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Thursday, September 2, 2010

Another rig explodes off La. coast; oil spreading

Another oil rig exploded and caught fire Thursday off the Louisiana coast, spreading a mile-long oil sheen in the Gulf of Mexico west of the site of BP's massive spill. All 13 crew members were rescued. Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Coklough said the sheen, about 100 feet wide, was spotted near the platform. Firefighting vessels were battling the flames.

The company that owns the rig, Houston-based Mariner Energy, did not know what caused the blast, which was reported by a helicopter flying over the area. Crew members were found floating in the water, huddled together in survival outfits called "gumby suits."

Read the rest at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

BP takes opportunity to tout 'benefits' of oil spill in company magazine

In any other company, it would be alarms ringing, panic and apology letters flying everywhere. Not at BP, though. In the latest outrage the company has caused following the development of a leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the company proudly published in its corporate magazine the so-called "Benefits" of the oil spill.

Among them, the company says, is that the area's tourist destinations (like hotels and restaurants) are now full thanks to the spill. What they forgot to say was that was just all the people coming to clean up their mess.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Oil spill costs for BP top $2 billion

BP, the company deemed responsible for the oil spill currently occurring in the Gulf of Mexico has recently reported that their costs associated with their (as yet unsuccessful) cleanup effort have totaled above two billion dollars.

BP shares fell 4 percent in trading on the London Stock Exchange in response to further woes.

Clearly it has been $2 billion that hasn't been very well spent. BP is still nowhere near a completed clean-up.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

BP and Pixar present Finding Nemo: The Sequel

There is an entire selection of parodies (yes, they are parodies...don't go looking for tickets) on the blog El Blog De Chibiboto. In a somewhat crudely translated fashion (thank you Google), we give you the artists insightful explaination:

As we watch the World Cup, our planet continues dying thanks to one of the largest ecological catastrophes in the world, because a terrible oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. And now that the new movie Toy Story 3 is coming, it occurred to me to put forth some ideas for a sequel to Finding Nemo. I hope that these ideas inspire the writers at Pixar.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Utah gets its own oil spill

Salt Lake City, and indeed all of Utah was clearly displeased that they were not part of the action involving the current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, so they decided to get in on it with their very own spill.

A leaking pipe, according to Deseret News, owned by Chevron has spilled 20 thousand gallons of oil into the Red Butte Creek just outside of Salt Lake City.

Personally, I find such attention seeking behavior pathetic.

Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire Mayor of New York City and the overlord of the highly praised (and highly profitable) financial data and news company Bloomberg L.P., thinks that people are being too harsh on BP, the oil company responsible for the huge oil spill that is currently polluting the Gulf of Mexico.

He is reported to say that the CEO of BP didn't 'exactly go down there and blow up the well'. Really? That's something I never considered; I could've sworn he personally made sure of it. Oh well, we can't be right all the time!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

"The gulf looks like it has chicken pox" - BP has 48 hours

The US Government has given BP a symbolic 48 hours to devise a plan that will reduce the amount of oil that is currently gushing into the Gulf.

BP, which stands for British Petroleum, has thus far struggled to contain the leakage, which is currently leaking at a staggering rate, dozens of thousands of barrels each day.

The Coast Guard reportedly contacted BP requesting more information on their plans to control the leak, to which there was no known reply.

"The Gulf looks like it has chicken pox", said an ariel photographer. "It's like waiting for someone to die of cancer", said a local resident, who, according to The Associated Press, walks along the beach every morning.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Oil spill parody - BP Spills Coffee

This is a video, produced by UCB Comedy and featured on Talking Points Memo that perfectly parodies the current BP oil spill situation by using a most clever metaphor - coffee.

It must be said that it is wonderful we are able to pull some humour out of what is naturally a very dire situation. Incase you missed it, it was recently announced that the estimates for the amount of oil that was leaking each day into the Gulf had been raised by around 100%, and that earlier estimates had been totally inaccurate.

Perhaps at this late stage it would be good to pull some scientists away from making technology to extract oil, and put them to work creating technology to clean it up.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

There's actually twice the amount of oil leaking into Gulf

Scientists have re-evaluated their earlier predictions of the amount of oil leaking into the Gulf, in one of the worst environmental disasters in recent times. A new government issued scientific report estimates that 25,000 to 30,000 barrels a day is being gushed into the sea.

An earlier estimate was dreadfully inaccurate, estimating only around 12,000 to 19,000 a day. [Via NYT]