ^ | Monday, 14 June 2010 18:13 UK | BBC Staff

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Oil companies are drilling further out to sea and deeper than ever before to reach the last remaining pockets of oil. Deepwater drilling used to be prohibitively expensive, but high oil prices in 2007 and 2008 contributed to a renewed interest in offshore reserves.

US President Barack Obama has said the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will have a lasting impact on environmental policy - but what will it mean for the future of deepwater oil drilling?

According to the US Minerals Management Service (US MMS), there were 31 rigs drilling in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico in 2008 - compared with only three in 1992.

[org.whodat]

Yes, testing those valves( blow out preventor is really just a set of four are more hydraulic and electrical controlled gate valves) to see they operate would be a good ideal. Shame someone at BP did-not think of that.

[chris37]

“Oil companies are drilling further out to sea and deeper than ever before to reach the last remaining pockets of oil.”

Stopped reading right there.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Careful watching of the Mud Flow is where I think they screwed up badly....and the well design didn’t help.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Then you missed this :

But President Obama has said it is important to draw the right lessons from the Gulf of Mexico disaster and that will include looking at switching away from oil to other sources of fuel.

[blam]

Projections Show 20% Chance Oil Will Reach From Corpus Christi To Charleston

[TigersEye]

I am going to go out on a limb and predict that Petrobras goes ahead and drills in 14,000 ft. of water off of the coast of Brazil. They have to do something with that $2 billion dollar loan Barry0 helped them get.

[BnBlFlag]

“Projections Show 20% Chance Oil Will Reach From Corpus Christi To Charleston”
It’s already showing up in Galveston Bay!

[datura]

I’m with you. That statement proves the author is a moron.

[chris37]

Ah, phooey!

Well, that only makes sense, I mean, since we are down to the bottom of the old oil barrel, clearly we are going to have to switch to those other fuel sources...which are none.

Whomever wished this article into existence has clearly had his/ her/ its share of the kool aid.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Much discussion on yesterday's thread at The Oil Drum on cost of spills....

BP's Deepwater Oil Spill - What Research Reports were Saying - and Open Thread

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

BBC certainly believes in Global Warming by the hand of Man and in Peak Oil....

Global Warming by the hand of man is a HOAX....and a Global Taxing Scheme to support the Global elitists...and their dream of Global Governance via the UN.

[justa-hairyape]

The obvious solution to this problem is the one that Marxist cannot grasp. Drop all taxation on oil. Drill as much as possible where access is cheap. Drive the price of oil as low as possible. Then these deep water wells will be cost prohibitive. So, Progressive Taxation is killing the planet.

[dixiechick2000]

Ernest...what is going on WRT the Gulf is criminal.

No two ways about it.

[SunkenCiv]

Deepwater drilling used to be prohibitively expensive, but high oil prices in 2007 and 2008 contributed to a renewed interest in offshore reserves.

Yeah, that's so true, nobody ever drilled a deepwater well before 2007. Good lord. Thanks Ernest.

[EBH]

Oil companies are drilling further out to sea and deeper than ever before to reach the last remaining pockets of oil.

Sorry, didn't read past this line.

[Marine_Uncle]

Of course the Mud flow monitoring, cement casement in the upper pipes, where not followed per spec.. They sent off the mud mappers as we recall before they should have conducted that last mapping routine.
BP management will eventually be held accountable once the investigations are completed. Halliberton should be in the clear and perhaps as well TransOceanic in this case.