| Nov 29 |
Archive for the 'oil rig' 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 rig' 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 rig' 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 rig' 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 rig' 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 21 |
Archive for the 'oil rig' CategoryDeepwater deaths, debacle don’t deter BP from more Gulf drilling The federal government today approved further offshore drilling by British energy giant BP — just 18 months after its Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 offshore workers and spawned the worst oil spill in American history. The new drilling will not be in BP’s Macondo prospect near Louisiana’s coast — site of Deepwater Horizon — but in its Kaskida prospect almost 200 miles from the Louisiana coast. BP will be allowed to drill up to seven new deepwater wells and shift the site of two other wells. (more…) |
| Oct 20 |
Archive for the 'oil rig' 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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| Oct 13 |
Archive for the 'oil rig' CategoryFeds fine 3 companies for Deepwater Horizon catastrophe The three companies involved in last year’s catastrophic Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig explosion, fire and oil spill all have been fined by the federal government for offshore drilling rule violations.
Federal fines could total as much as $45.7 million for BP, Halliburton and Houston-based Transocean. The move was made by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, an arm of the Interior Department. Its investigation along with that of the Coast Guard found “violation of numerous federal regulations designed to protect the integrity of offshore operations,” according to Michael Bromwich, bureau director. (more…) |
| Sep 22 |
Archive for the 'oil rig' CategoryTexas water may be polluted by Eagle Ford Shale ‘fracking’
For many years energy companies knew of no way to extract oil and gas effectively from shale rock. Then fracking and what’s known as horizontal drilling enabled them to tap these resources. And with a wide swath of South Texas harboring oil and gas beneath its shale, that process has sparked a massive boom in drilling. |
Reaping riches from Texas’ enormous new oil and gas field, the Eagle Ford Shale Play, may not come without a high price. It seems the extraction process called “hydraulic fracturing,” also known as “fracking,” could be polluting the state’s water supply.| Sep 22 |
Archive for the 'oil rig' CategoryGulf helicopter crashes kill offshore workers in transit each year It turns out working among heavy machinery, toxic elements, fire hazards and high-seas weather isn’t all that makes offshore jobs dangerous. Workers on gas or oil rigs also are killed or injured getting to and from work — not by the freeway, but by helicopter.
A recent study shows that, for 26 years, an average of six helicopters yearly crashed in the Gulf of Mexico while servicing offshore oil or gas rigs or platforms. Most often the cause has been engine failure, but weather and pilot error also contribute — and go hand in hand when a pilot takes off despite bad weather warnings. |