http://bernews.com/2011/10/bermuda-oil-rig-cited-in-reef-disaster/

Bernews

October 25, 2011 ·

Recent undersea pictures and video have shown that conditions in Indonesia’s Timor Sea have deteriorated at an alarming rate, largely caused by a catastrophic 2009 oil spill which occurred following an accident on an oil rig owned by a Bermuda company.

Australian and Indonesian experts claimed this week that around 158,000 acre of coral reefs in the Sawu Sea had been destroyed by both the oil spill and chemical substances used to submerge the oil. In addition, coastal people in East Nusa Tenggara have reported suffering from “strange diseases.”

On August 21, 2009, an oil field off the northern coast of Western Australia and in Indonesia’s Timor Sea experienced a blowout at a wellhead platform, causing a large oil and gas leak which is considered one of Australia’s worst oil disasters. The rig, owned by the Norwegian-Bermudian Seadrill and operated by PTTEP Australasia [PTTEPAA], continued to leak for 74 days until it was capped on November 3, 2009.

According to the Australian Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, the Montara oil spill was leaking as much as 2,000 barrels a day. Reports indicate over 10.5 million gallons of crude oil was spilled into Australian waters, which reached Indonesia’s seas through natural currents.

Over 43,500 square miles of sea in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province were eventually polluted. The Australian government later informed that an inquiry revealed that PTTEPAA’s failure to carry out standard operating procedures caused the oil spill.

PTTEPAA previously stated that the oil spills in Timor Sea were small and do not affect the local people environmentally, socially and economically. However, Australian and Indonesian environmental activists insist the damage is self-evident, calling for a thorough study that would also show the cost of he damage from the spill.

Last September, Indonesian Environment Minister Mohammad Gusti Hatta urged the Government of Australia to sign a compensation payment agreement related to the oil spill, which has already been postponed on two occasions.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://www.chron.com/business/article/BP-gets-OK-to-drill-new-deep-water-well-2238092.php

By JENNIFER A. DLOUHY, WASHINGTON BUREAU
Published 06:45 p.m., Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., right, accompanied by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011, to discuss the BP oil spill. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg) Photo: Harry Hamburg / FR170004 AP

Rep. Ed Markeyfears a lack of deterrence for drillers.

WASHINGTON – The federal government on Wednesday gave BP approval to launch its first deep-water drilling since the lethal blowout of its Macondo well a year and a half ago.

Under the permit issued by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the British oil giant immediately can begin drilling at its Kaskida field about 192 miles off the Louisiana coast.

Although BP has partnered with other firms on offshore work since the Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 people and triggered the nation’s worst oil spill, this is the first time it is being allowed back in the water as the lead operator of an offshore drilling project.

The permit is a milestone for BP and the entire offshore drilling industry, which is still recovering from last year’s spill and a subsequent moratorium on some deep-water exploration, said Sean Shafer, a senior market analyst with Sugar Land-based Quest Offshore Resources.

“If the Gulf is going to get back to where it is before Š it’d be hard to do it without BP being a part of that,” Shafer said, noting that BP is the largest producer in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP plans to drill the newly approved well in 6,034 feet of water – about 1,000 feet deeper than its doomed Macondo project. Drilling could begin within days using Seadrill’s three-year-old West Sirius semi-submersible rig.

As part of its permit approval, BP vowed to abide by new safety and environmental mandates imposed since last year’s spill, as well as a suite of voluntary performance standards. Those safeguards go beyond federal requirements and include backup emergency equipment and engineer-witnessed testing of cement used in wells.

For instance, BP will use a second set of pipe-cutting shear rams on the blowout preventer that will be used at the new well, doubling opportunities for the device to successfully slash through drill pipe and trap flowing gas and oil underground in case of an emergency. Cameron International, the same Houston-based company that manufactured the blowout preventer used at the Macondo well, built the one installed on the West Sirius rig.

“BP has met all of the enhanced safety requirements that we have implemented and applied consistently over the past year,” said the safety bureau director, Michael Bromwich, in a statement. “In addition, BP has adhered to voluntary standards that go beyond the agency’s regulatory requirements.”

‘Safely drilling’

BP cheered the permit as a “another milestone in our steady return to safely drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.”

