Cross-posted here at DailyKos, where’s there’s some good discussion and interesting comments by oil-industry types. Also cross-posted here at Phillybits and here at PhillyFuture.
Update [2005-8-31 18:38:42 by Stand Strong]: – Just heard on CNN gas prices in places as high as $6.00/gal.
Hat tip to a Brendan @ Operation Yellow Elephant for forwarding me the email with this site linked in. This site details the devastation upon the oil wells and rigs in the Gulf area.
This is from an oil industry insider I consider quite credible. She was definitely right about everything in her last post. If she’s right about this one, we may finally start to get a true picture of what’s going on.
Update [2005-8-31 18:45:27 by Stand Strong]: – Gonna pull this one out of comments and hat-tip to Marcus Junius Brutus for the tip and link.
20 oil rigs missing in Gulf of Mexico: US Coast Guard
WASHINGTON (AFP) – At least 20 oil rigs and platforms are missing in the Gulf of Mexico and a ruptured gas pipeline is on fire after Hurricane Katrina tore through the region, a US Coast Guard official said.
“We have confirmed at least 20 rigs or platforms missing, either sunk or adrift, and one confirmed fire where a rig was,” Petty Officer Robert Reed of the Louisiana Coast Guard told AFP.
Onto the diary…
Newest (and very informative and very scary) report from an anonymous insider
There are MANY production platforms missing (as in not visible from the air). This means they have been totally lost. I am talking about 10’s of platforms, not single digit numbers. Each platform can have from 4 to 100+ wells on it. Most larger ones have 20-30 wells in this area, with numerous caisson wells. They are on their sides, on the bottom of the gulf – they will likely be left as reef material, provided we can get permission. MMS regulations require us to plug each of the wells that were on these platforms – HUGE cost now, as the platforms are gone… Hopefully, MMS will grant `abandon in place’ status for these wiped out structures.
Sounds like an ecological disaster to me.
In short, the Gulf area hit by the storm is basically in about the same shape as Biloxi. The damage numbers you have gotten from the government and analysts are, in my opinion, much too low. We are looking at YEARS to return to the production levels we had prior to the storm. The eastern Gulf of Mexico is primarily oil production…
There’s more to the article but I think what this basically says is that oil production in the Gulf is going to be affected in a much larger way than is being reported, and also for a much longer time.
OMG…this is so dangerous!!!!!!!!!!in more ways than one. Can you imagine the implacations here??????!!!!!
AP/Peter Cosgrove
This is from SFGate.com Business Section…8/31/05
Oil rig along shore in Alabama
OK, color me dense, but if I can go to Google and get a satellite image of my house so detailed that I can count the shingles on my roof and see the dog in the yard…how the hell can these things be missing? They’re either there or they’re not, black and white. Do they really expect us to believe they don’t know?
FUCK
I am so tired of the bullshit coming out of these asshat’s orifices I could scream.
Gee “w”…think I could have a month off?…Huh? I’m trying reaaallly hard to be cool here.
Peace
Satellites can’t see through clouds.
You are mistaken. Satellite imagery is not totally based on visual imagery. Information is gathered across a wide spectrum of bandwidths, most not requiring visual acuity. Additionally, GPS positioning does not rely on any visual information. My point is that if I can locate myself visually, as well as electronically by using the internet and readily available, and I might add affordable, devices, then these people know where these rigs are.
If you believe that these multi-million dollar platforms do not include up to date, sophisticated electronics you are unfortunately misinformed. They’re either on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico or they’re floating around somewhere and subsequently, useless from an energy production standpoint. The people that own and operate them, as well as their cohorts in the govt. know exactly where they are. Either way, they are off-line and will remain so for a considerable amount of time.
The bottom line is that this storm has crippled the domestic energy supply chain and they’re covering their, and the administration’s, asses to minimize the early damage…spin, spin, spin. All attention is on the rescue and survival considerations for the survivors of the storm, as it should be. But be assured, there are going to be significant hardships in the immediate future for everyone who uses energy. The system was already pressured and it will not be able to absorb the impact without significant pain and economic ramifications.
And for your amusement, here’s the current NOAA satellite imagery for the US.
Peace
Think about the Exxon-Valdez disaster…
NOW MULTIPLY IT BY A NEAR ENDLESS SUPPLY OF OIL GUSHING INTO THE WATER…
This may end up being the worst eco-disaster in history?
(Forgive me if I don’t seem to care too much about the loss of “oil supply”…)
OMG!
I’m not an expert in oilfield geology by any means, so if someone is please step in to correct me if I’m wrong. Given that disclaimer, my understanding is that as wells are tapped they lose pressure over time, like a shaken bottle of soda. Eventually the pressure drops enough that you have to pump out the oil, as its own internal pressure has been spent. The wells in the Gulf are, I expect, in the latter category. A (relatively) small amount of oil may seep out from breaks, but not a “gusher” at each location. Thank goodness for small favors!
I’m no expert either, but I think you’re right. Also, I think there are various seal-off mechanisms, as much to try to minimize damage to the well as to prevent leakage.
This probably is a huge environmental disaster, from the contents of busted storage tanks (&etc) of various kinds being spread by the flood waters over the region, and much of it draining into the Gulf. But I don’t think the oil wells are going to be a major factor.
Somebody I was talking to mentioned something about this that I did not know…
Apparently they actually shut off the flow of oil on the oceans floor with valves on the bottom controlled from the rigs before they abandon the oil rigs.
So the risk of spillage would be limited to what may have been left in the oil rigs and the pipes that lead up to them.
WHO KNEW? Not me… Being that I am not a republican (or a Dem for that matter, lol) I can easily admit when I am wrong.
I’ve heard a little piece of good news on this front. Since the storm didn’t directly hit NO, the refineries and chemical plants there were only subjected to the slower rise in water from the breaking levee. This resulted in less strain on them and – at least according to the report I heard – they remained structurally intact. So no massive chemical leaks in NO, although sewage and gasoline in the water are bad enough.
Not sure how many petrochemical/chemical plants were in southern Mississippi, though. Major facilities somewhat farther west, like Lake Charles, LA, seem to have avoided major damage, so far as I’ve heard.
The American Chemical Society reported today on specific damage to a number of chemical plants in the gulf area. Most seem to have flooding but not major spills, and are shut down due to power, transportation, and staffing problems. A number of plants have declared “force majeur,” which I believe means they are letting their customers know that, due to an “Act of God,” they won’t be able to meet their contracts for deliveries of chemicals from those plants. That could have some ripple effects through the economy.