BP: Oil rig leak 'wasn't our accident'

Source: MSNBC

CEO to NBC: We'll clean it up, but rig was run by Transocean

NEW ORLEANS - Facing an unprecedented Gulf Coast environmental disaster, not to mention lawsuits, oil giant BP told NBC on Monday that while it was taking responsibility for cleaning up the giant undersea leak, the accident that triggered the disaster was not its fault.

"It wasn't our accident, but we are absolutely responsible for the oil, for cleaning it up, and that's what we intend to do," BP Group CEO Tony Hayward told NBC's "TODAY" show.

The rig that exploded on April 20 and then sank was run by another company, Transocean, he reminded viewers. That rig, he said, "was run by their people, their processes."

Hayward added that the failure of the rig's "blow-out preventer" — a device that should have shut off the well when the rig exploded and sank — was "unprecedented in our industry."

"What has failed here is the ultimate safety device on a drilling rig," he said. "There are many barriers of protection that you have to go to before you get to this. It isn't designed to not fail."

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36912754/ns/us_news-environment/

But BP is full of bullshit. "Not our accident" is code for "we're going to fight every single goddamn claim in court!".

they just paid the kid to stand there and hold a rock.....

n/t

I hope that was just a typo.

Aren't double negatives fun? :evilgrin:

That would bring light to the more expensive shut-off they lobbied not to use.

Better to misstate the fact, than bring light to the misstep.

often it will never find a home!

all their fault, donchaknow.

when I heard that on the news that BP said the leak was not their fault. Ding ding ding, plausible deniability. This will be their defense and the strong possibility that they will cross-complaint against other companies such as Halliburton (sp?).

Fuck you BP! Pay with your last fucking nickle!

Just asking.

Here's their management and board anyway,
http://www.deepwater.com/fw/main/Our-Management-7.html
Board of Directors

Robert E. Rose Chairman of the Board of Transocean Ltd.

Edward R. Muller Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mirant Corporation
W. Richard Anderson Former President and Chief Executive Officer of Prime Natural Resources, Inc.

Robert M. Sprague Retired Royal Dutch/Shell Executive
Thomas W. Cason
Former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Baker Hughes Incorporated

Ian C. StrachanFormer Chairman
Instinet Group Incorporated

Victor E. GrijalvaRetired Vice Chairman of the Board
Schlumberger Limited

J. Michael TalbertFormer Chairman
Transocean Inc.
Richard L. George President and Chief Executive Officer
Suncor Energy Inc.

John L. Whitmire Chairman of the Board of Directors of CONSOL Energy Inc. and CONSOL Inc
Martin B. McNamara Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP

Be sure and check out their company history http://www.deepwater.com/fw/main/Our-History-3.html

Just asking.

No inspectors allowed.
Headquarters in Switzerland ( tho originally a Birmingham Al. company, years back)

Off the 20 mile limit, too, I think?????? Gotta check that one, but I had heard....

didja know there are something like 30,000 wells in the Gulf.?
some active, some capped, waiting to be active when prices justify it.

Halliburton in spotlight in gulf spill probe

Investigators look at the company’s role in cementing the deepwater drill hole in the Gulf of Mexico. Transocean and BP also face questioning.

May 01, 2010|By Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times

Investigators delving into the causes of the massive gulf oil spill are examining the role of Houston-based Halliburton Co., the giant energy services company that was responsible for cementing the deepwater drill hole, as well as the possible failure of equipment leased to British Petroleum.

Two members of Congress, Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), called on Halliburton on Friday to provide all documents relating to "the possibility or risk of an explosion or blowout at the Deepwater Horizon rig and the status, adequacy, quality, monitoring, and inspection of the cementing work" by May 7.

Halliburton Chief Executive David Lesar is scheduled to testify before Waxman's energy and commerce committee on May 12, along with top executives Lamar McKay of BP America Inc. and Steve Newman of Transocean Ltd., which leased the drilling rig to BP.

More:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/01/nation/la-na-oil-spill-investigation-20100501

http://www.helium.com/items/1822086-possible-north-korean-attack-on-deepwater-horizon-oil-rig

What are y'all's thoughts? Any credibility to this?

My sense is that it is a piece put out by South Korean intelligence to try to pin the blame on North Korea, but who knows?

From the article:
<snip>
Although NKorea's population is near starvation—only the leaders, bureaucrats and one million man army is well-fed and clothed—China provides some meager subsistence in the form of food and oil. But the Chinese have been playing the West against its puppet state and has been utilizing the Korean Peninsula and especially their NKorean allies as both political and military destabilizing factors.

It's interesting that Kim Jong Ill is visiting China today. I suppose that NKorea could be using a submarine and they have stated that they are still at war with the USA. We can thank Dimson 'W' for all the saber ratteling 'Axis of Evil' shit if that's the case.

