Tag Archives: oil

The Hits Keep Coming

“We believe all wells can be drilled incident free. We believe this well will be drilled incident free and we won’t need a relief well,” [Mark MacLeod, Chevron’s Atlantic Manager] said.

Chevron is drilling a well in more than 2,600 meters (8,530 feet) of water off the Canadian coast, making it twice as deep as the BP well that has been fouling the Gulf of Mexico with oil since April. —Reuters Africa

Stunningly, bafflingly, foreshadowingly, the name of the rig doing the work (and the field it’s working on) is—wait for it—Blind Faith. I’ll say! Oh yeah, at least one of the ships it listed in its relief plan (saying it could be there in 10 days when the truth is probably more like a month) is already on the job in the Gulf.

I can sincerely say, because it’s better for all of us, that I hope this does not turn into the grimmest punchline of the decade.

Shock and Awe

The chairmen of four of the world’s largest oil companies broke their nearly two-month silence on the major spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and publicly blamed BP for mishandling the well that caused the disaster.

OK, ha ha, well, sure, we can all understand the impulse. But are they sure they are really so different?

Although most of the Congressional fire was aimed at BP on Tuesday, the other executives came under criticism as well, particularly for the response plans that they prepared for a major spill in the gulf. The five companies submitted virtually identical plans to government regulators and to the committee. The 500-page document, prepared by a private contractor, refers to measures to protect walruses and gives a phone number for a marine biologist who died five years ago.

James J. Mulva, chief executive of ConocoPhillips, said the citations were “certainly an embarrassment to Conoco,” adding, “Plans need to be updated more frequently.”

From Oil Executives Break Ranks in Testimony.