http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904583204576546693429617386.html

Feds have been laying the groundwork for this for the past year. DV

September 2, 2011

By TENNILLE TRACY
U.S. oil-spill commission co-chief William K. Reilly is heading to Cuba next week to help evaluate that nation’s plans for developing its oil resources, trip organizers say.
Lawmakers have raised concerns about potential oil spills as Cuba begins offshore drilling, and oil-industry experts have pressed the Obama administration to grant exemptions to the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba in order to respond to spills.

The trip, which will involve a delegation of U.S. oil-drilling experts and environmentalists, coincides with Cuba’s effort to develop its offshore-oil resources as a way to wean itself off imports from Venezuela. U.S. officials believe Cuba’s waters could contain more than five billion barrels of undiscovered oil.

Cuba’s efforts to tap its offshore oil will get off the ground later this year, when a consortium led by Spanish company Repsol YPF S.A. is expected to begin drilling a well in more than 5,500 feet of water off the nation’s northern coast. If Repsol finds oil, it could touch off a quick-moving race to set up production in Cuban waters.

The delegation to Cuba, involving the International Association of Drilling Contractors and the Environmental Defense Fund, is on a fact-finding mission to determine the country’s long-term plans for pursuing its oil resources and identify steps to ensure safety and environmental protection. They’re scheduled to depart Monday.

The process of oil-drilling in thousands of feet of water is “inherently risky,” said Daniel Whittle, Cuba program director at the Environmental Defense Fund and a member of the delegation. “We believe it’s imperative that if and when Cuba drills, they get it right.”

Mr. Reilly, as co-head of President Barack Obama’s National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, helped to draft a report earlier this year that recommended U.S. officials work with Cuba and Mexico to develop shared standards for drilling in the Gulf. The oil-spill commission ceased operations in March after completing its work.

Cuba’s effort to promote drilling in its waters is presenting a thorny situation for U.S. lawmakers, regulators and companies.

Among the loudest critics of Cuba’s plans are Gulf Coast lawmakers who are raising questions about Cuba’s ability to respond to oil spills and the risks of crude oil washing on U.S. shores. Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican whose district faces the Gulf of Mexico, introduced a bill earlier this year to allow the Interior secretary to deny U.S. oil exploration and development leases to companies that do business with Cuba.

“The U.S. is not going to see a drop of that oil,” said Max Goodman, a spokesman for Rep. Buchanan. “And we have learned from Deepwater Horizon that an oil spill can devastate a regional economy and pose long-term damage to our natural resources.”

Repsol will be drilling in waters that are deeper than those in which the Deepwater Horizon rig operated at the time it exploded last year. Repsol will be using a Chinese-built drilling rig that only recently left Singapore for Cuban waters. The rig is expected to arrive in November or December.

The rig, known as Scarabeo 9, was built to conform with the U.S. embargo, and Repsol has said it would be following U.S. safety standards, Repsol representative Kristian Rix said.

“We are confident that we have the right personnel and materials to drill safely and successfully in the area,” Ms. Rix said.

If oil is discovered, Cuba has a chance of becoming less dependent on Venezuela for its energy needs. In 2009, the country produced roughly 50,000 barrels of oil a day from onshore and coastal wells, relying on imports to supply an additional 130,000 barrels to meet consumption levels, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Given the risks of an oil spill, oil and natural-gas experts are urging the Obama administration to grant exemptions under the embargo to allow U.S. companies and experts to respond to a disaster. U.S. companies, such as Helix Energy Solutions, have been particularly aggressive in developing oil-spill containment systems in the wake of the BP PLC spill.

Allowing U.S. companies and experts to respond to a Cuban spill would be in the U.S.’s best interest, given the proximity of the drilling to U.S. shores, said Jorge Pinon, former president of Amoco Oil Latin America and visiting research fellow at Florida International University.

“There is an experienced company doing the work [in Cuba],” Mr. Pinon said. “What we’re lacking is, in the case of an emergency, Repsol and the other operators will not be able to access the resources” in the U.S.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

Looks like we need to keep up the pressure on the agencies until we find out what the source of this oil may be….R

http://www.examiner.com/environmental-news-in-tallahassee/new-leak-near-deepwater-horizon-site-quickly-becoming-a-massive-oil-slick

Judson Parker, Tallahassee Environmental News Examiner
August 31, 2011

Over the past two weeks, I have been closely following reports of renewed leaking in the Macondo oil field, the site of last year’s Deepwater Horizon disaster (Map). First, New Orleans Lawyer Stuart Smith reported that nearly 40 ships were hired by BP to conduct a boom-laying mission over the August 13th weekend. Next, nonprofit organizations On Wings of Care and Gulf Restoration Network conducted a joint flyover of the spill site, bringing back photographic evidence of fresh oil near the site of the Macondo well. This in turn prompted reporters from the Mobile Press-Register to hire a boat out to the site, where they found massive “globules” of oil rising to the surface, creating a growing sheen on the water (you can read about that here).

