In a deal with U.S. regulators, BP will restart deepwater drilling on 10 Gulf wells

[Better Believe It]

Report: BP to restart deepwater drilling in Gulf
Oil giant pledges stricter safety terms than those imposed after 2010 disaster
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
April 3, 2011

In a deal with U.S. regulators, BP this summer plans to restart deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico on 10 wells in exchange for tougher safety rules, British media reported Sunday.

The London-based oil giant promised to abide by rules that are stricter than guidelines set after the April 20, 2010, blast on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers, The Financial Times and The Sunday Times of London reported. The accident, which released almost 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, was the largest marine spill in U.S. history.

Environmental campaigner Greenpeace said that, if true, the report is "a poke in the eye not only to the environment but to investors," and a sign that despite management changes at BP little had fundamentally changed at the oil giant since the disaster.

"It has been a year now and 80 percent of that oil is still somewhere in the sea," Greenpeace spokesman Charlie Kronick told msnbc.com. "There is nothing different about the situation now other than regulators may keep a slightly beadier eye on operations."

Read the full article at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42400389/ns/us_news-environment

[upi402]

1. shocked

:crazy:

[rhett o rick]

2. Why would anyone unrec this thread? nm

[nc4bo]

6. What new changes? BOP is rendered useless when a blow out occurs

Maddow covered this when she did a segment on the new leases being given to oil companies (one of which is a subsidiary of BP, if I'm not mistaken)but the oil comps. safety manuals (or what you call them) were dated from 2009.

If there's another gas build up and it explodes like DWH, the BOP will fail, over and over again.

So I'd love to know what stricter rules the oil comps. are supposed to abide by and what new mechanisms do they have to prevent another blow out from occurring and if one occurs, how to stop the spewing oil and gas. What about more modern technology in regards to clean up? More COREXIT?

Then there's this; where will all this domestic oil go once it's pumped up and out, the global market? And, how does that help the U.S. and rising gasoline/diesel prices?

:wtf: I guess we don't deserve answers, just sit down, shut up and take it, right?

ETA: You can't be surprised that something like this gets Unrec'd, I know you can't. Sad though isn't it?

[rhett o rick]

25. I think you meant this for the OP. nm

[nc4bo]

27. Yea - posted in wrong spot and still not sure how it happened....so sorry. nt

[Armstead]

7. Because they'd rather "Unrecommend" than actually discuss or debate

[rhett o rick]

24. Since this thread isnt very controversial I think they are disrupters.

They seem to be first in the threads. I was close to the first response and when I rec'd it didnt change from zero.
We have disrupters among us.

[rhett o rick]

3. So now who do we blame when a well blows up? BP or the regulators?

Way to many people get satisfaction from blaming the corporations for their transgressions when the blame should be on the regulations and regulators.

When GE doesnt pay taxes, whose fault is it? Look in the mirror. Corporations are required to make profits and they will push the limits to do so. So its up you you and me to elect representatives that will look out after our best interest and not GE's. Until we do that, it is worthless blaming GE or BoA.

That isnt to say we cant boycott GE and BoA. But the main thing is for us voters to get off our butts and get rid of the corporatist politicians.

[Better Believe It]

4. Look in the mirror? You're letting the politicians off the hook!

You wrote: "So its up you you and me to elect representatives that will look out after our best interest and not GE's. Until we do that, it is worthless blaming GE or BoA."

That's the ticket! Blame the people and let the politicians and government off the hook!

The people thought they had elected "representatives that will look out after our best interests" when they gave the Democratic Party huge majorities in the House and Senate and elected a Democratic president.

So what did the voters do wrong?

They didn't elect nearly enough Democrats to accomplish anything?

I guess voters need to elect 435 Democrats to the House and need to elect 100 Democrats to the Senate in order to impose tough regulations on corporations.

[rhett o rick]

23. Go ahead and blame the corporations and politicians until you're blue in the face.

It wont do you a bit of good. They are not going to reform themselves. What did we the American people do wrong? Many of us didnt even vote. And many of us voted for the totally corrupt Republicans. And many of us participated in electing Democrats that are corrupt. There is only one way to fix this. The American people have to elect Representatives that are not corrupt. Then they can change the laws to strongly restrict lobbying.

