U.S. Energy, (Oil)Mining Companies Must Disclose Government Payments
U.S. energy companies will soon have to reveal how much they pay foreign governments for rights to produce crude oil, natural gas and minerals around the world.
Tucked near the end of the more than 2,000-page final version of the financial reform bill is language requiring energy companies to submit the payment information annually to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The provision was added by Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, a long-time supporter of the voluntary Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and by Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, also a Democrat. That global initiative is backed by the World Bank, United Nations, and other groups, and aims to combat government corruption in resource-rich countries by monitoring and verifying payments received from energy and mining companies.
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BP Damage Assesment, over 200 million gallons!
BP’s blownout Deepwater Horizon well gushed up to 2.6 million gallons a day, the federal government now says, a total equivalent of 19 Exxon Valdezes. For months, BP insisted the figure of 1,000 then 5,000 barrels a day. BP will be responsible for a $17.6 billion fine - $4,300 for each barrel of oil, less the 800,000 barrels directly siphoned from the well-head. BP’s leaking well gushed 62,000 barrels of oil a day, the federal government said Monday in a revision of its figures that reveals how far off initial estimates turned out to be. The new estimate Monday by federal scientists means 4.9 million barrels of oil likely were released by the well before it was temporarily capped last month.
Meanwhile, Republicans are expected to filibuster legislation this week that would reform the oil industry to prevent another such disaster. [1 bbl (barrel) = 42 gallons; 4.9 million barrels total = 205.8 million gallons total ! ]
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oil giant BP: 97% of Worst Industry Violations
Renegade Refiner: OSHA Says BP Has “Systemic Safety Problem”
97% of Worst Industry Violations Found at BP Refineries
By Jim Morris and M.B. Pell | May 16, 2010
Two refineries owned by oil giant BP account for 97 percent of all flagrant violations found in the refining industry by government safety inspectors over the past three years, a Center for Public Integrity analysis shows. Most of BP’s citations were classified as “egregious willful” by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and reflect alleged violations of a rule designed to prevent catastrophic events at refineries.
BP is battling a massive oil well spill in the Gulf of Mexico after an April 20 platform blast that killed 11 workers. But the firm has been under intense OSHA scrutiny since its refinery in Texas City, Texas, exploded in March 2005, killing 15 workers. While continuing its probe in Texas City, OSHA launched a nationwide refinery inspection program in June 2007 in response to a series of fires, explosions and chemical releases throughout the industry.
Refinery inspection data obtained by the Center under the Freedom of Information Act for OSHA’s nationwide program and for the parallel Texas City inspection show that BP received a total of 862 citations between June 2007 and February 2010 for alleged violations at its refineries in Texas City and Toledo, Ohio.
Of those, 760 were classified as “egregious willful” and 69 were classified as “willful.” Thirty of the BP citations were deemed “serious” and three were unclassified. Virtually all of the citations were for alleged violations of OSHA’s process safety management standard, a sweeping rule governing everything from storage of flammable liquids to emergency shutdown systems. BP accounted for 829 of the 851 willful violations among all refiners cited by OSHA during the period analyzed by the Center.
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Michigan Oil Spill Damages Wildlife, Forces Residents To Evacuate
July 31st, 2010
On Monday, a disastrous leak in one of the world’s largest pipeline systems gushed over 1 million gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River, located in southwest Michigan. Already, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has declared the area a disaster zone, quickly activating State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) to ensure all state resources are devoted to oil spill response. “From my perspective, the response has been anemic,” Granholm said. Spill workers and volunteers have been hard at work, cleaning the horrifyingly oily water:
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Pipeline Leaks In Alaska’s Oldest Oil Field
Thursday, 22 July 2010 8:37AM
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - An estimated 630 gallons of oil has leaked from a buried pipeline in Alaska's oldest operating oil field, state environmental officials said Wednesday. The leak was discovered at the Swanson River oil field in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge south of Anchorage, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) said. The field, which produces both oil and natural gas, is operated by Chevron Corp. Chevron has shut in the two wells that feed the affected pipeline, said Steve Russell, an environmental program specialist with the DEC.
