Leaking Oil Well Lacked Safeguard Device

[seafan]

Source: Wall Street Journal

The oil well spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico didn't have a remote-control shut-off switch used in two other major oil-producing nations as last-resort protection against underwater spills.
The lack of the device, called an acoustic switch, could amplify concerns over the environmental impact of offshore drilling after the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig, hired by oil giant BP PLC, last week.

.....

U.S. regulators don't mandate use of the remote-control device on offshore rigs, and the Deepwater Horizon didn't have one. With a remote control, a crew can attempt to trigger an underwater valve that shuts down the well even if the oil rig itself is damaged or evacuated. ..... Nevertheless, regulators in two major oil-producing countries, Norway and Brazil, in effect require them. Norway has had acoustic triggers on almost every offshore rig since 1993.

The U.S. considered requiring a remote-controlled shut-off mechanism several years ago, but drilling companies questioned its cost and effectiveness, according to the agency overseeing offshore drilling. The agency, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, says it decided the remote device wasn't needed because rigs had other back-up plans to cut off a well.

The U.K., where BP is headquartered, doesn't require the use of acoustic triggers.

.....

An acoustic trigger costs about $500,000, industry officials said. The Deepwater Horizon had a replacement cost of about $560 million, and BP says it is spending $6 million a day to battle the oil spill.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704302304575213791958270682.html

---

Further into this article, it states that cost was a deterrent to mandating the use of these acoustic switches.


Apparently, $500,000 for a switch has now morphed into a $6 million a day battle against ecological and economic catastrophe.


Does that make sense to anyone?

[MadMaddie]

1. CNN was covering the LA Shrimpers that said that this would

have been a banner year for them. I think they need to get lawyers and sue the oil company for loss of revenue. If the lack of thatsafety measure that you mentioned is responsible for contributing to the spill they should pay. Remember corporations are persons too.

[snooper2]

2. Somebody at BP did some real poor risk management on that one

I would imagine an ass or two are getting reamed right now....

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Yeah, if all this damage expense is tax deductible.

BP has a long known record of short cuts and ignoring safety issues.
It is the Massey Mines of oil.
Day late, dollar short, profits good, expenses bad.

[global1]

4. Under Who's Administration Did The U.S. Regulators Make The Decision That .....

these remote-control shut-offs weren't needed?

[seafan]

6. 2003: Bush/Cheney

It's deeper down in the article.

[high density]

5. So they've created a huge environmental disaster

and lost a $560 million rig, all because they couldn't put in a $500k safety valve? That's like buying a car and then worrying about the cost of the gas cap.

The efficacy of the devices is unclear. Major offshore oil-well blowouts are rare, and it remained unclear Wednesday evening whether acoustic switches have ever been put to the test in a real-world accident. When wells do surge out of control, the primary shut-off systems almost always work. Remote control systems such as the acoustic switch, which have been tested in simulations, are intended as a last resort.

[global1]

9. It Better Be Ordered Immediately That These Remote Control Shut-Offs Be Placed On.....

all current rigs and all future rigs.

Imagine if this was a nuclear facility and they didn't spend the dollars to have safety systems installed to prevent the emission of radioactivity.

[eppur_se_muova]

18. Lesson: never save money on the last resort. nt

[seafan]

7. Great graphic here of safety mechanisms on oil rigs

Credit: WSJ

[ieoeja]

21. So it needed a sonic transducer?

Seriously?

:rofl:

[al bupp]

8. About now would probably be a good time...

to press our reps in congress to push for making these devices mandated in the US. Certainly, there ought be no new drilling put into place that doesn't have this, and now's the time, while thousands of barrels are spilling a day, to say, "OK, Oil Industry, you want off-shore drilling, then Quid Pro Quo, baby".

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. If it helps any, Feds have ordered immediate inspection of ALL oil rigs

offshore.

And here is current map of spread, areas that are in danger.

[seafan]

12. Thank you for posting that here, dixiegrrrrl.

Glad to hear about the inspections, although too little, too late for the current situation.


These greedy bastards just don't believe in prevention.

[Holy Moly]

14. Where's Noah's Ark?

Dear God, who art in Heaven,
Wherefore art Thou
and all that mythical mercy
of yours?
Wherefore art Thee and Thy loyal Noah
and that mythical ark of his when
all these poor innocent animals most
need salvationing by him... and by Thee?
Busy as usual, blessing the fabulous
deserving banksters of Wall Street?
Seems nuttin fails like our prayers, again!
But please ignore not
the prayers of Thy chosen oil CEO
beseeching Thee for his big fat,
well deserved,
performance/retention bonus
this Xmas, that he might trickle
down more trickle down oil spills
upon us again next year.
Thanx fer nuttin.