But some Democratic lawmakers and environmentalists dismissed BP’s plans as too much too soon. The top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee that oversees offshore drilling, Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, suggested BP should be barred from drilling until it has paid oil spill penalties under the Clean Water Act and federal regulations.

“The fact that BP is getting a permit to drill without yet paying a single cent in fines is a disappointment, and does not serve as an effective lesson of deterrence for oil and gas companies,” Markey said.

David Pettit, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said there are still too many questions about the design of blowout preventers that BP and other companies are using.

An examination of the BOP unearthed from the Deepwater Horizon wreckage found that the powerful blind shear rams on the device were unable to completely slash through slightly off-center drill pipe, seal the well hole and trap oil and gas.
$100 billion gamble?

“With blowout preventers, you can have all the shear rams you want, but if that system is capable of being defeated – if the drill pipe doubles over – we’re right back where we were in April 2010,” Pettit said. “Each of these new permits, you could look at as a $100 billion gamble Š that everything is going to work out fine.”

In approving BP’s drilling, regulators also signed off on changes to the company’s plan for responding to any oil spills.

BP estimated in case of an emergency, it would take 184 days to drill a relief well at the site. In the meantime, BP said it could swiftly intervene with a containment system designed to rein in runaway underwater wells. BP has contracted with the Marine Well Containment Company for the equipment.

It was not clear what other contractors would be involved in the project, including which company would be cementing the well. A presidential commission that investigated the spill and a separate federal inquiry into the Deepwater Horizon disaster faulted BP and its contractors for not sharing concerns about risks at the Macondo well.

The Kaskida project is one of BP’s biggest finds ever in U.S. waters; the company estimates that it could hold as much as 3 billion barrels of oil.

Federal regulators have been vetting BP’s application to drill the Kaskida well since January. The permit approval comes less than a week after the Interior Department approved the company’s broad offshore exploration plan for Kaskida, which allows drilling of up to seven wells at the site.

Each well must be permitted individually.

jennifer.dlouhy@chron.com

Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/26/eve-samples-rooneys-offshore-drilling-proposal/

By Eve Samples
Posted October 26, 2011 at 7:05 p.m.

It’s one of Martin County’s greatest political strengths.

When it comes to matters of the environment, Republicans, Democrats and shades in between are known to raise a unified voice.

We hear their chorus rise whenever toxic algae blooms on the St. Lucie River.
And we’re hearing it again as U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney pushes a bill that supports offshore oil and natural gas exploration in Florida’s waters.

Last week, the Republican from Tequesta unveiled a jobs proposal that would broaden the area where the state has authority over drilling (from 3 miles offshore on the east coast of Florida to 12 miles) and dangle a carrot before state lawmakers by promising Florida a percentage of the revenue from drilling leases.

Rooney’s plan also mandates more leases for oil and natural gas drilling in the federally controlled outer continental shelf.

Though passage of the bill is a long shot in this divided Congress, Rooney’s proposal sends a message that he supports drilling off Florida’s coast – despite a two-decade-old state ban on the practice.

That is not sitting will with elected officials including Charles Falcone, a town commissioner for Jupiter Island.

“I just think that Florida best serves its residents, its millions of residents, with a ban on offshore drilling,” Falcone, a registered Independent, told me.

“I’m just very disappointed with Congressman Rooney on this point,” he added.
It should be noted that, even if he could get his jobs bill passed, Rooney doesn’t have the power to lift Florida’s ban on drilling.

That’s something that the state Legislature would have to do – something it almost did in 2009 when the House voted to lift the ban. The Senate never followed suit, but legislative leaders have suggested they would be open to considering it in the future. Gov. Rick Scott has consistently supported the idea.

Rooney’s proposal would give the state financial incentive to lift the ban.

That’s a slap in the face to the elected commissions of Martin County, Jupiter Island, Sewall’s Point and Stuart – all of which have passed resolutions opposing offshore oil and natural gas drilling.

Sewall’s Point Mayor Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch doesn’t understand why Rooney wouldn’t take those local opinions into account.

“Do we pass these resolutions just for fun and then forget about them?” Thurlow-Lippisch, also an Independent, asked.

For his part, Rooney points to a need to reduce the high cost of fuel – even though it’s questionable whether drilling in Florida’s waters would actually reduce gas prices at the pump.