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A Federal Court judge in bed with the oil co’s.!
Judge Who Struck Down Moratorium Has Owned Transocean Stock *
By Kate Sheppard; Tue Jun. 22, 2010
A federal judge in New Orleans on Tuesday sided with the oil industry, striking down the temporary moratorium on new offshore exploration and deepwater drilling the Obama administration imposed last month. That judge, it turns out, has in recent years had interests in Transocean—the world's largest offshore drilling company and the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig—as well as other energy companies engaged in offshore oil extraction.
According to the most recently available financial disclosure form for US District Court Judge Martin Feldman, he had holdings of up to $15,000 in Transocean in 2008. He has also recently owned stock in offshore drilling or oilfield service providers Halliburton, Prospect Energy, Hercules Offshore, Parker Drilling Co., and ATP Oil & Gas. Feldman was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983.
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Deep Water Horizon Oil spill, no prevention, clean-up workers getting sick
BERNARD LAGAN, May 31, 2010
In the US, which assumes no engineering challenge is beyond conquer - nor does it lack the private capital to achieve it - the brackish rouge beneath the waves that is slowly strangling the Louisiana shore not only stains the sea and the sands, that creeping black is also gutting confidence, upturning myths and ruining reputations.
When Americans learned at the weekend that British Petroleum (BP) - which drilled the hole in the seabed nearly two kilometres under the sea - had attempted to seal it 16 times since Thursday by forcing shredded rope, plastics, old tyres and even golf balls into the failed, four-story high blow-out preventer, the crudity of the assault seemed strangely out of step with our times.
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Oil Spill focuses our attention on foreign oil
By T. Boone Pickens - 05-20-2010
Without minimizing the environmental issues involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, let's focus on the economics of the situation. This accident has not disrupted the 19 million barrels of oil we used every day in April - 12.3 million of which was imported oil. In the weeks since the accident, crude oil prices have actually dropped about $15 per barrel - which shows there are much broader forces at work in pricing crude than even a spill like this one.
We should not allow this accident to divert our attention away from our continuing dependence on foreign oil - especially oil from OPEC nations. We are importing nearly two-thirds of our oil requirements, and 70 percent of that is used as gasoline to fuel our 250 million SUVs, cars, and light trucks; and as diesel to power our 8 million heavy trucks.
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Obama suspends new Virginia offshore drilling bid
Oil has been escaping at a rate of nearly 200,000 3,000,000 gallons (!) a day since April 20th
May 14, 2010, 8:05 a.m. EDT
NPR reported late Thursday that scientific analysis of a video of the leak, released Wednesday by BP, put the rate closer to 70,000 barrels (2,800,000 gal.) a day, making the resulting spill already far worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident in Alaska. The report cited analysis by Steve Werely of Purdue University, who used a technique he said was accurate to about 20%. BP officials said in a May 4 briefing to members of Congress that the high end of the spill could be as much as 60,000 barrels a day.
"If we are systematically underestimating the rate that’s being spilled, and we design a response capability based on that underestimate, then the next time we have an event of this magnitude, we are doomed to fail again," said John Amos, the president of SkyTruth. "So it's really important to get this number right." -NYT
May 6, 2010: 5:05 PM CNN By Steve Hargreaves,
The Obama administration took the first concrete steps Thursday to make good on its pledge to halt new offshore drilling projects, suspending the approval process for new wells off of the Virginia coast.
The Minerals Management Service, part of the Interior Department and the agency charged with issuing new drilling leases, had scheduled three public hearings in Virginia this month to solicit public comment about new wells off of the state's coast.
The agency said on Thursday that these meetings are now suspended indefinitely, pending a government safety review of offshore drilling.
