Thread: ban deep oil drillin', but...

because and this is the experts not me, nothing concrete will be gained and there is an inherent danger when you cap a drilled, ongoing well.

And, the first deep water rig has pulled out of the gulf, Diamond industries is sending it to Egypt.....Houston chronicle.

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

mateys,

given the unfolding tragedy that be the gulf oil spill, why not ban deep water drillin' entirely till we've proven protocols to fix any disaster that might occur?

also, in light 'o the dangers 'o these deep oil rigs bein' laid bare, why not then have congress approve mass shallow water drillin' instead? i see no end to our thirst fer oil, so we might as well get it from a place whar we can address any mishaps that might occur.

one question i'd have would be this;

since many wealthy beachfront homeowners would object to such things, how would we overcome this fearsome obstacle?

- MeadHallPirate

Has new drilling actually stopped? Has there been any change of behavior from big oil?

Wealthy beachfront homeowners... over coming their objections... Well... how about this for a plan? We confiscate their property, send them to live with Sarah Palin, and hand over the confiscated properties to you and me?

Originally Posted by Dick Martin

Has new drilling actually stopped? Has there been any change of behavior from big oil?

Wealthy beachfront homeowners... over coming their objections... Well... how about this for a plan? We confiscate their property, send them to live with Sarah Palin, and hand over the confiscated properties to you and me?

ahoy Dick Martin!

matey, i think thar be a court battle o'er the drillin' moratoriam. thing is, i dont think thar be a safe way to cull oil from deep in the sea. thar be a finite amount 'o these kinda leaks that the fisheries can absorb, aye?

as far as confiscatin' property, that seems kinda dire. the fairest thing would be fer the taxpayers to compensate them well-to-do folks who make thar ports on prime real estate, fer lost value in thar homes.

- MeadHallPirate

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

mateys,

given the unfolding tragedy that be the gulf oil spill, why not ban deep water drillin' entirely till we've proven protocols to fix any disaster that might occur?

also, in light 'o the dangers 'o these deep oil rigs bein' laid bare, why not then have congress approve mass shallow water drillin' instead? i see no end to our thirst fer oil, so we might as well get it from a place whar we can address any mishaps that might occur.

one question i'd have would be this;

since many wealthy beachfront homeowners would object to such things, how would we overcome this fearsome obstacle?

- MeadHallPirate

Why not just get the oil from wherever the oil is matey?

Originally Posted by hairballxavier

Why not just get the oil from wherever the oil is matey?

ahoy Hairballxaviers!

matey, we've pretty much gotten the oil from wharever it be. if we be not drillin' somewhar, its probably because some special interest hath gotten the congress to protect certain areas.

here be what imma sayin', though. clearly our addiction to oil be hard to break...'tis somethin' our nation struggles with. at any rate, instead 'o drillin' whar the ecological ramifications be dire (like deep water drillin'), why not just forgo aesthetic beauty and drill whar it at least be a bit safer? drill in national parks. drill in shallow water near the shoreline. drill wharever, just don't drill in deep waters.

if we mar the land and impact a few species, well...so be it. riskin' the entire gulf fishery, though....them kinda risks be hard to bear.

aye?

- MeadHallPirate

The best argument for halting oil drilling in deep waters has to do with the fact that each company/platform has to have contingency/emergency plans in case of a spill. In most cases, their plans include ships to skim the surface to collect spilled oil. Because of the size of the BP spill, the vast majority of skimmer ships are already in use. If another well had a catastrophic failure, there simply would be no more ships available to deal with skimming the surface to collect the oil from the new spill.

Just a thought here but, instead of banning drilling, wouldn't it be a better idea to review safety procedures, engineering procedures, equipment installations, etc. and work to make this kind of accident less likely to recur? I mean, in the grand scheme of things, if the main plan is to simply quit when stuff goes bad then we may as well not even try.

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

mateys,

given the unfolding tragedy that be the gulf oil spill, why not ban deep water drillin' entirely till we've proven protocols to fix any disaster that might occur?

also, in light 'o the dangers 'o these deep oil rigs bein' laid bare, why not then have congress approve mass shallow water drillin' instead? i see no end to our thirst fer oil, so we might as well get it from a place whar we can address any mishaps that might occur.

one question i'd have would be this;

since many wealthy beachfront homeowners would object to such things, how would we overcome this fearsome obstacle?

- MeadHallPirate

Only after they start drilling and producing in Alaska and shallow waters

Originally Posted by lutherf

Just a thought here but, instead of banning drilling, wouldn't it be a better idea to review safety procedures, engineering procedures, equipment installations, etc. and work to make this kind of accident less likely to recur? I mean, in the grand scheme of things, if the main plan is to simply quit when stuff goes bad then we may as well not even try.

*agrees with Lutherf*

ahoy Lutherf!

matey, i believe this be what the current proposed moratorium be about...to lower our drillin' sails till the mighty big oil powers can figure out how such leaks can be capped.

till then, i guess drilling closer to the shoreline be more safe. the thing is, how can ye fight all them monied folks who own that fancy beachfront property?

