Greenpeace: Deepwater legal Challenge to UK Govt

[Tipp]

Greenpeace has intimated a legal challenge to the UK Govt in court on awarding deepwater leases without knowing the full outcome of the BP Macondo blowout. Published in Trinidad press is an update that the TT Govt just opened up 11 leases for bids in the Deep waters off TT, but its balanced to oil and two reservoirs to gas. See links below. Are we side stepping the results of Macondo investigations? Are we ready for Deep & ULtra Deep using similar equipment and procedures that were used at Macondo? If we ignore the correlation of Greenpeace challenge as relating to what TT is planning, could we be in problems? If we wait for the outcome,may take years, we would be in dire straits as gas is running out, but note, the seismics indicate more oil than gas.
Excerpts:
""Trinidad and Tobago offers 11 blocks in latest bid round - Oil & ...
Trinidad and Tobago announced the offering of 11 deepwater
blocks for bid in its 2010 licensing round.. ... 2010-08-31
The energy minister noted that the companies will be entering into frontier territory since there has never been exploration on these blocks before, but she said studies had shown that the blocks could contain oil fields as large as 1.6 billion bbl and gas fields in excess of 6.5 tcf.""

http://www.ogj.com/index/article-display/3479883162/articles/oil-gas-journal/exploration-development-2/2010/08/trinidad-and_tobago0.html

Legal threat to UK deep-water plans
02 September 2010 11:29 GMT
The UK government faces a legal challenge to its plans to further open up the country's deep-water play to E&P activity.
The group has delivered a formal "letter before action" to the government, which accuses ministers of granting licences for new deep-water drilling before the causes of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the US Gulf of Mexico have been properly established

http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article228253.ece

[Falcon]

Desmond,

the only case in recent memory of shutting down every similar entity upon a disaster, was Concorde.

I think it is very important to understand the causes of the recent disaster, and avoid the allegedly poor contingency planning.

The UK government and others can get around Greenpeace's challenge by submitting reasonably thorough risk assessments.

The governments will prevail (at first instance or through High Court appeal) because this is a classic case of opportunity-cost.

[Tipp]

Falcon: Thanks and look another accident, an explosion on a drilling rig in deepwater Gulf of Mexico with a mile long oil slick. Next last night news, 8 million litres of diesel on a supply ship ran aground in the Canadian Artic. Its getting crazy, that insurance rates for exploration are increasing. Governments, if they ignore the Safety and what Washington will propose by the Mines Management Dept after Macondo, and sort of adopt these principles to their National laws then I see chaos. As USA companies working internationally could be stepping on new grounds although they are working internationally, they are responsible to USA laws also via a dotted line. Reason for my post, is that I heard that some countries are delaying new deepwater leases until they have results of the Macondo blow-out and extra protocols and procedures for E&P companies in deep waters.

[Falcon]

which countries?

[Tipp]

Falcon: If you are interested in this, its the North Sea UK and Europe in big problems relooking its deep water projects and even shallow water contracts, its Canada Artic, I did not keep the articles as I am not a library but if you don't think that the Macondo has govt's to relook its licensing agreemernts for deep waters then we don't know the oil business, Just yesterday I read about: do we have the right approach to oil spill contingency?, then do we drill two deepwater wells one is the working well the other is the emergency well for shutdown of the primary well if there is a problem. Has TT taken on these issues? Lots more to come but Environmental groups are talking about base line studies. If you had been following this up and really interested in E&P,you would not have been asking me to give links as I am not a librarian., but suspect you want to catch me out that I am gossiping, yes?

[Falcon]

as I am not a librarian., but suspect you want to catch me out that I am gossiping, yes?

errr...not really.....
but you should know by now I am not an AVID FOLLOWER of oil issues from my participation records- I just thought you wanted to debate or discuss something and wouldn't mind bringing me up to speed so I could discuss too. Sheesh, yuh seeing ah pattern here Tipp? Yuh too bright for this forum.

