Oil breaks up on Gulf surface as ships return to well site

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Oil left on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico is breaking down naturally now that the flow of crude has been cut off beneath the surface, a Coast Guard admiral said Sunday after touring the scene.

Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft said the remnants of Tropical Storm Bonnie did little to affect the oil slick, which is breaking down "very quickly."

"The storm itself was not that significant," Zukunft told CNN after an aerial survey of the northern Gulf on Sunday. "We've had nine days of no new oil being released, so what we're seeing is the remnants of oil that was released nine days ago."

BP crews managed to temporarily cap the undersea well at the heart of the three-month-old disaster on June 15. But efforts to close off the gusher permanently by drilling a relief well were delayed by the storm, which forced the ships involved in the process to evacuate the area. Those ships have returned to the area since the storm, he told reporters Sunday night.

Zukunft told reporters that he saw only one large patch of emulsified oil, about 12 miles off Grand Isle, Louisiana, during his six-hour aerial tour. No oil could be seen in Louisiana's Lake Borgne, Lake Pontchartrain or Chandeleur Sound, while only a light sheen was visible in other parts of the Gulf.

"The oil is basically approaching the end of its life cycle," he said."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/25/gulf.oil.disaster/?hpt=T2

[Scurrilous]

1. BP Is Expected to Replace Chief With American

<snip>

"BP’s board is expected on Monday to name an American, Robert Dudley, as its chief executive, replacing Tony Hayward, whose repeated stumbles during the company’s three-month oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico alienated federal and state officials as well as residents of the Gulf Coast.

The planned appointment of an American to run the London-based company, which was confirmed by a person close to BP’s board, would underscore how vital the United States has become to BP. About one-third of the company’s oil and gas wells, refineries and other business interests are in the United States, and 40 percent of its shareholders are Americans.

The move would also be a recognition by the board that even though the oil has stopped spewing into the gulf, dealing with the consequences of the Deepwater Horizon accident — from tens of billions of dollars in claims to possible criminal charges and new regulations on offshore drilling — is likely to dominate the company’s agenda for years.

“It is in the best interest of the company to go forward with fresh leadership,” said the person close to the board, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the changes."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/business/global/27bp.html?src=busln

[dipsydoodle]

3. That rumour

started off at about mid-day UK time yesterday at which time it said "within 24 hours". By ealry evening BP were dismissing the rumours and subsquent to that the BBC removed 24 hours from their headline. If its going to happen its more likely to be tomorrow when the second quarter results are published - obviously expected to show a huge loss due to clean up costs.

Notwithstanding anything else it was ludricrous having someone with an English accent acting as spokesman on this issue. That fact added to halfwits refering to BP as British Petroleum , by deliberate spin, made the problem appear to be a wholly UK affair with no US reponsibility whatsoever.

edit spelling.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Apart from degrading

what does it do ? Sink or continue to degrade ?