Well, they’ve done it, and ahead of schedule. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has determined it is appropriate that deepwater oil and gas drilling resume, provided that operators certify compliance with all existing rules and requirements, including those that recently went into effect, and demonstrate the availability of adequate blowout containment resources… “In light […]
(From our sister-blog, Ecolocalizer) …Wyoming has just become the first state in the nation to enact regulations which now force petroleum companies to disclose all of the toxic compounds that they have been utilizing in a dangerous drilling technique called “fracking“, or hydraulic fracturing. Fracking is now threatening to pollute the collective water supply of […]
(From DrillFail.com) Late Sunday, Incident Commander Thad Allen notified BP that seepage had been detected in the ocean floor near the well. It could be a leak from the sub-surface portion of the Deepwater Horizon/Macondo well, which would mean the cap – currently in a testing phase – would not be able to keep holding pressure. […]
BP concluded 48 hours of testing on the new cap over their busted well, and the results are good. The oil flow has stopped, pressure is stable, and there’s no evidence – so far – that the cap has blown a new leak in the underground well. “As we continue to see success in the […]
(From RGB’s sister blog, FailDrill.com) Despite the glowing headlines proclaiming “Gulf Oil Stops Flowing”, we’re not out of the woods yet. In a conference call this afternoon, retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen announced that pressure levels have NOT risen high enough in the recently-capped well. This could mean one of two things: The oil […]
After a day of waiting, the word came from the Gulf late Tuesday – BP will NOT be testing the new cap on the Deepwater Horizon well today. This comes as a major disappointment, and feeds fears that the well is in such bad shape that the capping process won’t work. “We decided that the […]
Fail update… Remember Bobby Jindal’s brilliant plan to bulldoze sand out into the Gufl? To form berms to keep the oil from getting ashore? Robert S. Young, an authority on shoreline geology at Western Carolina University. His take: The White House has announced that this project is now moving forward, despite serious concerns among coastal scientists, […]
Shortly after winning approval from the California State Senate, a controversial deal that would have allowed the first new offshore oil leases in California state waters in forty years, was rejected by the California State Assembly by a vote of 43-30.
The same state budget crisis that could shutter 220 of California’s state parks and beaches, may also open the door for the first new offshore oil leases in state waters in forty years.
During his first trip to the plateau continent, Obama has been greeted with much fanfare and love, but some are calling into question his motivation for visiting Ghana. Perhaps it is from eight years of the Bush Administration that have made us suspicious of our president’s oil motivations, but Ghana’s new offshore oil boom may give good cause for doubt.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved by a vote of 15 to 8 a piece of legislation that would open up huge areas of the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere for drilling of oil and natural gas. It also contains requirements for increases in renewable energy generation, and a number of other energy-related measures, but it seems a sad and regressive alternative to Waxman-Markey, which may reach a floor vote in the House by next week.
Is the U.S. Interior Department wrongly withholding information that will reveal whether taxpayers are being ripped off in a controversial oil and gas royalty program? Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) see to think so, according to a lawsuit they filed today. Interior claims that disclosure of bidding and contracting information about its Royalty-In-Kind (RIK) sales would reveal oil company trade secrets.
Wyoming Senator John Barrasso believes that fossil fuels like oil and coal are the future and should be used to power the American economy while the scientific studies clearly state otherwise. American policy makers should accelerate investments in renewable energy.
One of the overarching political themes coming from the mouths of oil industry representatives these days is that the industry has generally done a bad job of engaging, educating and communicating with the public.
OPEC seems concerned about loosing customers as developed nations pledge to invest billions in renewable energy projects.