In a statement his spokesman emailed me Wednesday, Rooney said: “I share my constituents’ concern for Florida’s environment, and I want to make sure that energy is produced in Florida or off our shores as safely as possible. I’m also adamant that Florida receive its share of revenue from drilling.”

We heard similar pledges about safety before last year’s BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
George Jones, head of the Indian Riverkeeper, a nonprofit advocacy group, also opposes Rooney’s plan. He doesn’t think it will do much to create jobs in Florida.

“It’s just a bad proposal all the way around for a state whose economy depends on clean air and clean water,” said Jones, who is a Republican.

Jones and Thurlow-Lippisch also were disappointed when Rooney tried to kill new water-quality regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency. They would rather see Rooney embrace Everglades restoration as an economic engine.

A study commissioned by the nonprofit Everglades Foundation projects that every $1 spent on Everglades restoration generates a $4 return. It also says executing the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan would create 442,000 jobs over 50 years – in fishing, tourism, construction and other industries.

“I happen to think that there’s ways that we should be fiscally responsible,” Jones said. “But we don’t need to do it on the backs of all the folks who need clean air and clean water.”

Eve Samples is a columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. This column reflects her opinion. For more on Martin County topics, follow her blog at TCPalm.com/samples. Contact her at 772-221-4217 or eve.samples@scripps.com.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://channel6newsonline.com/2011/10/environment-group-says-indonesias-timo-sea-largely-destroyed-due-to-2009-montara-oil-spill/

Big surprise–corexit kills marinelife. When will it be banned everywhere? DV

20 OCTOBER 2011 BY: BNO NEWS

KUPANG, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) — Recent undersea pictures and video have shown that conditions in Indonesia’s Timor Sea have deteriorated at an alarming rate, largely caused by the 2009 Montara oil spill, the Care West Timor Foundation (YPTB) said.

Most of the damage is believed to have been caused by the chemical Corexit 9500 or dispersant sprayed in the region by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) in its effort to submerge the oil spill to the seabed in the Timor Sea.

YPTB chief Ferdi Tanoni told the Antara news agency that concerning damage is seen in the footage as coral reefs where fish grow have been destroyed. The undersea pictures and videos were made by experts from Australia and the Surabaya Institute of Technology (ITS) earlier this month.

Tanoni said around 64,000 hectares (158,000 acre) of coral reefs in the Sawu Sea had been destroyed by both the oil spill and chemical substances used to submerge the oil. In addition, coastal people in East Nusa Tenggara have reported suffering from ‘strange diseases.’

On August 21, 2009, an oil field off the northern coast of Western Australia and in Indonesia’s Timor Sea experienced a blowout at a wellhead platform, causing a large oil and gas leak which is considered one of Australia’s worst oil disasters. The rig, owned by the Norwegian-Bermudan Seadrill and operated by PTTEP Australasia (PTTEPAA), continued to leak for 74 days until it was capped on November 3, 2009.

According to the Australian Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, the Montara oil spill was leaking as much as 2,000 barrels a day. Reports indicate a total of 40 million liters (over 10.5 million gallons) of crude oil was spilled into Australian waters, which reached Indonesia’s seas through natural currents.

Over 70,000 square kilometers (43,500 square miles) of sea in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province were eventually polluted. The Australian government later informed that an inquiry revealed that PTTEPAA’s failure to carry out standard operating procedures caused the oil spill.

Tanoni explained that the undersea images are important material for a study on the socio-economic, health and environmental impact of the incident so far. The YPTB chief also emphasized that there was no reason for PTTEPAA, the federal government of Australia and the Northern Australia government to not conduct a thorough, comprehensive, credible and independent scientific study on the impact of the incident on local people.

“We need an appropriate, overall, transparent, credible and independent scientific study financed by PTTEP Australasia and the government of Australia as a form of their responsibility for the incident that has caused the people of West Timor in East Nusa Tenggara fall victim,” Tanoni said as quoted by the media outlet.

According to Tanoni, PTTEPAA previously stated that the oil spills in Timor Sea were small and do not affect the local people environmentally, socially and economically. However, he insisted the damage was evident, calling for a thorough study that would also show the cost of he damage from the spill.

