AP: Feds Approve New Gulf Oil Well off LA

[freddie mertz]

Apparently this is NOT a joke! :shrug:


APNewsBreak: Feds approve new Gulf oil well off Louisiana coast as shallow-water ban lifts
By MIKE BAKER
The Associated Press

Federal regulators approved Wednesday the first new Gulf of Mexico oil well since President Barack Obama lifted a brief ban on drilling in shallow water, even while deepwater projects remain frozen after the massive BP spill.

The Minerals Management Service granted a new drilling permit sought by Bandon Oil and Gas for a site about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana and 115 feet below the ocean's surface. It's south of Rockefeller State Wildlife Refuge and Game Preserve, far to the west of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that triggered the BP spill.

Obama last week extended a moratorium on wells in deep water like the BP one that blew out a mile below the surface in April and is gushing millions of gallons of oil. But at the same time, the president quietly allowed a three-week-old ban on drilling in shallow water to expire.

"I'm outraged," said Kieran Suckling, executive director for the Tucson, Ariz.,-based Center for Biological Diversity, after a reporter told him of the new permit. "How is it that shallow water drilling suddenly became safe again?"

Bandon Oil and Gas first sought the permit in April shortly after the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank. The permit was approved Wednesday morning, according to MMS records.

Suckling said the administration was misleading the public by quietly resuming work in shallow waters while acting as if it was taking a tough look at deepwater work.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a news release Sunday that the extended moratorium on deepwater drilling was needed to provide time to implement new safety requirements.

"With the BP oil spill still growing in the Gulf, and investigations and reviews still under way, a six month pause in drilling is needed, appropriate, and prudent," Salazar said. He said the term "deepwater" referred to drilling at depths of 500 feet or greater.


http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=10807595

[BrklynLiberal]

1. WHAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAT??????

[polichick]

2. Meet the new boss...nt

[IndianaGreen]

3. Who is rPresident of the United States? Obama, or some oil industry mole inside the government?

I blame Salazar for this outrage!

[Jennicut]

4. It is in shallow water. If you think the United States is going to stop drilling in

shallow water you are very naive.

[IndianaGreen]

5. The 1979 Ixtoc I leak took place in 160 feet of water

Over 3 million barrels of oil were spilled into the Bay of Campeche.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. It took 9 months to successfully drill the relief well and cap the leaking well.

http://www.incidentnews.gov/incident/6250

IXTOC I
Bahia de Campeche, Mexico 1979-Jun-03

On June 3, 1979, the 2 mile deep exploratory well, IXTOC I, blew out in the Bahia de Campeche, 600 miles south of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. The IXTOC I was being drilled by the SEDCO 135, a semi-submersible platform on lease to Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX). A loss of drilling mud circulation caused the blowout to occur. The oil and gas blowing out of the well ignited, causing the platform to catch fire. The burning platform collapsed into the wellhead area hindering any immediate attempts to control the blowout. PEMEX hired blowout control experts and other spill control experts including Red Adair, Martech International of Houston, and the Mexican diving company, Daivaz. The Martech response included 50 personnel on site, the remotely operated vehicle TREC, and the submersible Pioneer I. The TREC attempted to find a safe approach to the Blowout Preventer (BOP). The approach was complicated by poor visibility and debris on the seafloor including derrick wreckage and 3000 meters of drilling pipe. Divers were eventually able to reach and activate the BOP, but the pressure of the oil and gas caused the valves to begin rupturing. The BOP was reopened to prevent destroying it. Two relief wells were drilled to relieve pressure from the well to allow response personnel to cap it. Norwegian experts were contracted to bring in skimming equipment and containment booms, and to begin cleanup of the spilled oil. The IXTOC I well continued to spill oil at a rate of 10,000 - 30,000 barrels per day until it was finally capped on March 23, 1980.

[amborin]

11. exactly: horrific disaster in shallow water; why is Obama doing this?

[Jennicut]

10. Yup, but it won't stop us. Nothing will stop until we actually

develop and use alternative energy. Not that I agree with us drilling in the water, anywhere. But it won't stop us. Even bikes are made from petroleum byproducts. And we will get at any oil that is available. Of course, we still don't get a ton of oil here but we do get some.

[ProSense]

7. Area leaders devastated by oil say halting drilling is not the answer

Area leaders devastated by oil say halting drilling is not the answer

NEW ORLEANS -- If you consider offshore drilling Louisiana's bread and butter, than environmentalists say the calories have added up to a massive heart attack. But the very same local leaders who are frantically trying to clean up the oil mess, say limiting off shore drilling could create yet another disaster.

33 deepwater wells in the Gulf, similar to the one that exploded more than a month ago, are now on a mandatory hiatus. The order came directly from President Barack Obama last week as he attempted to clean up what's already become a massive mess in the gulf.

<...>

"We're going to have hundreds of people lose their jobs," said Billy Nungessor, Plaqumines Parish president.

Nungessor said he urged the president to reconsider based on the economic loss that he says will likely hit the area. New figures released by the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, a Baton Rouge based oil adcovacy group, point to the very same conclusion.

<...>

The problem with the Gulf states is that most of the people there support drilling.

The U.S. needs to cut the dependency on oil, starting now.

[freddie mertz]

15. So which is it then?

Expand the drilling, or stop the drilling?

[freddie mertz]

14. Call me naive then. nt.

[avaistheone1]

6. Gee what took them so long?

:banghead: :nuke:


:thumbsdown:


:wtf:


:puke:

[jeanpalmer]

9. Surprise

Obama is leading the charge to drill baby drill. You hope he would have learned something from his prior mistake. But nothing will stand in the way of his political calculation.

[arcadian]

12. Yes we can drill baby, drill!

[golfguru]

13. you beat me to it :-)