A renewed push for permits by oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico is being overshadowed by a row over whether BP’s capped Macondo well is actually leaking oil. If the well is somehow still leaking this would have major ramifications for BP, but also the wider industry that is gearing up for further drilling … Read More
BP
BP Accused of “Backroom Dealings” in Iraq
The oil industry watchdog PLATFORM has issued a report which exposes the extent to which the British oil giant BP has gained control over one of Iraq’s most lucrative oil fields, the super-giant Rumaila, near the Southern city of Basra. The report, “From Glass Box to Smoke Filled Room – How BP secretly renegotiated its … Read More
Two More Oil Spills…
Just as BP slowly begins to rebuild its tarnished reputation, it has slipped up again. Not in a catastrophic company-threatening way like it did last year but a much smaller spill, this time in Alaska. Although the amount spilt – some 2,100 to 4,200 gallons of fluid – is infinitesimal compared to the Deepwater Horizon, … Read More
Always read the small print
Investors may have poured their cash into the rogue’s gallery that is the new venture by Tony Hayward and “Nat King Coal” Rothschild called Vallares. As I blogged yesterday, Vallares was over-subscribed raising just over $2 billion to buy assets in the oil and gas sector. Investors were said to be reassured by Hayward’s knowledge … Read More
BP’s Credibility in Tatters Again
BP’s long-term strategic direction and its credibility with City analysts is in tatters this morning after its bid for a strategic alliance with Rosneft, the Russian state oil champion, collapsed late last night. A year on from the Deepwater disaster, this was the deal that was meant to revitalise BP’s reputation. This was the deal … Read More
“I don’t see any daylight at the end of this tunnel”
At 10.00 AM today, BP’s 80,000 employees marked a minute’s silence in memory of those who died on the Deepwater Horizon, exactly a year ago. Meanwhile in the Gulf, relatives of the 11 men who died aboard the Deepwater Horizon are flying over the rig site, back to the epicenter of the disaster. On land, … Read More
BP “wanted control of the science”
This Wednesday is going to be a painful day for many. The first Anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon will be a deeply painful day for many of the workers who were on the fateful rig, and the families of the deceased. We must remember that eleven people died that day. At least 40 workers were … Read More
One Year Later: BP’s Contamination Continues
BP’s AGM tomorrow is set to be a tumultuous affair with the oil giant having to absorb criticism over the legacy of the it’s catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, its investment in the dirty Canadian tar sands and its dodgy deal with the Russian Rosneft to drill in the Arctic. Throw in … Read More
BP: Back in the Gulf
With a haste that many will regard as reckless and a disregard for those who died in the Deepwater accident, BP will resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico as early as July this year. So fifteen months after Deepwater, the concept of the disaster being some kind of game-changer that shifted the US towards … Read More
Safety of Blow-Out Preventers “Just Hot Air”
One of the final puzzles of the Deepwater Horizon disaster has been solved. It is a mystery no more. A question that continues to haunt many in BP and in the oil industry is why did the supposed fail-safe mechanism to prevent a blowout, called the blowout preventer (BOP), actually fail. And fail so spectacularly. … Read More