Thanks BP for ruining our beaches with oil

[PILMAN]

Well I haven't seen a thread on this yet but apparently Florida is supposed to get hit soon by this massive oil slick thats the size of Jamaica, it's already hit Louisiana and Mississippi, about to hit Alabama and Florida. I live on the Gulf Coast and this has got to be the worst oil spill in a long time.

 

Here's a picture of the beach behind my house.

 

 

photos of the oil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWZcdWzDLMQ

 

Our whole economy relies on fishing, seafood exports, tourism and this is going to affect things badly. I'm just amazed the flow of oil hasn't been stopped yet. Comments?

[PILMAN]

 

 

 

 

[slacky]

Your Welcome.

[Stealthbomber]

Hehe,

 

I was soooo waiting for somebody to mention this.

 

Fact is that the USA has pretty much the lowest operational standards for oil exploration anywhere in the world. Even the Russians have higher standards for safety.

 

While it remains to be seen what caused the disaster with the Deepwater Horizon the fact is that if a similar accident had happened in the North Sea there would have been preventative measures in place to ensure that any oil spillage was minimised.

 

Pretty much anybody in the oil industry will tell you that working with Americans is usually a bit of a shocker due to their gung-ho attitude.

It's not your fault. You've continually played at oil exploration in the gulf of Mexico while the rest of the world has really pushed the envelope in the industry.

As a result of your limited range knowledge of the industy you've never suffered the same setbacks that other segments of the industy have and you've always been too smug and hard-headed to learn from the mistakes of others.

 

The worst part is that you're still not going to learn.

Almost any other nation in the world would focus on investigating the causes for the disaster and putting precautions in place to ensure this can never happen again.

You're not going to do that though.

Instead you're going to spend money, time and effort in litigation to fix blame and extract compensation and then, afterwards, you'll go back to playing at oil expoloration as cheaply as possible.

 

I'm sure you're familiar with the military saying that "You should never forget that your equipment was supplied by the cheapest vendor" and the same thing applies here.

You were only willing to pay for a halfassed operation and it got you a halfassed result.

 

Suck it up.

 

 

*EDIT*

Also, FWIW, you should really get your facts straight regarding the company name and all it implies.

"BP" stands for "Beyond Petroleum".

The name was changed a few years ago since large investments by Northern Oil and then a merger with Amoco and ARCO meant having the word "British" in the name was a bit silly.

They just kept the "BP" logo cos it was a strong brand image.

 

So, american company screws up american coastline due to poor operating standards.

Not sure where we Brit's fit into all this.

 

I'm just gonna go change your thread title to avoid any undue misunderstandings, m'kay?

[aznriptide859]

Don't know about you, but Galveston's beaches were already black and the water is brown/green...not much of a change XD.

[Stealthbomber]

Don't know about you, but Galveston's beaches were already black and the water is brown/green...not much of a change XD.

S'funny cos we have plenty of oil rigs in Morecambe bay and the beaches around the area are all pretty decent.

 

I guess that kinda shows the operating standards of oil companies in america compared to europe though.

[Kousnik]

your beach got owned.

[Seraphim989]

Ya, Galveston also looked the same before the hurricane as after. But of course, it sounds a lot better for an american bashing argument when you blame that on oil corporations rather than local shipping and biology of the gulf...

[aznriptide859]

S'funny cos we have plenty of oil rigs in Morecambe bay and the beaches around the area are all pretty decent.

 

I guess that kinda shows the operating standards of oil companies in america compared to europe though.

 

No, Galveston's just a crappy beach LOL.

[GuzziHero]

To be honest, BP was never truly British anyway. It was British-Persiaon till they sponsored the overthrow of a democratically elected, secular government in Iran, then changed its name to BP. I guess they didnt need the Persian part of the name since they had stolen all of Persia/Iran's production.

 

And if you think the oil safety standards in the US are bad, you don't want to see their nuclear safety standards...

[REVOA4]

The name British Petroleum is being mentioned ALL over the American TV when reporting this story.

 

Aside from another opportunity to "poke" at America its a real shame this has happened especially with 11 people dying, and the ecological & economical effects this will have. I've been reading up a little on this and still waiting for more solid information to be released, but I did read the oil rig was operated by a Swiss Company, Transocean.

 

Seems like some of us just have something to prove...

[GuzziHero]

Just like the OP was digging at brits? Yeahhhh.

 

Anyway, wherever in the world something like this happens, it is an awful tragedy. Apparently they cannot even monitor the rate of loss, only watch it, and either method of collection (capture and pump, or well cap) will take at least 2 months to be operational. Sod BP and their profits, I dont even care about possibly increased oil prices... I do feel really bad about the damage this will do to the ecology

 

Mankind, will we ever, ever learn?

[Seraphim989]

Sod increased oil prices too. Events like this are always used to up oil prices, even though they have a negligible effect upon the national crude supply. I don't know what it's like elsewhere, but in the US the oil industry is about profit, and lots of it. Its interesting really, I talk to petroleum engineers at college who fully admit that they're likely to be the last generation of petro engineers, yet they don't much care, because theyll get paid. Strange idea, to be responsible for making your own job obsolete

[Stealthbomber]

The name British Petroleum is being mentioned ALL over the American TV when reporting this story.