Bad mouthing BP for their oil spill doesnt bother them one bit. It wont change their practices. We need to hold the regulators accountable. Maybe throw some in jail for not doing their job. They either directly or indirectly get bribes.

[Better Believe It]

26. We need to blame the corporations and their political whores who enable them!

Without the politicians who enable them, big business would not be able to engage in such practices.

"The American people have to elect Representatives that are not corrupt."

So how has that political perspective been going for you?

People have been working hard at that for decades.

And when in the past fifty years have we had a political system in Washington free of Wall Street/Corporate control and corruption?

I believe you place entirely too much faith and hope in the idea that we can end such corruption by simply voting for political candidates!

Meaningful and radical change we can believe in has never happened in this nation only or even mainly via casting an election vote for "good" candidates.

And my single vote and your single vote has had exactly zero impact on the economic and political policies of the nation.

Of course, if you can shower candidates you support with millions of dollars that can results in tens of thosands or even hundreds of thousands of votes for those candidates.

And they can reward their elected and appointed government officials with lucrative jobs after they end their political careers in the "public sector".

That's what big business and rich people do.

And that's how they influence over the political system and exercise their national control over the two major political parties.

[rhett o rick]

28. That's a swell rant, but how do we solve the problem? Try to shame the

corporations and politicians into behaving?

[Hydra]

5. *Will be waiting for these tougher rules to be enforced*

...But not holding my breath.

How big will the next spill be?

[aquart]

9. Rules don't matter when the equipment still sucks.

The Gulf is over. Sad about the shrimp and stuff.

[Hydra]

10. And the water...drifting into the Altlantic

And from Japan we're leaking radioactive water. We're so efficient in our self-destruction.

[aquart]

13. 2012 is getting to look much more realistic.

And I didn't believe in it at all. But, my goodness, we are certainly proceeding apace.

[Hydra]

14. Like you, I think it will take more than a year

But damn if we aren't making our best time to planetwide extinction events!

[aquart]

16. Or we could tax the rich and use the money to save the planet.

[Hydra]

17. We don't even have to tax the rich

We could just change the currency and economic structure and do what needs to be done. The people with the billions in the bank can figure out what to do with their piles of worthless paper.

Labor: There
Demand: There
Currency: Being choked

[DirkGently]

8. And Transocean execs got 3/4 of their possible "safety bonus."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42393722/ns/business-us_business/

Transocean Ltd. gave its top executives bonuses for achieving the "best year in safety performance in our company's history" — despite the explosion of its oil rig that killed 11 people, including nine of its own employees, and spilled 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

There is no reality, but the reality the rich create for themselves, apparently.

[Hydra]

11. Who needs reality when you can buy your own version of it?

As one of my friends once said: "It's all going down, man! We're just swirling the drain..."

[suffragette]

18. Their idea of safety apparently = no execs faced consequences

from their action/inaction.

Thanks for finding and posting this DirkGently.

I think it merits its own thread.

[DirkGently]

20. Thanks. Just trying to contribute to Better Believe It's post. But I think I'll do that as well.

[suffragette]

21. Doing both is good!

[Heidi]

12. Kicked back up from Page 2 of GD. (nt)

[FLPanhandle]

15. But they promised to be "extra, extra careful this time"

Oh god.

[DirkGently]

19. In another 6 months, they'll have re-assumed "This can never happen" (again).

[ProSense]

22. UPDATE 1- U.S. drilling agency says no deal with BP

UPDATE 1-U.S. drilling agency says no deal with BP

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said on Sunday it had not struck a deal with BP (BP.L: Quote) (BP.N: Quote) to allow the oil company to resume deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, refuting a press report.

The Sunday Times newspaper had said BP was understood to have granted 24-hour access to government overseers and had agreed to safety requirements more stringent than the tougher rules imposed after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded a year ago, to win the backing of the regulator.

The U.S. drilling agency, which issues permits to drill based on the merits of applications, said there was no agreement with BP.

"There is no such deal," spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said.

The newspaper had said, without citing sources, that BP would only be able to maintain or increase production on existing platforms and not drill exploration wells when drilling resumed in July.

<...>

[robinlynne]

29. Why dont the regulators demand a full cleanup before the negotiation begins?

not my idea, but definitely the obvious way to go. why?