A group of reporters were able to tour the BP (NYSE:BP) oil rig on Saturday and see how the fuel spill containment was progressing. They flew along the Mississippi River Delta above the wetlands. They saw the ineffective boom floating as well as the skimmers. About 40 miles off the coast, they reach their destination which has a 200 foot derrick.
Wendell Guidry, the Transocean drilling superintendent that was on the rig said," its always, always on our mind." Work continues to press on around the clock. There are eight thrusters in place that keep the rig positioned correctly over the well. In the distance another rig is visible, it is siphoning oil and gas from the well and burning it. It appears the flames are coming down like a shower. There are ships surrounding this rig, their purpose is to hose of the deck to keep the heat from building.
Thad Allen, Coast Guard Administrator said that the drilling and construction of the relief wells is still ahead of schedule. Of course there can always be delays. Like on Saturday, a set of tongs which are used to hold the casings in place broke.
BP is still maintaining their drilling of the relief well should be completed sometime in August, of course there are no guarantees. Currently, they are close to 11,000 feet below the sea floor.
Showing posts with label Fuel Spill Containment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fuel Spill Containment. Show all posts
Monday, June 21, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Anadarko's (NYSE:APC) Fuel Spill Containment Responsibilities
While so many people are focused on BP, Halliburton, and Transocean, many are forgetting about Anadarko's (NYSE:APC) fuel spill containment responsibilities.
Anadarko, who owns a 25 percent stake of the Macondo discovery, the site of the explosion and oil leak that followed, has lost 33 percent or 25 billion of market capitalization since April 20th. BP who is working in the field unlike Anadarko, has lost $69 billion or 37 percent. If Anadarko is required to foot their 25 percent of the bill, that would equal to $98 billion. While BP's share at 67 percent of the discovery puts their required cost at $106 billion.
Obviously, this is no where near what oil stock prices are reflecting, which is much less. BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research estimates the net value of present claims could run close to 11 billion total. What's completely uncertain is what the potential punitive damages will end up costing these oil companies. By looking at BP's share prices, it's expected to be extremely high.
The question is, will Anadarko also be held responsible and required to pay anything past the initial oil cleanup costs. Anadarko has stated their interest in Macondo did not come until well after drilling began. They're also maintaining they had no involvement in the operating procedures or in designing the well.
The American Association of Professional Landmen's Form 810 clearly states, all parties to the agreement usually bear liability for damages based on their stake except "when liability results from the gross negligence or willful misconduct" of one of the involved parties. So if BP ends up being found grossly negligent, it would open the door for Anadarko being able to contest paying any punitive damages.
Anadarko, who owns a 25 percent stake of the Macondo discovery, the site of the explosion and oil leak that followed, has lost 33 percent or 25 billion of market capitalization since April 20th. BP who is working in the field unlike Anadarko, has lost $69 billion or 37 percent. If Anadarko is required to foot their 25 percent of the bill, that would equal to $98 billion. While BP's share at 67 percent of the discovery puts their required cost at $106 billion.
Obviously, this is no where near what oil stock prices are reflecting, which is much less. BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research estimates the net value of present claims could run close to 11 billion total. What's completely uncertain is what the potential punitive damages will end up costing these oil companies. By looking at BP's share prices, it's expected to be extremely high.
The question is, will Anadarko also be held responsible and required to pay anything past the initial oil cleanup costs. Anadarko has stated their interest in Macondo did not come until well after drilling began. They're also maintaining they had no involvement in the operating procedures or in designing the well.
The American Association of Professional Landmen's Form 810 clearly states, all parties to the agreement usually bear liability for damages based on their stake except "when liability results from the gross negligence or willful misconduct" of one of the involved parties. So if BP ends up being found grossly negligent, it would open the door for Anadarko being able to contest paying any punitive damages.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
BP (NYSE:BP) Bankruptcy and Stock Trading
Many are concerned that BP (NYSE:BP) will file for bankruptcy and that their stock trading will continue to fall. Even though BP seems to have a we can handle it all attitude, they will eventually run out of money. With them putting out such large amounts for things like television ads to the tune of $50 million dollars, it makes you wonder how they are planning to continue on at this pace financially. Not to mention, they haven't even been successful in their fuel spill containment efforts or even scratched the surface of beginning to clean up this catastrophe.