Today, pilot Bonny Schumaker of On Wings of Care once again took to the air over the Gulf of Mexico, finding evidence of what appears to be a massive leak near the site of last year’s oil drilling disaster.

According to Schumaker, the oil “stretched for miles” with one continuous sheen stretching for nearly 10 miles. This contradicts BPs official story, which is that “none of this is true.”

It’s interesting then that Schumaker reports radio communication with a ship known as the Sarah Bordelon earlier this afternoon, who claimed they were gathering oil samples for BP (Marinetraffic.com confirms the location of the Sarah Bordelon within the vicinity of the Macondo).

“How can BP say it’s not there when they have a ship out there sampling it?” asked Shumaker.

Schumaker also reports calling the slick in to the National Response Center, though the U.S. Coast Guard has declined to comment for the time being.

The kind of surface sheen photographed in today’s flyover has not been seen since the height of last year’s oil spill, when nearly 210 million gallons of crude gushed into the Gulf of Mexico before the well was capped. Communities along the Gulf coast have still not fully recovered from the extensive damage to their coastal environment, which has also caused major losses in the fishing and tourism industries.

So just what is going on near BP’s damaged well?

According to BP spokesman Justin Saia, “neither BP nor the Coast Guard has seen any scientific evidence that oil is leaking from the Macondo well, which was permanently sealed almost a year ago.”

Perhaps Schumaker’s new photographic and video evidence will prompt a “scientific” inquiry into the source of the quickly growing oil slick located very near the former Deepwater Horizon site in the Gulf of Mexico.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/oyster-population-plummets-louisiana/story?id14404214

By CHRISTINA CARON (@cdcaron)
Aug. 29, 2011

Today, on the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana and
Mississippi are battling a sharp decline in the oyster population,
which may not recover until 2013 now that a two-year influx of fresh
water has killed off millions of the mollusks.

After the BP oil spill in 2010, water was diverted out of the
Mississippi River to keep the oil away from coastal wetlands. In the
process, freshwater flooded into oyster hatcheries, disrupting the
delicate saline balance required for oysters to survive. When saline
levels get too low, algae die, eliminating the oyster’s food supply.

And if it weren’t already enough that the Gulf Coast had been hammered
by the largest oil spill in U.S. history as well as record drought,
oyster farmers got hit again in May after rain and snowmelt had caused
the Mississippi River to rise higher than it had in 70 years.

The Army Corps of Engineers opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway, located
west of New Orleans, to divert rising Mississippi River floodwaters
from the city. Soon after, they also opened the Morganza spillway,
diverting water away from both Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and adding
even more fresh water to oyster grounds.

“This year we’ll produce about 50 percent of our traditional in-shell
oysters,” said Mike Voisin, CEO of Motivatit Seafoods, which typically
produces about 20 million pounds of in-shell oysters.

During a typical oyster season, which starts in September in Louisiana,
Voisin said the state produces a third of the nation’s oysters. But
this year, he estimates the number will decline from an average of 250
million pounds to about 125 million pounds.

Next year, he expects the number of oysters produced to decline even
further, to 87.5 million pounds, and the price of oysters to rise.

Oyster Population Declines in Louisiana, Mississippi

The 2010 water diversion was successful in preventing Louisiana’s
coastline from becoming contaminated, Voisin said.

“We have 7,500 miles of coastline around Louisiana and only had 400
miles that were oiled.”

But the impact that diversion had on the oysters will likely last until
2013, possibly longer.

Voisin, who also serves as chairman of the Gulf Seafood Marketing
Coalition, says oyster producers east of the Mississippi River are now
also investigating a mysterious substance growing on the shells oyster
larvae attach to (commonly referred to as “cultch”). He believes it’s
due to the lack of harvesting in the area after the BP oil spill.

An oyster mortality study conducted in August of 2010 and published
this year found an estimated 77 percent of the oysters in the Breton
Sound basin off the Louisiana coast died.

In Mississippi, the oyster population had huge losses, especially in
the western Mississippi Sound, which houses most of the commercial
reefs.

“From our preliminary assessment it’s pretty severe,” said Scott
Gordon, shellfish bureau director at the Mississippi Department of
Marine Resources. “There’s no denying the freshwater flooding did have
an impact on the oysters.”

Mississippi’s restoration efforts will eventually make an impact, he
said, but probably not for another 18 to 24 months, the time it takes
for oysters to grow. Currently water salinities are back to normal, and
the state will continue cultivating cultch plants, providing oyster
shells or limestone for the oyster larvae to attach, using $3 million
in restoration funding.

In Louisiana, however, water salinity continues to be a problem.

