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Posts in July 2010

• NWF Attack Oil Industry’s “Assault on America”

  Andy Rowell

  Jul30

  Yesterday Shell waded into the Deepwater fall-out by defending deep-water drilling. Peter Voser, Shell chief executive, argued that deep-water drilling still had an important role to play in global energy supply. “We have got growth potential there”. But what cost is this growth? Even the industry’s own trade magazines are questioning the business as usual…
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• The Boom Times Are Back

  Andy Rowell

  Jul29

  From one disaster to another.. Early on during Deepwater, I blogged on how the Canadians were looking to exploit the spill to push their dirty oil. The fact has not been lost on the industry bible, the Petroleum Economist, (PE) which notes in its July edition that “whisper it, but the US’ misfortune could be…
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• 100 Days That Changed the Industry .. Or Did it?

  Andy Rowell

  Jul28

  So we are 100 days into this disaster and what has changed? Well we have a new CEO of BP. The straight talking American Bob Dudley argues that the Gulf of Mexico spill has been “wake-up call not only for BP, but the oil and gas industry overall”. But will this wake-up call change the…
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• Why not donate your pension to the Gulf residents, Tony?

  Andy Rowell

  Jul27

  Dear Tony, So I thought I would say goodbye. Except that it is not really goodbye today is it. You are hanging on until October, but what you are going to do for another couple of months, I am not sure? Even then you aren’t really leaving are you? Not content with $1 million /…
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• A $20 Million Reward for Failure

  Andy Rowell

  Jul26

  The details are still being worked out. The BP Board meets this afternoon. But if the press reports are anything to go by, the company’s embattled CEO, Tony Hayward will walk away with anything from at least £11 million to £12 million plus. That’s about $18.5 million. And that’s the low estimate. The huge amount…
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• US Government “Sock-Puppet” for BP Over Dispersants

  Andy Rowell

  Jul23

  The dispersant row continues. If people are worried about the legacy of what BP is doing in the Gulf of Mexico, they should watch the latest Democracy Now. In it EPA scientist Hugh Kaufman accuses the Obama Administration, including his own agency, the EPA, of being “sock-puppets for BP in the cover up” over the…
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• 75 Per Cent of Oil Lobbyists Worked for Government

  Andy Rowell

  Jul22

  Talking to people about the Deepwater Horizon, often a response has been “how can something like that happen in the US.” Exactly that question is being forensically picked over by lawyers and Congressional investigators and the answers are increasingly looking unpalatable. But one thing for sure it could not happen without the raw power of…
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• Despite “Deepwater” BP Bets on More Deepwater

  Andy Rowell

  Jul21

  British Prime Minister David Cameron came out batting for BP in Washington yesterday as he tried to “shield” the company over the allegations that BP lobbied for the release of the Lockerbie bomber. But more importantly, he warned US Senators not to “single out” BP over legislation that might ban BP from drilling in the…
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• Now for the Static Kill…

  Andy Rowell

  Jul20

  If Plan A doesn’t work, try Plan B or C or D or… BP is quite happily chewing through the alphabet of options, with the latest being what is called a “static kill,” in which heavy mud would be pumped into the recently capped well, to try and finally block the oil. So we have…
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• Still Leaking?

  Andy Rowell

  Jul19

  The weekend’s euphoria that BP may have stopped the oil leaking into the Gulf has been replaced by the cold reality that the well head may still be leaking. The US government has now ordered the beleaguered oil company to produce a report on a “detected seep” near the well-head, that could include leaking methane…
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