Last September, Indonesian Environment Minister Mohammad Gusti Hatta urged the Government of Australia to sign a compensation payment agreement related to the oil spill, which has already been postponed on two occasions.

Mohammad said Australia had rejected the compensation payment agreement because the figures were too high, while Indonesian officials argued the numbers were based on the direct losses suffered by local fishermen, the general economic losses, as well as the indirect losses from the damage done to coral reefs, mangroves and coastal ecosystems.

PTTEPAA has said it would makeup Indonesia’s losses through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program and, according to reports, through non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Mohammad underlined the big difference between CSR programs and recovering damages, describing PTTEPAA’s proposal as unacceptable.

http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/76764/timor-seabed-destroyed-after-montara-incident-yptb

Thu, October 20 2011 16:45

Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) – Conditions of the seabed in the Timor Sea have become concerning following the Montara incident, according to photo and video recordings made by Care West Timor Foundation (YPTB).

The coral reefs where fish grow were destroyed strongly believed to be caused by chemicals Corexit 9500 or dispersant sprayed by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to submerge an oil spill to the seabed in the Timor Sea, according to the pictures and videos shown to reporters here on Thursday.

YPTB chief Ferdi Tanoni said the undersea pictures and videos were made by experts from the Surabaya Institute of Technology (ITS) and from Australia on October 10-12, 2011 who are YPTB`s partners.

The destruction occurred because of crude oil spills from an explosion of Montara well in the West Atlas Block in the Timor Sea on August 21, 2009.

“The undersea photographs are material for a study on the socio-economic, health and environmental impact of the incident so far covered by the polluting company PTTEP Australasia,” Tanoni said.

He said there was no more reason for PTTEP Australasia, the federal government of Australia and the Northern Australia government to not conduct a thorough, comprehensive, credible and independent scientific study on the socio-economic, health and environmental impact of the incident on the local people.

“We need an appropriate, overall, transparent, credible and independent scientific study financed by PTTEP Australasia and the government of Australia as a form of their responsibility for the incident that has caused the people of West Timor in East Nusa Tenggara fall victim,” he said.

“Based on the results of the study the cost of the damage and others would then be known,” he said.

He said the demand had been conveyed to the Australian prime minister and PTTEP Australasia in September 2010 with its copy also sent to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

“We demand the study in response to PTTEP Australasia`s statement that the oil spills in Timor Sea is small and does not affect the local people environmentally, socially and economically,” he said.
He said the destruction of 64,000 hectares of coral reefs in Sawu Sea and several other strange diseases now attacking the coastal people in East Nusa Tenggara were believed to be the results of the Montara oil spills and chemical substances used to submerge the oil spills to the seabed.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://rotor.com/Publications/RotorNewssupregsup/tabid/177/newsid1237/74049/mid/1237/Default.aspx

I would be SOOOO happy to see the oil companies pay their fair share by closing tax loopholes! DV

Cuban Drilling Plans & the Repeal of Oil Subsidies
Offshore drilling in Cuban waters, within 70 miles of the Florida Keys-which could begin later this year by Spanish company Repsol-took center stage this week at a U. S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.

Lawmakers grilled key U.S. Coast Guard and other Obama administration officials over their authority and ability to respond to a foreign source oil spill. It was revealed during hearings that, due to the 49-year old embargo against Cuba, the Coast Guard would have to seek approval from the State Department before responding to any oil spill caused by Cuban drilling.

The congressional ‘supercommittee’ tasked with cutting the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years, received correspondence this week from 14 Democratic and independent senators calling for the repeal of $21 billion worth of tax breaks for the five biggest oil and gas companies. The lawmakers told the co-chairs of the ‘supercommittee’ that “unlike working families struggling to make ends meet, BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips have money to burn.” The group says that ending the tax breaks for the big five oil companies would bring in approximately $21 billion over 10 years to the federal government. A similiar letter was sent last week by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the ranking members of all House committees.

The Democrats on the 12 member ‘supercommittee’ generally support the repeal of the oil and gas subsidies, while Republicans strongly oppose the repeal of the tax breaks.

Posted on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 (Archive on Monday, January 01, 0001)
Posted by NStaff Contributed by

Special thanks to Richard Charter