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BP’s Slick Greenwashing
The petroleum giant tried to sell itself as a green industry leader. That was just an oily tactic.
By James Ridgeway | Tue May. 4, 2010 5:30 AM PDT 
For the last decade, BP has been busily engaged in a multi-million-dollar greenwashing campaign. Changing its name from British Petroleum to BP, the company adopted a new slogan, "Beyond Petroleum," and began a "rebranding" effort to depict itself as a public-spirited, environmentally sensitive, green energy enterprise, the very model of 21st century corporate responsibility.
It’s going to take more than a name change and a clever ad campaign to erase the image of oil spreading across the Gulf Coast [1] from BP’s offshore rig, and dead wildlife washing up onto beaches. Even as the company magnanimously agreed to cover the costs of cleaning up the mammoth spill, BP on Monday was still insisting that it wasn’t at fault [2]for the accident that caused it—instead blaming the offshore drilling contractor that operated the rig. So much for corporate accountability.
Koenigsegg CCXR built; 3 Trevitas and 1 Platinuss
2010-03-5 by Simona, Top Speed
2010 Koenigsegg CCXR Platinuss : $2.5 million
Koenigsegg also revealed a new special edition at the Geneva Motor Show. Limited to only one unit and built for a wealthy customer in Brazil, the CCXR Platinuss E100 (named after a Brazilian dealership) had to be customized so it could use bio-ethanol. [instead of the intended bio-diesel]
But despite the modifications the CCXR Platinuss E100 still develops 1018 hp. The customer also wanted a larger front splitter and the color has been custom painted.
2010 Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita : $2.5 million
When sunlight hits the car, it sparkles like millions of silvery white diamonds infused inside the visible carbon-fiber-weave bodywork.
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Short-term Canadian boost in global Natural Gas supplies
Natural Gas, not Oil, becoming more cheaply available in the US and Canada
Shale Drilling Moves North, Upending Canada Gas Forecasts
by Edward Welsch; Dow Jones Newswires; Tuesday, February 23, 2010
OTTAWA (Dow Jones), Feb. 23, 2010
An unconventional drilling technique that sparked a boom in U.S. gas production has made its way north.
Companies in Canada, the world's fourth-largest natural gas producer, are turning their attention to gas trapped in shale rock. In the U.S., the emergence of horizontal drilling and high-pressure liquid injections into these formations helped fuel the boom in gas supplies and subsequent bust in prices.
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What Arab Nations do when their oil is running out
Arab Nations Want a Piece of the Green Energy Pie, Too
Feb 17th 2010
Europe, North America and Asia have been the primary drivers of the green tech industry thus far, especially in the realm of wind and solar power. Meanwhile, Arab countries have maintained their dominance over oil and gas exports, controlling 45 percent of oil and roughly one quarter of all gas reserves globally. But now, either to claim their stake in a burgeoning industry or to prepare for life after [their] oil and gas [is gone], several Arab states are making aggressive moves to develop their own domestic renewable energy industry.
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reliance on fossil fuels could have “severe consequences”
feb. 11 2010
Bloomberg -- Climate change and U.S. reliance on fossil fuels could have "severe consequences," including potential surges in oil prices and risks to national security, the White House Council of Economic Advisers said today.
"Continued reliance on fossil fuels is leading to the buildup of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere and is changing our climate," the CEA said in its annual report to President Barack Obama. "Left unaddressed, these trends will have increasingly severe consequences over time."
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Mexican Oil still in decline
Mexican Oil: World's 3rd largest oil reserve
Bloomberg -- Petroleos Mexicanos, the state-owned oil company, may pump 2.3 million barrels of oil a day this year, Standard & Poor’s analyst Jose Coballasi said.
“This reflects a dose of reality that in general Pemex has had to lower its forecasts in previous years,” Coballasi said today at an event in Mexico City. S&P’s crude forecast would represent an 11.6 percent decline from 2009, according to Bloomberg calculations.
contact Obama! 