There is also much speculation that BP is getting ready to cut their dividends in order to be able to pay for the Gulf oil cleanup. This sent BP shares plummeting below 400 pence today. At the end of the day trading, BP was down 4.2 percent at 391.5 pence. Before the hazardous spill BP was at 648 pence.
"Consumer borrowing unexpectedly rose in April but fell in March, suggesting Americans aren't too comfortable with their finances despite the economic recovery. The Federal Reserve on Monday said consumer credit outstanding increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.5 % up $954.8 million to 2,440 trillion. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones News wires had for cast a $1.0 billion decline in consumer credit during April. But the surprise gain came with a revision to March, when borrowing fell $5.4 billion or 2.7 %, originally it was estimated rising by $2.0 billion," reports Jeff Bater and Meena Thiruvengadam.
There is also much speculation that BP is getting ready to cut their dividends in order to be able to pay for the Gulf oil cleanup. This sent BP shares plummeting below 400 pence today. At the end of the day trading, BP was down 4.2 percent at 391.5 pence. Before the hazardous spill BP was at 648 pence.
"Consumer borrowing unexpectedly rose in April but fell in March, suggesting Americans aren't too comfortable with their finances despite the economic recovery. The Federal Reserve on Monday said consumer credit outstanding increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.5 % up $954.8 million to 2,440 trillion. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones News wires had for cast a $1.0 billion decline in consumer credit during April. But the surprise gain came with a revision to March, when borrowing fell $5.4 billion or 2.7 %, originally it was estimated rising by $2.0 billion," reports Jeff Bater and Meena Thiruvengadam.
BP's (NYSE:BP) Fuel Spill Containment Timeline Changes
Here we go again, BP (NYSE:BP) is once again changing their fuel spill containment timeline. It seems there will never be a definite, or even guess that's close to accurate, on when the hazardous oil will stop pouring onto the seabed and into the ocean.
Apparently Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer was overzealous in his claim that the leaking oil would be down to a "relative trickle" by next week. Now its being said that it should take much longer to get even close to that point of containing the oil. Suttles is now saying that BP is hoping that by Monday or Tuesday of next week they hope to have an improved containment system in place.
Suttles continues to maintain that no underwater oil plumes have been detected in "large concentrations" from the Gulf spill. Testing was done yesterday which would detect the presence of these underwater oil plumes and they came back positive. The testing was done at three different sites by a University of South Florida vessel at 3,300 feet below the surface and around 42 miles Northeast of the hazardous spilling well.
Apparently Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer was overzealous in his claim that the leaking oil would be down to a "relative trickle" by next week. Now its being said that it should take much longer to get even close to that point of containing the oil. Suttles is now saying that BP is hoping that by Monday or Tuesday of next week they hope to have an improved containment system in place.
Suttles continues to maintain that no underwater oil plumes have been detected in "large concentrations" from the Gulf spill. Testing was done yesterday which would detect the presence of these underwater oil plumes and they came back positive. The testing was done at three different sites by a University of South Florida vessel at 3,300 feet below the surface and around 42 miles Northeast of the hazardous spilling well.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
BP (NYSE:BP) Buys Google Ad Words, "Oil Spill"
BP (NYSE:BP) bought the Google ad words "oil spill" with the tag line "how BP is helping." This will link search results from Google and Yahoo directly to BP's website. A spokesman for BP, said the reasoning behind this purchase was to help people by making it a little easier to find out and follow the on going fuel spill containment efforts. There also will be links on the website that will help direct people to the correct places to file a legal claim, sign up to volunteer, and to report oil found on the beach.
BP has spent several millions of dollars, $50 million to be exact, on television advertising. President Obama has criticized BP for doing this, especially when they have given fisherman who have lost their livelihood only $5,000. Not to mention how it seems they are attempting to limit the amounts they'll pay to those people that have been directly effected by the devastating results of the hazardous spill disaster.
Televised apology ads or not, its not changing the views of most people, 20 percent say they will no longer purchase BP gas while 31 percent will buy less gas from the oil company. While 47 percent of people feel BP's public relation efforts are too little to late, there are 41 percent who believe that BP is doing absolutely everything they can, leaving 42 percent who feel they are only doing what is necessary for public relations sake. The bottom line, 71 percent of people feel BP is responsible for the oil spill.