[Tipp]

Here you are some, I recovered from trash, there are lots more like this operating to N Sea: UK and Europe, Alaska, Australia and FAr EAst. I did not keep, If you were interested in this from the beginning you would not be asking me these silly questions, having to prove myself, its logical isnt it? You just trying to harrasss me. Not many talk Science and Technology, those who do just criticises and shoots the messenger,so TTOL is a right old Gossip centre. We hardly learn anything intelligent here.

Bahamas Bans Offshore Drilling
The Bahamas Ministry of Environment and Oil Exploration has suspended consideration of all applications for oil exploration and drilling off its shores.
http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=9245febe8f74c8571f7aa4b239928cdc02cd56fde9cde9 d25572f9660c4dc33a

Higher costs, consolidation expected in Gulf of Mexico

Aug 28, 2010
Paula Dittrick
OGJ Senior Staff Writer

HOUSTON, Aug. 28 -- Drilling costs and operating expenses in the Gulf of Mexico are apt to escalate in the aftermath of the explosion on Transocean Ltd.’s Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible and the subsequent oil spill from BP PLC’s Macondo well off Louisiana.

This anticipated rise in costs stems from proposed regulatory changes. Proposals include higher civil and criminal penalties for an oil spill, greater redundancy in drilling safety equipment, additional federal inspectors, and more-stringent requirements for deepwater drilling permits.
http://www.ogj.com/index/article-display/9010473793/articles/oil-gas-journal/general-interest-2/2010/08/higher-costs__consolidation/QP129867/cmpid=EnlDailyAugust302010.html

Deepwater complexities make regulations necessary,
lawmakers told
The US oil and gas industry’s approach of developing standards and practices apparently isn’t capable of handling complex deepwater exploration and production problems by itself, an independent consultant told a House subcommittee.

http://www.ogj.com/index/article-display/5961679204/articles/oil-gas-journal/general-interest-2/2010/07/deepwater-complexities/QP129867/cmpid=EnlDailyJuly12010.html

Senate panel removes spill liability cap;
passes Menendez bill
The US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed Sen. Robert Menendez’s (D-NJ) bill to increase the offshore oil spill liability limit, with an amendment proposed by chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to eliminate the liability cap for a party deemed responsible for an offshore spill.
http://www.ogj.com/index/article-display/0860147629/articles/oil-gas-journal/general-interest-2/economics-markets/2010/07/market-watch__bearish/QP129867/cmpid=EnlDailyJuly12010.html

Trinidad should be following what the USA MMS is going to do re offshore deepwater leas before jumoing on to deepwater drilling
.

[Falcon]

Please slow down to actually READ what we morons write.


If you were interested in this from the beginning you would not be asking me these silly questions, having to prove myself, its logical isnt it? You just trying to harrasss me. Not many talk Science and Technology, those who do just criticises and shoots the messenger,so TTOL is a right old Gossip centre. We hardly learn anything intelligent here.


Understand this Tipp. I already made it clear that I wasn't interested in this 'from the beginning'. My silly questions were to help you help me. Sirius can talk science. Guy can talk science. Kemist can talk science. They dont criticise the messenger- so must be the message then.

[Tipp]

Continuing the post in a neutral manner:

Industry bosses back UK offshore regs
Leading members of the UK oil industry told a parliamentary inquiry into deep-water offshore drilling this morning that the country’s regulatory regime is strong and fit for purpose.

Rob Watts 07 September 2010 11:24 GMT

Among those facing the Energy & Climate Change Select Committee was Malcolm Webb, chief executive of industry representative group Oil & Gas UK, who told the committee he saw no case for a drilling moratorium off the UK.

He told MPs: “We continue to have faith in the strength and integrity of the regulatory regime.

“The blowout and sustained flow of oil which resulted from [the Macondo blowout in the US Gulf of Mexico] was truly shocking and rightly caused the offshore oil and gas industry and its regulators around the world to reflect upon the implications of the incident for their own operations

[Falcon]

Exactly Tipp. The UK guys were always going to say they have risk-assessed properly. Exploration will not (cannot) stop especially in the financial context of 2010. If Palin and cronies had their way, they would go the same way!

[aprillove20]

Well, the UK government faces a legal challenge to its plans to further open up. Such as a valuable information.