- MeadHallPirate

When a passenger plane goes down, do we ground all US passenger flights? No. The FAA investigates the cause of the accident and makes recommendations based on their findings. If, let's say, the FAA was to find a design error in the wing of a Bowing 767, they may ground all aircraft likely to have that same defect, but no way would Air Buses be grounded as well. Why stop all drilling, especially by rigs substantially different from Deep Water Horizon?
Drill rig engineers plan for any kind of failure imaginable. there are thousands of events or combinations of events for which there are safety measures in place. It's the unimaginable events or cutting corners to save time and/ or money, that will get you every time.

.... snip While Allen said he believes the second pipe fell from above, some experts have advanced another explanation. They believe poorly cemented casings — tubes that are supposed to form solid walls down thousands of feet of the well bore — may have been dislodged by the blast of natural gas that shot up out of the well and above the sea floor.

If that’s what happened, the piece of pipe would have gone into the blowout preventer, the 450-ton tower of valves and pistons that sits on top of the well head and is supposed to shut off the well in an emergency. The Deepwater Horizon’s blowout preventer failed to cut through the pipe that ran through it, and subsequent efforts to shut the so-called shear rams using remote-control submarine robots also failed. …

story

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

mateys,

given the unfolding tragedy that be the gulf oil spill, why not ban deep water drillin' entirely till we've proven protocols to fix any disaster that might occur?

also, in light 'o the dangers 'o these deep oil rigs bein' laid bare, why not then have congress approve mass shallow water drillin' instead? i see no end to our thirst fer oil, so we might as well get it from a place whar we can address any mishaps that might occur.

one question i'd have would be this;

since many wealthy beachfront homeowners would object to such things, how would we overcome this fearsome obstacle?

- MeadHallPirate

This was untested technology. I think it is reasonable to wait on any technology of this gravity until it is tested. That was the big problem. BP went ahead with technology it didn't know enough about.

Originally Posted by Ernie S.

When a passenger plane goes down, do we ground all US passenger flights? No. The FAA investigates the cause of the accident and makes recommendations based on their findings. If, let's say, the FAA was to find a design error in the wing of a Bowing 767, they may ground all aircraft likely to have that same defect, but no way would Air Buses be grounded as well. Why stop all drilling, especially by rigs substantially different from Deep Water Horizon?
Drill rig engineers plan for any kind of failure imaginable. there are thousands of events or combinations of events for which there are safety measures in place. It's the unimaginable events or cutting corners to save time and/ or money, that will get you every time.

story

No we don't ground all flights. But then airplanes are not untested technology. That's what we have test pilots for.

You mean to say you don't see the pure unalloyed idiocy of continuing our "thirst for oil" even now???

Should they prove unable to stop this (and there is getting less and less reason to think they can) then we might very well be seeing major impacts on worldwide fisheries and even the ocean's ability to produce oxygen. You're going to say that's hyperbole but it's fact. The vast majority of our oxygen is produced by the oceans and if this thing just continues to gush until it's exhausted (and that is a very real possibility, the relief wells could fail or THEY could start spillling) then I don't see how very major portions of the world's oceans will remain unaffected. You may say "oh, well, it will biodegrade in a few years", but how many decades can you put up with 20/30% less OXYGEN than you've grown used to.

Additionally, there are the undeniable facts that oil is getting more and more expensive all the time, is a strategic material largely in the hands of our enemies, will be needed for petrochemicals and may cause catastrophic climate change if we keep burning it.

WHY do you guys have this infernal love affair with gas guzzling engines? There are diesel hybrids that get 100mpg, there is an electric car (the Tesla) that has a 200 mile range and goes from 0-60 in under FOUR SECONDS, there are all SORTS of viable, feasible, workable alternatives that all exist RIGHT NOW. Did all you guys put every penny you ever earned into oil stocks or what??? otherwise I just can't understand you.

Originally Posted by John Drake

You mean to say you don't see the pure unalloyed idiocy of continuing our "thirst for oil" even now???

Should they prove unable to stop this (and there is getting less and less reason to think they can) then we might very well be seeing major impacts on worldwide fisheries and even the ocean's ability to produce oxygen. You're going to say that's hyperbole but it's fact. The vast majority of our oxygen is produced by the oceans and if this thing just continues to gush until it's exhausted (and that is a very real possibility, the relief wells could fail or THEY could start spillling) then I don't see how very major portions of the world's oceans will remain unaffected. You may say "oh, well, it will biodegrade in a few years", but how many decades can you put up with 20/30% less OXYGEN than you've grown used to.

Additionally, there are the undeniable facts that oil is getting more and more expensive all the time, is a strategic material largely in the hands of our enemies, will be needed for petrochemicals and may cause catastrophic climate change if we keep burning it.

WHY do you guys have this infernal love affair with gas guzzling engines? There are diesel hybrids that get 100mpg, there is an electric car (the Tesla) that has a 200 mile range and goes from 0-60 in under FOUR SECONDS, there are all SORTS of viable, feasible, workable alternatives that all exist RIGHT NOW. Did all you guys put every penny you ever earned into oil stocks or what??? otherwise I just can't understand you.

You talkin' to me?