BP has spent several millions of dollars, $50 million to be exact, on television advertising. President Obama has criticized BP for doing this, especially when they have given fisherman who have lost their livelihood only $5,000. Not to mention how it seems they are attempting to limit the amounts they'll pay to those people that have been directly effected by the devastating results of the hazardous spill disaster.
Televised apology ads or not, its not changing the views of most people, 20 percent say they will no longer purchase BP gas while 31 percent will buy less gas from the oil company. While 47 percent of people feel BP's public relation efforts are too little to late, there are 41 percent who believe that BP is doing absolutely everything they can, leaving 42 percent who feel they are only doing what is necessary for public relations sake. The bottom line, 71 percent of people feel BP is responsible for the oil spill.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
BP (NYSE:BP) UPDATE: Fuel Spill Containment, Secondary Containment System Planned
After so much hype and build up on BP's (NYSE:BP) fuel spill containment efforts, they have finally had success. At least in preventing some of the crude oil to continue to flow into the ocean. The device known as the containment cap, has been successfully placed on top of the pipe that BP was able to cut with giant sheers.
Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, said on Sunday that his belief is the cap would most likely capture "the majority, probably the vast majority" of the oil still spewing out of the well. BP is purposefully gradually increasing the amount of oil being captured, this is in order to hopefully minimize the amount of water getting in and creating a frozen slushy sort of consistency. This has happened before in a different oil containment attempt.
On Saturday, the cap was able to capture about 441,000 gallons of spilling oil, this is a considerable rise from Fridays estimate of close to 250,000 gallons of oil being contained, according to BP spokesman Mark Proegler. Although nobody has any definite numbers on how much oil is leaking daily into the Gulf, the estimate is anywhere from 500,000 to 1 million gallons of crude oil being lost everyday close to the sea floor.
Hayward told BBC that they are planning a secondary containment system, expected to be completed by next weekend. BP is also hoping to set up additional hoses and pipes which would help increase the amount of oil being captured.
Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, said on Sunday that his belief is the cap would most likely capture "the majority, probably the vast majority" of the oil still spewing out of the well. BP is purposefully gradually increasing the amount of oil being captured, this is in order to hopefully minimize the amount of water getting in and creating a frozen slushy sort of consistency. This has happened before in a different oil containment attempt.
On Saturday, the cap was able to capture about 441,000 gallons of spilling oil, this is a considerable rise from Fridays estimate of close to 250,000 gallons of oil being contained, according to BP spokesman Mark Proegler. Although nobody has any definite numbers on how much oil is leaking daily into the Gulf, the estimate is anywhere from 500,000 to 1 million gallons of crude oil being lost everyday close to the sea floor.
Hayward told BBC that they are planning a secondary containment system, expected to be completed by next weekend. BP is also hoping to set up additional hoses and pipes which would help increase the amount of oil being captured.
Friday, May 28, 2010
BP (NYSE:BP) Risks Making Oil Spill Worse
BP (NYSE:BP) engineers are proceeding with extreme caution, as they continue on their containment efforts for the fuel spill. This was after stopping their "top kill" endeavors for a day, this is apparently just part of the process according to BP officials.
This gives the engineers time to review the effects or lack there of. At that time, Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer said, "we have not yet stopped the flow. You stop pumping. If the pressure begins to rise you pump again. If it doesn't rise, you have some sign of success."
As well as analyzing the spill containment results on Thursday, BP was also restocking their oil spill equipment with close to 15,000 barrels of the heavy engineering mud in preparation for their next oil cleanup attempt, which began Thursday evening.
Tony Hayward, BP's head, indicated the "top kill" attempt could make the oil leak worse, this is one of the risks of this endeavor.
This gives the engineers time to review the effects or lack there of. At that time, Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer said, "we have not yet stopped the flow. You stop pumping. If the pressure begins to rise you pump again. If it doesn't rise, you have some sign of success."
As well as analyzing the spill containment results on Thursday, BP was also restocking their oil spill equipment with close to 15,000 barrels of the heavy engineering mud in preparation for their next oil cleanup attempt, which began Thursday evening.
Tony Hayward, BP's head, indicated the "top kill" attempt could make the oil leak worse, this is one of the risks of this endeavor.
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