Then you should probably use that information to realise how ignorant your media is.

 

*EDIT*

Actually, it does raise an interesting point about the partisan nature of the US media.

I wonder if they're really ignorant of the make-up of BP or if they're happy to propogate the whole "bash the evil Brit company" for some reason?

 

Perhaps it's easier to do that rather than take a long hard look at the operational standards of your own oil industry?

After all, would Obama really want to force you guys to adhere to european safety standards if it meant paying $10 for a gallon of petrol?

I'm guessing not.

 

Aside from another opportunity to "poke" at America...

 

Seems like some of us just have something to prove...

The OP started out suggesting that a British company had screwed up the US coastline.

I corrected his misconception and that is, somehow, "poking" at america?

 

Yes, some people DO seem to have something to prove.

 

Mankind, will we ever, ever learn?

What we need to learn is not to cut costs.

 

We already have plenty of ways to contain this sort of event.

The problem is that the hardware to do so costs around 3 times what the average wellhead in the Mexican Gulf costs and, y'know, it's never happened before so why bother paying through the nose for something that'll probably never be needed, right?

 

Besides, now it has happened, it's far easier for the media to imply that "british petroleum" and those pesky, no-good, tea-drinking Brits are responsible for the mess and sue some faceless corporation which is perceived to be british rather than actually assuming any legal responsibility for the abysmal operating standards that can lead to a disaster like this.

[Panoptes]

Y'all shure it wasn't them thar Russkies?...

 

 

[snowman]

I know it's terribly unfashionable to mention it, but Free Market economies do this.

 

We're crippled in the UK by interference from them Foreign Johnnies in Brussels, but when we have oil spills they get addressed quickly (regardless of the perceived nationality of the company spilling the oil - Exxon take a bow...).

 

Expect to see similar (lack of) responses to spills around the UK if we get a right wing, anti-European government after next week's election.

 

I suspect the OP was having a little anti-Brit dig, but the leak IS coming from a BP rig, so why not point the finger at the company?

 

It's a pity, in a way, that BP don't operate to European standards worldwide, but I guess they can't make those obscene profits by doing so and that wouldn't do, would it...?

 

M.

[Stealthbomber]

I suspect the OP was having a little anti-Brit dig, but the leak IS coming from a BP rig, so why not point the finger at the company?

The point is more that BP isn't actually a "british" company any more.

I know it's still registered on the Brit stock exchange but, operationally, it's been americanized.

 

Speaking from personal experience, it can be quite frustrating to do the first draft of the engineering for a project and then have it ripped to bits by some yahoo in a cowboy hat who thinks half of the safety measures I've incorporated aren't necessary any more.

 

Believe it or not, I tend to be quite pragmatic about these things.

The way I see it, if something was necessary last month then, unless some circumstance out in the real world has changed, then it's still necessary now.

 

It's a pity, in a way, that BP don't operate to European standards worldwide, but I guess they can't make those obscene profits by doing so and that wouldn't do, would it...?

 

M.

 

To be fair, standards vary pretty wildly all over the world.

As a rule almost every company (regardless of nationality) will try to "get away with" as much as possible when they bid for a contract.

The trick is to gauge your proposals to suit the client.

This means that a lot of US corporations ARE operating to super-high standards all over the world.

It also, however, means that a tender bid that'd be accepted in the Mexican gulf would probably get you kicked out of a job in Norway.

 

 

The other interesting point about this is the subject of investors.

What's the betting that, as a result of this, petrol prices go up in the USA?

They'll put a spin on it by saying that they've had to increase prices in order to effect repairs and upgrades etc but that's nonsense.

The prices will go up to ensure that investors get the expected dividend on their shares at the end of the year.

If the US government can keep the oil companies and their investors happy while, at the same time, allowing people to think that it's all somehow the fault of an evil British company then all the better, right?

 

Bearing in mind we're talking about a population of which a significant proportion still think the war in Iraq is something to do with the WTCs, they're not hard to mislead.

[Chimpy]

Nice beach, best get the scrubbing brush ready!

[elrey]

I'm glad Pilman decided to return from a year long absence to give us his special brand of barely-disguised, ignorant trolling.

 

[L4byr1nth]

You Americans would only have a war over the oil anyway.

 

Karma much?

 

Ben.

[AceOfSkulls]

sell your trucks, buy reasonable vehicles for your needs to lesson oil consumption. Tax petrol, use the money to inforce stronger oil regulations and stop letting big buissness rape your country.

 

 

.....oh wait never mind

 

seriously though, terrible economical disaster, very sad.

[master_titled]

Damn right.

[Seraphim989]

You know, it's hard to believe, but not all Americans are from Texas...

[Stealthbomber]

You know, it's hard to believe, but not all Americans are from Texas...

I'm not sure I like what you're implying about Texans there.

[Danke]

Some great photos from my favorite photo blog.

 

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/oil_spill_approaches_louisiana.html

 

Any bets that if this had happened in the UK it would have been a Gordon Brown photo op gone wrong?