Alligator farmer Stephen Sagrera, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries
Commission chairman, said the oyster population has been “severely
hurt” by the extra freshwater, and the 7-member commission will take up
the issue Thursday when it sets dates for the upcoming oyster season.

“We just have to get the right salinity in the waters,” he said,
acknowledging, “That’s up to mother nature.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

Public News Service-FL

August 31, 2011

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The dispersants used in cleaning up the Gulf Deepwater Horizon oil disaster may have the same types of adverse effects on humans and wildlife as does the oil itself, according to a new report from Earthjustice, the environmental advocacy law firm.

One scientist who has reviewed the data is D.L. Valentine, a biochemist at the University of Southern California.

“Five chemicals were associated with cancer; 33 chemicals in dispersants were associated with skin irritation from rashes or burns; 33 chemicals are linked to eye irritation; 11 chemicals suspected or potential respiratory toxins or irritants; 11 chemicals in the dispersants are suspected kidney toxins.”

More data should be available about the effects of the dispersants used in the BP oil spill, the researchers say. BP responds that fallout from the chemicals used has been minimal.

Among the roadblocks to determining the total health effects of chemical dispersants has been the government itself, says biologist Doug Inkley at the National Wildlife Federation.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the scientific assessments that are currently under way, under the National Resources Damage Assessment, are being held confidential.”

Earthjustice says its findings call for more research, greater disclosure, comprehensive toxicity testing, and more careful selection of the least toxic dispersants when needed for an oil-spill response.

The report, “The Chaos Of Clean-Up,” reviews scientific research on each of 57 chemical ingredients in dispersants, acknowledging that the actual formulas for specific dispersants are not made public. Its findings are online at earthjustice.org.

Click here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/21903-1

Special thanks to Richard Charter

“En route to Singapore, the rig took on water, which forced repairs and an extensive inspection to assure its seaworthiness.” Nice beginning. DV

http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/08/26/cuba-oil-idINN1E77P03U20110826

Reuters

Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:39pm IST
* Rig expected to arrive in Cuban waters in November
* Repsol to drill first wells soon after rig arrival
* Cuba says may have 20 billion barrels of oil offshore
By Jeff Franks

HAVANA, Aug 26 (Reuters) – A new, Chinese-built drilling rig was expected to depart Singapore on Friday or later this weekend on its way to Cuba where it will be used to usher in a new era in offshore oil exploration for the communist-led island.

The Scarabeo 9, owned by Italian oil giant Eni SpA’s [ENI.MI) offshore unit Saipem [SPMI.MI] and contracted in Cuba by Spanish oil firm Repsol YPF [REP.MC], was anchored in Singapore and ready to leave on what an Eni spokesman said would be an 80-day voyage.

A Western diplomat in Havana said the rig would stop in South Africa and Brazil before reaching Cuba in November, with the expectation it will start drilling shortly after arrival.
Oil experts on the island say Cuba may have 20 billion barrels of oil in its still-untapped portion of the Gulf of Mexico, although the U.S. Geological Survey estimates reserves are a more modest 5 billion barrels.

Repsol drilled a well in Cuban waters in 2004 and found oil there, but for various reasons, including the longstanding U.S. trade embargo against the island, has not drilled again.
For Cuba, a big oil find will give its struggling economy a boost and reduce or eliminate its dependence on oil-rich leftist ally Venezuela, which ships 113,000 barrels a day to the island at reduced prices.

Opponents of the Cuban government fear that if significant oil reserves are discovered, it will only further entrench the communist system and its leaders.

Cuban President Raul Castro, 80, is in the midst of liberalizing the Soviet-style economy with the goal of assuring the survival of communism once he and his elderly leadership group are gone.

The Scarabeo 9, which has the latest technology and is capable of drilling in up to 12,000 feet (3,600 meters) of water, was built in Yantai CIMC Raffles Shipyards in Yantai, China, but after a number of delays was shipped to the Keppel FELS [KPLM.SI] shipyard in Singapore last fall for completion.

En route to Singapore, the rig took on water, which forced repairs and an extensive inspection to assure its seaworthiness.

Repsol, in a consortium with Norway’s Statoil [STL.OL] and a unit of India’s ONGC [ONGC.BO], is expected to drill one or two wells before passing the rig to Malaysia’s state-owned oil company Petronas and then on the ONGC unit, ONGC Videsh, both of which have leased their own exploration blocks in Cuba’s offshore.

Venezuela’s PDVSA has said it plans to drill in Cuban waters within a year, while China’s national oil company is considering whether to lease offshore blocks as well, a Cuban oil official recently told Reuters.

Cuban waters border the U.S. part of the Gulf of Mexico and that of Mexico, but U.S. oil companies are forbidden from working in Cuba due to the U.S. embargo put in place five decades ago with the aim of toppling Cuba’s communist government.

(Additional reporting by Stephen Jewkes in Milan and Marc Frank in Havana; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Special thanks to Richard Charter