[Kablooie]

11. The cost would have been about the same as one Porsche Carrera GT.

Great savings for a multibillion dollar company, eh?

[DURHAM D]

13. Where is Red Adair when you need him? nt

[Enrique]

15. let's hear more about this decision

let's get some documents, some emails, etc. Get some people from MMS under oath.

The agency, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, says it decided the remote device wasn't needed because rigs had other back-up plans to cut off a well.

[seafan]

16. In the past hour, this story has been replaced: different authors/title

...but the same link address....


Now this strikes me as a very odd move by the Wall Street Journal, eh?.



Just when I wanted to post this little snippet:


From the original piece, titled "Leaking Oil Well Lacked Safeguard Device", written by By RUSSELL GOLD, BEN CASSELMAN And GUY CHAZAN:

.....

Industry critics cite the lack of the remote control as a sign U.S. drilling policy has been too lax. "What we see, going back two decades, is an oil industry that has had way too much sway with federal regulations," said Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Democratic Florida Sen. Bill Nelson. "We are seeing our worst nightmare coming true."

U.S. regulators have considered mandating the use of remote-control acoustic switches or other back-up equipment at least since 2000. After a drilling ship accidentally released oil, the Minerals Management Service issued a safety notice that said a back-up system is "an essential component of a deepwater drilling system."

The industry argued against the acoustic systems. A 2001 report from the International Association of Drilling Contractors said "significant doubts remain in regard to the ability of this type of system to provide a reliable emergency back-up control system during an actual well flowing incident."

By 2003, U.S. regulators decided remote-controlled safeguards needed more study. A report commissioned by the Minerals Management Service said "acoustic systems are not recommended because they tend to be very costly."

.....

Hmmmmm. What happened to the MMS between 2000 and 2003...


Right. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.




Remember, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS), which is the agency overseeing offshore drilling, has been the subject of investigations into corruption during the Bush Administration, coziness with industry officials and allegations of substance abuse at the agency.


Yeah, these are the same people who decided in 2003 that acoustic shut-off switches were too cost-prohibitive to require on oil rigs.




From the Center For Public Integrity:

An eye-opening series of reports in fall 2008 by the Department of the Interior’s inspector general disclosed a stunning level of corruption at the Minerals Management Service (MMS), and a coziness with industry officials that included a “culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” at the agency.

MMS is responsible for collecting royalties from companies for the right to produce oil and gas from federally controlled land and water; in 2007, MMS collected more than $9 billion in oil and gas royalties, making it one of the largest sources of income for the United States government. The agency also runs the Royalty-in-Kind program out of its Denver office, through which it takes delivery of oil and gas from energy firms in lieu of cash payments, and then sells it to refiners.

The inspector general concluded that officials in the MMS Royalty-in-Kind program “frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relationships with oil and gas company representatives.”

The IG said that one-third of Royalty-in-Kind officials were taking bribes and gifts, and noted that former MMS officials received contracts from their friends still in the department. Out of 718 bid packages awarded by MMS between 2001 and 2006, 121 were modified by the agency — and all but three of the modifications benefited the oil companies.

The inspector general said that these relationships have cost taxpayers $4.4 million in lapsed collection fees, but due to the sloppy administration at MMS, the real cost may go undiscovered.

In a separate report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that MMS is plagued by inefficiency in collecting royalties, and that there is no way to backtrack and figure out how much has actually been lost.

Currently, oil companies submit their own data and MMS simply takes them at their word, rather than independently confirming that the numbers are correct — what the inspector general has referred to in a letter to Secretary Dirk Kempthorne as a “Band-Aid approach to holding together one of the federal government's largest revenue producing operations.”

A separate GAO report found that the United States is not collecting fair market price for royalties on public resources — which may be seriously limiting the amount of money taken in by MMS, and hence, the taxpayers.



Follow-up:

The Government Accountability Office has issued recommendations to make MMS more efficient in gathering revenue, but they have yet to be implemented. One MMS official, Jimmy W. Mayberry, pleaded guilty to a felony conflict-of-interest charge and was sentenced in November to two years of probation and a $2,500 fine. Two other officials retired; for unknown reasons, the Department of Justice has declined to pursue charges.

