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Oil platform explodes in Gulf of Mexico

admin /3 September, 2010

Oil platform explodes in Gulf of Mexico

September 3, 2010 – 9:48amOil rig explodes in Gulf

An offshore oil rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico near the site of the April blast that caused the massive oil spill.

An oil platform explosion on Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico forced the crew to jump into the sea and threatened further damage to waters still recovering from the BP disaster.

It was the second such disaster in the Gulf, but this time there was no leak and no one was killed.

Fire engulfed the offshore platform 160 kilometres south of the Louisiana coast shortly after 9.00am (2400 AEST) and massive plumes of grey smoke billowed into the sky as rescuers rushed to fish out the workers.

Boats are seen spraying water on an oil and gas platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.

Boats are seen spraying water on an oil and gas platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. Photo: AP

Photographs showed the 13-strong crew linking arms as they bobbed up and down in special flotation suits before being plucked out by helicopters and taken to a nearby rig and on to a mainland hospital.

All escaped serious injury.

Workers told rescue crews that they managed to shut down the wells before evacuating the platform and had spotted a thin sheen of oil spreading for about a mile.

The company that owns the platform, Houston-based Mariner Energy, did not know what caused the explosion.

Fire crews managed to extinguish the blaze after about five hours and the oil sheen was no longer visible by the time the Coast Guard arrived.

“The fire is out, and Coast Guard helicopters on scene and vessels on scene have no reports of a visible sheen in the water,” Captain Peter Troedsson, chief of staff for the Eighth Coast Guard District, told reporters.

“There’s no report or any evidence of leaks, but we continue to investigate and to monitor that situation to make sure that that doesn’t change.”

The incident ignited fresh criticism of the oil and gas industry as the region struggles to recover from the BP disaster, which was the largest ever maritime oil spill.

“The BP disaster was supposed to be the wake up call, but we hit the snooze button. Today the alarm went off again,” Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune said in a statement.

“The oil industry continues to rail against regulation, but it’s become all too clear that the current approach to offshore drilling is simply too dangerous.”

Peak oil. Coming to a bowser near you

admin /2 September, 2010

Peak oil.  Coming to a bowser near you.
 
 
The [German military] leak has parallels with recent reports from the UK. Only last week the Guardian newspaper reported that the British Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is keeping documents secret which show the UK government is far more concerned about an impending supply crisis than it cares to admit.

 

According to the Guardian, the DECC, the Bank of England and the British Ministry of Defence are working alongside industry representatives to develop a crisis plan to deal with possible shortfalls in energy supply.

 

Military Study Warns of a Potentially Drastic Oil Crisis

By Stefan Schultz

Suppose it runs out? Mishaps in oil and gas exploration are almost routine, and governments have now started to wonder about a future with dwindling fossil fuel.

Zoom
Reuters

Suppose it runs out? Mishaps in oil and gas exploration are almost routine, and governments have now started to wonder about a future with dwindling fossil fuel.

A study by a German military think tank has analyzed how “peak oil” might change the global economy. The internal draft document — leaked on the Internet — shows for the first time how carefully the German government has considered a potential energy crisis.

The term “peak oil” is used by energy experts to refer to a point in time when global oil reserves pass their zenith and production gradually begins to decline. This would result in a permanent supply crisis — and fear of it can trigger turbulence in commodity markets and on stock exchanges.

The issue is so politically explosive that it’s remarkable when an institution like the Bundeswehr, the German military, uses the term “peak oil” at all. But a military study currently circulating on the German blogosphere goes even further.

The power of your vote(GREENS)

admin /2 September, 2010

Dear friend, On Election Day, more than one in ten Australians voted for the Greens. Each and every vote for the Greens was powerful and here’s why: Yesterday, on behalf of the Australian Greens, I signed an agreement with Prime Minister Julia Gillard to work with the Australian Labor Party to ensure stability if it Continue Reading →

We should pay to shut down dirty old coal plants

admin /2 September, 2010

We should pay to shut down dirty old coal plants 21

 

by Ted Nace

31 Aug 2010 3:32 PM

A Cash for Coal Clunkers program is worth exploring. environmental policy turns into a game of whack-a-mole: solving one problem just makes another one pop up.

Such a perverse game is currently playing out in the push to retrofit old coal plants with scrubbers for “criteria pollutants” such as sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, and mercury. Although it is estimated that tightened regulation of these emissions will push about a sixth of the aging coal fleet into retirement, those plants that survive the gauntlet will be harder than ever to close after receiving expensive retrofits. Although the shiny new scrubbers will make the air cleaner, these plants will now spew entirely new waste streams such as scrubber sludge, and the additional power to run the scrubbers will require additional mining. Worst of all, equipping a plant with an expensive new scrubber will give that plant a new lease on life, enabling it to keep spewing out carbon dioxide and spelling disaster for the 2030 deadline that climate scientists have named as the key to preventing dangerous climate change.

Scrubber retrofits are a devil’s bargain, as we can see at power plants like the Merrimack Station in New Hampshire and the Boardman Plant in Oregon. In both instances, the Sierra Club and others came out against $500 million scrubber retrofits, arguing that the plants should instead be retired. Naturally, the owners of the plants have resisted closing the highly profitable facilities. They’ll make more money scrubbing them up and running them until 2040 or later.

Maybe it’s time to consider a new way to deal with all this, based on the adage, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” What about creating a positive financial incentive to induce power companies to shut down old coal plants? This Cash for Coal Clunkers idea has been floated by such people as Ted Turner, T. Boone Pickens, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Kirsch, and science writer Bill Sweet.

WA government acquires land for Woodside gas plant

admin /2 September, 2010

WA government acquires land for Woodside gas plant

THE West Australian government has begun proceedings to compulsorily acquire 2500 hectares of pristine Kimberley land to build a gas processing hub.

The move comes after Premier Colin Barnett admitted defeat in his long-running attempts to negotiate a consent agreement with the traditional Aboriginal landowners.

Mr Barnett issued the controversial acquisition instructions today amid fears that major resources projects were being put at risk by the delays.

Oil and gas giant Woodside – which intends to use the gas plant for a proposed $30 billion LNG project in the Browse Basin – issued a statement saying the move would provide greater certainty for the development.

Mr Barnett said the acquisition could take up to 18 months to finalise and he had not given up hope that an agreement could still be reached with the traditional owners in the meantime. He said discussions with them would continue in parallel to the acquisition process.

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