Peeved Porpoise
Edited by: Eccentric Intelligence Agency
Sarasota, FL – British Petroleum (BP) currently has four development rigs at their Thunderhorse platform and two at the Atlantis platform. Exploration and appraisal rigs are currently elsewhere in the gulf. Despite compromising marine life in the Gulf of Mexico, BP reported a 17 percent increase in first quarter profit to $7.1 billion in April of this year.
Byron Grote, the chief financial officer for BP, stated: “Rebuilding long-term sustainable value for our shareholders” as BP’s priority. Since when, though, have the words “long-term” and “sustainable” been used to talk about an environmental disaster? Perhaps Grote was referring exclusively to shareholders, or maybe organic farming in . . . Russia? Otherwise, he must be (literally) thinking larger than life.
Jonathan Jackson at Killik & Co has spoken reassuringly about “BP’s attractive portfolio of assets”. After all, BP has struck a “deal” with US regulators allowing it to resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), there will be “rigorous new safety standards,” although no reference for the supposed restrictions has been offered. BP has also declined to comment on the lifting of the moratorium on drilling imposed after the spill.
It seems the US government is supporting domestic oil production over safety, to reduce our dependence on foreign oil (a phrase anyone living inside the US is familiar with). It is a swell motive, but a lost cause — and they know it.
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The oil industry openly admits it wants to open up coastlines and public lands to oil-drilling for their own profit, knowing full well it will not lead to energy independence for the US. “Realistically, it is simply not feasible . . . No combination of conservation measures, alternative energy sources, and technological advances could realistically and economically provide a way to completely replace those imports in the short or medium term,” Exxon Mobil Senior V.P. Stuart McGill stated in 2006 at an energy conference in Houston, TX. Realistic indeed.
Still, the 2005 Energy Policy Act provided $6 billion in subsidies for oil and gas development toward the unattainable goal of “energy security.” The bill also provided $1.5 billion in direct payments to drill deepwater wells – a far more dangerous process.
According to Transocean – the firm which operated the Deepwater rig — 2010 was “the best year in safety performance in our company’s history, which is a reflection on our commitment to achieving an incident-free environment all the time, everywhere.” For such outstanding safety performance, Transocean awarded millions in bonuses to executive employees.
…Oh great nautical protector, saint of the sacred petropolis on the sea, your disciples can truly do no wrong. Assimilate me amongst your angels! Hail the EPA!…
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