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58 Comments
- badqat, on 11/01/2009, -2/+38Ten weeks is a little excessive. I cannot imagine the environmental havoc this well is reaking.
I remember back in the 1970s, there were these tar balls, oh, golf to baseball sized, floating around in the Mediterranean. Nasty. - blitzkriegpunk, on 11/01/2009, -2/+21Were they gzipped as well?
- ScottMcIntyre, on 11/01/2009, -2/+17QFA: "In the absence of action... the prime minister must step in and convene a national environmental emergency task force within the next 24 hours." The oil spill has already caused severe damage to the ocean and coastal eco-systems of the area. Decisive action is needed to limit further damage.
- SquireCD, on 11/01/2009, -1/+13I live in Australia. And, because this thing isn't close to the shore, no one seems to be that worried about this thing. I bet 1 million internets that if it was close to shore, this would be undeniably a huge story and people would be outraged. I mean, 10 weeks?
Good. Let it burn down. - rightmindx, on 11/01/2009, -1/+12"An opposition spokesman, Greg Hunt, accused Environment Minister Peter Garrett of doing nothing to stop the oil leak.
'Ten weeks of complacency, 10 weeks of drift, 10 weeks of inaction from Mr Garrett,' he said."
How does Peter Garrett sleep while his rig is burning? - b0wl0fud0n, on 11/02/2009, -1/+11Plugging an underwater oil well can be extremely challenging depending on the conditions. Oil as we all know is buried underground and has the pressure of all the weight of the material above it (to an extent). A similar though more extreme analogy is to try imagining plugging a volcano. I'm not at all surprised that it's taken a "long" time to plug the well. Even land large oil wells which leaked and eventually lit on fire burned were considered lost causes until the last few decades when new techniques were developed - large amounts of explosives were used to starve oil fires from oxygen for a few brief seconds so that a team could run like hell in to cap the well (heat from the oil fire in the surrounding areas could reignite the oil).
- ScaryUK, on 11/01/2009, -1/+11Not as big as this they don't.
I saw this on the news last week and the satellite photos of the slick showed how enormous an area it covers - Krakerjax, on 11/01/2009, -1/+11Lets ban crime!
- drewoconnor, on 11/01/2009, -0/+9yeah this is getting some coverage obviously, but every week i hear 6 weeks, 7 weeks, 8...etc. wtf is going on? something seriously should have been done at all costs a long time ago. i've heard other reports that 400 barrels / day is an extremely modest estimate on the companies behalf as well. this is what we get when our environment minister was the lead singer of 'midnight OIL.'
- Nevasleep88, on 11/01/2009, -0/+8Scary stuff.
Reminds me of the Piper Alpha disaster, back in 1988 an oil rig in the North Sea exploded killing 167 men. - albyross, on 11/01/2009, -0/+8Should have been done 10 weeks ago.
- damang111, on 11/02/2009, -0/+7Here is a link to just a few weeks before it actually caught fire.
http:http://www.theage.com.au/national/fourth-try-to-st ...
second attempt stop the leak: http://australianetworknews.com/stories/200910/271 ...
the actual leak is 2.3 km under the seabed. - damang111, on 11/02/2009, -0/+6you didn't read the article did you?
it's not burning down. The oil is spewing from the ground and it caught on fire from the top. It's not going anywhere unless the leak is stopped 2.3 km under the seabed which they are having a problem with.
more info from before it actually caught fire;
http://www.theage.com.au/national/fourth-try-to-st ... - JohnnySoftware, on 11/02/2009, -1/+6That is a tragic offshore drilling disaster.
On a related note when certain people in US were shouting about how vital it was that we sell offshore oil drilling rights pronto so we could "use the oil we have right here", things went somewhat awry in the execution of that plan.
Although you did not see the outcome touted much in the news, here is what happened.
1. The rights were put onto the market at a time when oil was selling at a relatively very low price.
2. The rights were sold very cheap. American oil companies mostly all ignored the auction.
3. The oil rights were sold to a foreign oil company. They bought the rights very, very cheap.
So, if there is a serious oil leak in the ocean off the US coastline they really will not have to worry because it is not their beach. How fast and how well it gets fixed will come down to strictly what is the cheapest way to do it. Not how bad the environmental impact is.
Remember these things the next time your brain is being pwned by someone else to parrot their highly profitable PR spin. Afterward, remember to check out the outcome and follow the money too. - BESTenemy, on 11/02/2009, -0/+5To put things into perspective, in 2004 the US army used 400 000 barrels a day fighting in Iraq. At such rate, the shortage of 400 barrels would cost them 1.4 minutes of daily operational time.
It's a drop in the bucket, but any excuse is good enough for jacking up prices. - detcade, on 11/01/2009, -2/+6We should just ban bad things from happening, really
- borez, on 11/01/2009, -0/+4Where's Red Adair when we need him.
- JohnnySoftware, on 11/02/2009, -0/+4Why can't we get that offshore thing in the US?
Isn't that what everyone was asking for last year?
Oh, wait. It has been leaking oil and natural gas for months AND has just caught fire?
In other news, housewives learn to cook fish-free dinners.
"Ah, mom. Fried breadcrumbs for dinner again?" - ryanonfire, on 11/01/2009, -0/+3Yeah I saw it in the news paper only two times then the media was just like meh...
- inactive, on 11/02/2009, -1/+4This is why "Drill, Baby, Drill," should die just like Sarah Palin's political career.
- audiophile214, on 11/01/2009, -4/+7While we're at it let's just make fire illegal too.
- KevinRowz, on 11/01/2009, -1/+3The last thing Australia needs right now is more fire trouble. Hope this is put out soon.