On a second look at this article....I don't like how it's written:
<snip>
Now as SKorea vows retaliation for NKorea's act of war, evidence has surfaced that NKorea may have deployed the same type of armed military submersible against Deepwater Horizon.

Facts have also emerged that Hyandai Heavy Industries of Seoul, South Korea built the rig at a cost of $1 billion and despite insurance may have to write off significant losses. The oil rig explosion also has repercussions for the SKorean economy.

So with one attack, NKorea could have dealt a serious blow to two of its greatest enemies.

According to some reports, suspicion has fallen on a NKorean merchant vessel, the Dai Hong Dan, that left a port in Cuba the night of April 18th. The merchant vessel is the class of ship that intelligence agencies have long known can be fitted for—and has carried in the past—NKorea's two-man mini-submarines.

I'd like to know what evidence, what facts, what reports? This thing reads like a spy novel.

him ready for his bath.

When he pulled off his underoos my mom yelled. Boy what is that shit doing in your pants. He was like I didn't do that.
She was like did you pull off your underwear and let some other kid shit in them?

Basically BP is saying that they pulled of their drawers and let some other kid shit in them.

I thought this same accident happened not long ago in Australia. Am I misinformed?

http://www.sintef.no/Home/Technology-and-Society/Safety-Research/Projects/SINTEF-Offshore-Blowout-Database/

SINTEF Offshore Blowout Database
is a comprehensive event database for blowout risk assessment. The database includes information on 573 offshore blowouts/well releases that have occurred world-wide since 1955 and overall exposure data from the US Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf and the North Sea. The blowouts/well releases are categorized in several parameters, emphasizing blowout causes. A user-friendly interface allows for customized search patterns.



Details at link.....

I love databases.
This is a great one.

Bowing in reverence to you......

smash that fucker into you, it's my fault, not acme rent a car.


If I rent a wrecking ball and driver for a day and have it knock down your house, then it's my fault, not the owner operator of the equipment.


Fuck BP and their shifting of the blame for the failure of this rig.

So, I'm responsible for the clean-up. Where's a bucket and mop?

Their are so many nuances and people involved, no one really ever takes responsibility. It's akin to the shell companies that these turd suckers create to avoid prosecution. The shell goes down, not the company itself.

Capitalism is exposed, and with these guys, you combine their Wall Street connections with their environmental consequences, and they are in need of extermination. Before it happens to the rest of us (not to mention the other of God's more innocent creatures that have, and will soon, be killed again by his favorite debacle, Humans, and their unending greed, stupidity and lack of respect for anything else.

Not their accident? Like it's just a fender-bender or something.

I would think an environmentally aware company goes a few steps further before handing out the rights to rig it.

BP this Century's worst person in the world!

If BP didn't like or trust their processes, they could have insisted on different ones. BP was responsible for signing the contract with Transocean and blessing all the processes and safeguards. Therefore, yes, it was BP's accident.

They can try to spin this any way they want, but ultimately BP is the operator and owner of the well. The operator sets the tone for safety and approves all well operations and is responsible (with the driller) for ensuring safe operations.

As far as I'm aware the lessor / owner is the US Government.

Oil companies lease the "land" but the wells themselves belong to the operators.

:shrug:

First, there's the double negative which makes the meaning backwards -- obviously he meant to say "It isn't designed to fail."

Second, it is reminiscent of another famous disaster. The Titanic wasn't designed to sink; in fact it was designed to be unsinkable. The hubris of the ship's owners was to assume that because it was *designed* to be unsinkable, that it really *was* unsinkable. So they didn't provide enough lifeboats for all of the passengers. Why bother? Why go to the expense? It wasn't going to sink anyway.

Fast forward to the present disaster. The acoustic shutoff mechanism that would have cost $500K, was not installed, because the failsafe mechanism already in place "couldn't fail".

Er, yeah.

Hubris. Nemesis.

I would imagine they have the option to go after Transocean, Cameron International Corp (BOP manufacturer), and Halliburton in court to help offset their losses. However, in the end they're the ones responsible for the clean up.

This part from the his statement makes me curious:



I doubt that, but I do find myself wondering if this could open them up (legally speaking) for more liability then the 75 million in compensation they're legally liable for?

exactly what they said "legitimate claims" - not some of the pumped up airy fairy levels of damages for which US courts seem to be famous. In other words compensation for genuine loss.

And BP just "officially" denied their responsibility for the catastrophe.

though Transocean may indeed be the most directly responsible, and BP will likely sue them for all they are worth to compensate for the cost of the cleanup. Them and Hallibutron, and Cameron whatever.

the issue , in some respects , might revolve around whether or not gross negligence can be proven against Transocean.

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?dsid=2541&dekey=1&company_name=Transocean+Ltd&id={172BE5E4-07BD-48A4-A15F-1D583633B23D}