While there have been changes that have “strengthened review,” the Inspector General’s Office says further improvements are needed. The MMS press office did not respond to a request for comment, but, after declaring that he was “outraged” by the findings, Secretary Kempthorne has begun a series of changes aimed at cleaning out corruption in MMS. The House and Senate each acted on legislation intended to reform MMS, increase oversight and accountability, and impose penalties for oil executives who give improper gifts to Interior employees. However, none of the measures made it through both houses of Congress, so the process will need to begin again in the 111th Congress.

And, what has since been done about this? ***crickets***

[seafan]

19. Found a different link back to this story.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704423504575212031417936798.html

[brentspeak]

17. Don't worry -- industry can regulate itself. n/t

[seafan]

20. Thom Hartmann: 'This well was an exploratory well and not a production well.'

According to the reporter he was interviewing.

[Robbien]

22. Leaking Oil Well Lacked Safeguard Device (mandatory in countries other than the US)

Source: Wall Street Journal

<snip>

U.S. regulators don't mandate use of the remote-control device on offshore rigs, and the Deepwater Horizon, hired by oil giant BP PLC, didn't have one. With the remote control, a crew can attempt to trigger an underwater valve that shuts down the well even if the oil rig itself is damaged or evacuated.

. . .

The U.S. considered requiring a remote-controlled shut-off mechanism several years ago, but drilling companies questioned its cost and effectiveness, according to the agency overseeing offshore drilling. The agency, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, says it decided the remote device wasn't needed because rigs had other back-up plans to cut off a well.

On all offshore oil rigs, there is one main switch for cutting off the flow of oil by closing a valve located on the ocean floor. Many rigs also have automatic systems, such as a "dead man" switch as a backup that is supposed to close the valve if it senses a catastrophic failure aboard the rig.


As a third line of defense, some rigs have the acoustic trigger: It's a football-sized remote control that uses sound waves to communicate with the valve on the seabed floor and close it.

An acoustic trigger costs about $500,000, industry officials said. . . Some major oil companies, including Royal Dutch Shell PLC and France's Total SA, sometimes use the device even where regulators don't call for it.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704423504575212031417936798.html

---

The person responsible for hitting the main switch to cut off the oil flow is among the dead.
BP said it did have a dead man switch, but it mysteriously failed to work.
A third line of defense sounds good when one considers what was at stake

Cost of Oil Rig--over a half billion
Cost of Cleaning up oil spill--six million a day for at least three months

[gateley]

23. Yet another area in which we fall behind other nations. This makes me sick. nt

[Rhiannon12866]

24. K&R. Worser and Worser...

;(

[Merchant Marine]

25. The BOP was remotely actuated by ROVs the day after the rig sank

Unfortunately it seems to have failed, or it has worked over a tool joint it is not designed to shear.

There were triple failsafes in place for activating the BOP. That would point to a fault in the BOP itself.

[Nihil]

27. That's an interesting thought ...

> The BOP was remotely actuated by ROVs the day after the rig sank
> Unfortunately it seems to have failed, or it has worked over a tool joint
> it is not designed to shear.
>
> There were triple failsafes in place for activating the BOP.
> That would point to a fault in the BOP itself.

Alterntaviely, (using the diagram upthread for reference) the BOP *has*
activated (i.e., the valve is currently shut) but it is the pipe below
the BOP and/or the wellhead structure (substandard cement?) that has failed.

Ummm ... Mr Halliburton to the white courtesy phone please?
:yoiks:

[panzerfaust]

26. If BP had thought a shut-off was needed, surely they would have placed one?

Right?

In the things never change department: Consider that after the San Francisco 1906 quake the civic and business leaders of the time insisted that the real problem was the fire. In the 1920's a state geology professor (whose name escapes me) tried very hard to bring the California earthquake risk to the public attention in order to make building more earthquake resistant - he has attacked by business, his reputation smeared, and forced into silence.

But BP is not like that. They are a modern, open company. Like Exxon. Or our government.

[Gregin Orlando]

28. $500k acoustic trigger

There is a video in this article from The Ed Show of an interview with an attorney who filed a class action lawsuit against BP on behalf of Gulf fishermen. This attorney was also on the Mike Malloy show on Friday. He asserts that an acoustic trigger would have prevented the spill. Check it out:

http://www.examiner.com/x-38220-Orlando-Independent-Examiner~y2010m5d2-500K-device-may-have-prevented-oil-spill

[cbayer]

29. Welcome to DU, Gregin Orlando!

:hi: