| Nov 29 |
Archive for the 'oil lawsuit' CategoryOffshore workers to be trained at NASA facility in HoustonNow that offshore drilling has resumed in earnest in the Gulf of Mexico following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster off the coast of Louisiana, energy companies are actively seeking new workers for such rigs and are trying to train them by various means.
One new training strategy is to use the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory located near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The 40-foot deep and 200-foot long pool has been used for 15 years by NASA to train astronauts by simulating the absence of gravity in space. NASA now has less use for the facility with the end of the space shuttle program, so it’s contracting with energy companies who want to use it to train workers in offshore survival. (more…) |
| Nov 07 |
Archive for the 'oil lawsuit' CategoryBP pays record $50 million settlement to Texas BP, the disgraced British energy company which is now allowed to start drilling again in the Gulf of Mexico whose waters it ravaged last year, will pay $50 million to the state of Texas as a settlement for state claims that it violated pollution standards 72 times after its Texas City refinery explosion in 2005. (more…) |
| Nov 07 |
Archive for the 'oil lawsuit' CategoryOil rig ‘fracking’ may have caused 2 UK earthquakes Just two weeks after a 4.6 magnitude earthquake jolted Texas near oilfields in Karnes County, two earthquakes near Blackpool, England, have been attributed most likely to drilling there with a technique called “fracking.”Also known as hydraulic fracturing, fracking involves blasting millions of gallons of water at high pressure into shale rock to release oil or natural gas beneath. It’s a relatively new process which, along with horizontal drilling, has made such reserves accessible for the first time. (more…) |
| Nov 07 |
Archive for the 'oil lawsuit' CategoryFeds OK extending almost 1,400 offshore drilling leasesThe federal government has approved extending almost 1,400 offshore drilling releases in an attempt to offset work stoppages or delays sparked by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster. That event claimed 11 offshore workers’ live and spewed the worst oil spill in America’s history into the Gulf of Mexico. (more…)
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| Oct 26 |
Archive for the 'oil lawsuit' CategoryBP says ‘spirit coming back,’ but Deepwater remains a deep stainBP is crowing now that the feds have said it can drill again in the Gulf of Mexico. “You can feel the spirit coming back,” says CEO Bob Dudley.
Of course, while banned from drilling after the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, BP had kept some Gulf wells active anyway, using loopholes and surrogate drillers. But now it has the all-clear to drill seven new wells on its own. Plus, profits are up. So its “spirit is coming back.” (more…) |
| Oct 20 |
Archive for the 'oil lawsuit' CategoryDrilling rigs’ ‘fracking’ may have caused earthquake near San AntonioIt was bound to happen. As energy companies aggressively ramp up drilling in the wide swath of South Texas known as Eagle Ford Shale, the radical new process they use to extract natural gas from shale may have spurred a rare earthquake between Karnes City and Pleasanton, around 50 miles southeast of San Antonio. (more…)
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| Aug 30 |
Archive for the 'oil lawsuit' CategoryOil rig court case hurts injured workers, but there’s still hope
How’s that true? It’s true because of a 2007 court decision known as Entergy Gulf States, Inc. v. Summers, NO. 05-0272. |
The Texas Supreme Court has not acted as a friend to the valiant men who work oil and gas rigs. Instead, it seems to favor the wealthy oil companies which hire these workers and place them in harm’s way.| Jun 27 |
Archive for the 'oil lawsuit' CategoryDespite Deepwater Horizon wakeup call, feds asleep on easing offshore accident risks
Well, not entirely by themselves. They also can engage an experienced Jones Act lawyer from Jim S. Adler & Associates to press their case for financial compensation. Also known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, the Jones Act provides protections for injured seamen, sailors and maritime workers, including those on mobile offshore rigs and platforms. |
You’d think last year’s Deepwater Horizon explosion of a mobile offshore drilling unit would have sparked Washington to fix such problems. But in many cases, offshore dangers persist as “business as usual.” That leaves maritime workers who risk their lives to fend for themselves if endangered by an accident on the high seas.| Jun 16 |
Archive for the 'oil lawsuit' CategoryBP exec cites “small people” as victims of BP oil spill disaster
In May, while millions of gallons of oil gushed into the Gulf, BP CEO Tony Hayward told a British newspaper that he expected Americans’ claims for oil spill damages via lawsuits to be “illegitimate.” “This is America – come on,” Hayward said. “We’re going to have lots of illegitimate claims. We all know that.” |
BP executives not only lead a company whose wanton disregard of caution led to April 20′s Gulf of Mexico oil spill — the worst environmental disaster in America’s history — but also betray an acute case of foot-in-mouth disease.| Jun 15 |
Archive for the 'oil lawsuit' CategoryBP has trillions in assets to pay billions in oil spill lawsuit claims
But BP, formerly British Petroleum, has the means to foot that bill. The world’s third-largest energy giant had net profits of more than $10 billion combined in the last quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010. In fact, BP has generated over $100 billion in profits, after expenses, in the last five years. Just last year, BP had revenues of almost $250 billion, with $16.8 billion in profits. BP also owns huge oil reserves which could be converted into cash by selling them to other energy companies. How huge? The oil it owns that’s still in the ground reportedly is worth $13.5 trillion at today’s prices. |
As the cost of BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill grows, many of its victims, from failing businesses to fishermen and their families, may wonder if they can be compensated for their losses. After all, the bill already is in the billions, with estimates ranging from $37 billion to $70 billion.