BP, feds clash over reopening capped Gulf oil well

[thewiseguy]

NEW ORLEANS – BP and the Obama administration offered significantly differing views Sunday on whether the capped Gulf of Mexico oil well will have to be reopened, a contradiction that may be an effort by the oil giant to avoid blame if crude starts spewing again.

Pilloried for nearly three months as it tried repeatedly to stop the leak, BP PLC capped the nearly mile-deep well Thursday and wants to keep it that way. The government's plan, however, is to eventually pipe oil to the surface, which would ease pressure on the fragile well but would require up to three more days of oil spilling into the Gulf.

"No one associated with this whole activity ... wants to see any more oil flow into the Gulf of Mexico," Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, said Sunday. "Right now we don't have a target to return the well to flow."

An administration official familiar with the spill oversight, however, told The Associated Press that a seep and possible methane were found near the busted oil well. The official spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because an announcement about the next steps had not been made yet.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_oil_spill

[spin]

1. I have heard rumors of a seep and methane leak ...

over the last few weeks.

It might be helpful to have an independent organization such as the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution check the situation out.

I have zero, zip, Nada faith in anything BP says. To be honest, I am somewhat distrustful of what our government tells us.

[lob1]

2. I think everything BP says, our government will

swear to. I'm afraid the public isn't represented by anyone. Our government went along when BP told the clean up crews not to wear hazmat suits because it looked bad. Now those people are getting sick. I predicted that, so I'm sure our government could've too, if they actually cared.

[spin]

3. It's sad because the government is supposed to represent us ...

not big corporations.

[mhatrw]

4. Why is that EVERYTIME our govt and BP "clash", BP gets its way?

We truly live in a co-opted corpocracy.

[conscious evolution]

5. If the goverment gets its way

BP wins also.
Read the article again.They want to pipe the oil to the surface. What do you think will happen then?Think they are just going to throw away the oil? This 'argument' is about getting the well into production mode.BP wins in the PR battle because they were forced to use the well against their will by the evil goverment,doncha know?

[mhatrw]

6. I get your point, but would you rather have a producing well or a gushing hole?

Sure, it would be better to have never drilled at all, but I think this decision is pretty easy.

[conscious evolution]

7. Its the lying and obviously coordinated effort

to conceal their true intentions that bugs me.