- theonlywizdum, on 11/01/2009, -3/+5And watch gas prices rise....
Seriously, they just make the numbers up, you know it's going to happen. - albyross, on 11/01/2009, -2/+4Are we sure the fire is not an attempt by the oil company to make a bogus insurance claim to cut their losses?
- battmann, on 11/02/2009, -0/+2Surprised they don't have the tools necessary to solve problems like this. Going to have to use under water demolitions to plug the hole. Between this and last weeks shipwreck off Madagascar coast, imagine the things they don't tell us in the news? Wonder how long the oceans really have before they too are destroyed.
- jonnyboy1544, on 11/02/2009, -0/+2Actually in the US, the offshore drilling record is remarkable. Two hurricanes blew through the Gulf of Mexico destroying 40 rigs and hardly a drop of oil was spilled. The only thing of note was a natural gas leak that was contained quickly but natural gas leaks aren't really anything harmful in the middle of the Gulf.
The American companies deserve credit there. Just remember, the Valdez happened because of a drunk captain, not a drilling rig.
And yes, Palin's career needs to die. - jonnyboy1544, on 11/02/2009, -0/+2What are you talking about? The MMS 5 year plan hasn't even made it past the 2nd comment period if you're talking about OCS development and Alaska's lease sales were bought up by American and foreign oil companies. But even if they violated our environmental laws, any foreign company operating in US territory would be subject to our laws and regulations.
Leases only last for 5-10 years and they are sold by the amount companies bid on them. So yes it could be very cheap, but anything worth bidding on never is. The companies lay down millions of dollars just for a chance to find oil and natural gas there.
By the way... the public comment period at the MMS came out with 350,000 in favor of offshore drilling and 150,000 against. It's a very popular plan. - celotil, on 11/02/2009, -0/+1It's a common "joke" amongst the Australian working class that if you want something done right, ask a tradesman, but if you want it ***** up, ask an engineer.
Having worked with a large number of tradesmen and a large number of people who have the word engineer in their job description, I'd have to say that generally the joke holds true. - TdotFUNK, on 11/02/2009, -0/+1We don't need no water let it burn to the ground!
- rizzo2008, on 11/01/2009, -1/+2Plus all the oil being wasted by letting what is essentially a mildly less severe blowout continue
- RIPtechtv, on 11/02/2009, -2/+3They just want to keep it going as a nice excuse to keep oil prices going up.
- tsotha, on 11/02/2009, -0/+1It isn't very big for an oil spill. The Exxon Valdez spilled 10.8 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound. At 400 barrels a day this rig will take nearly two years to spill the same amount.
- stonebear, on 11/02/2009, -2/+3Sign of the times.
- Bigblah, on 11/02/2009, -0/+1Who do you propose? Superman?
- theonlywizdum, on 11/01/2009, -1/+2Duct tape would probably work.
- jonnyboy1544, on 11/02/2009, -0/+1I'm sure the futures market will be swayed by one rig that's on fire.
- kasket, on 11/02/2009, -0/+1...Easy button?
- StripeyMagee, on 11/02/2009, -0/+1Yeah we need some wells right off Tampa Bay and Boca Grande pass, woo-woo!
- tsotha, on 11/02/2009, -0/+1As opposed to, you know, environmental activists, who I'm sure will be loads of help in capping that well.
- jonnyboy1544, on 11/02/2009, -1/+2You're not clever.
- Laminarcissus, on 11/02/2009, -3/+3In a related story, the Tehachapi Wind Farm exploded killing 300, and the Nellis Solar Power Plant began randomly melting large buildings in Southern Nevada.
- FairDinkumMate, on 11/02/2009, -1/+1The salnt on Midnight Oil is so far out of line that I can only assume you're too young to have heard the band.
If you want to complain about something, complain that Australia even has an interest in oil that by every world recognised rule should belong to East Timor. The first week that this well broke, engineers advised that it would take months to repair, hence the reason that this is a BBC article & not from an Australian or East Timorese source. - albyross, on 11/01/2009, -1/+1I bet Macgyver could find a way to put out the fire AND clean up the mess using common household items!
- angryredplanet, on 11/02/2009, -1/+1The leak is not yet plugged. With the addition of fire on the rig, it will take a lot longer to stop.
- JohnnySoftware, on 11/02/2009, -2/+2Wreaking, you mean? Or did you mean reeking?
- angryredplanet, on 11/02/2009, -1/+1That's true. Safety always comes first.
The West Atlas rig now has the West Triton rig 2kms away, providing a base for engineers to attempt to extinguish/contain the fire and seal the ruptured well with mud (25cm diameter rupture 2kms into the well). PTTEP Australasia must believe there's a good chance the situation is salvageable to go and mobilise supporting plant. Personally, I don't think they're going anywhere soon. - FairDinkumMate, on 11/02/2009, -1/+1The worst thing about the whole mess is that it's NOT close to Australia. It's VERY close to East Timor, which is exactly why the oil & gas being extracted(normally, but right now burning) should be theirs, not ours!
- theonlywizdum, on 11/01/2009, -1/+1Keynesian economics at work!
- b0wl0fud0n, on 11/02/2009, -1/+1In most cases, rigs are abandoned when there is a significant leak due to the fire risks and wouldn't of been that helpful in the capping process.
- angryredplanet, on 11/02/2009, -1/+1The estimate was between 400 and 2000 barrels a day. Nobody is really sure but Government is happy to allow the industry's somewhat conservative estimate as accurate - probably because we all hate oil spills and the political fallout will be massive.
http://www.amcs.org.au/WhatWeDo.asp?active_page_id ... -
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