BP fines two engineers who may have been the cause of the explosion
BP fines two engineers who may have been the cause of the explosion
As you can recall, the damage caused in the Gulf of Mexico by the BP oil spill in 2010 was massive. The explosion killed 11 workers, lost between 50,000 and 75,000 barrels of oil a day and all the oil flowed into the gulf for more than 100 days killing many animals and endangering their habitats. BP has spent roughly about $42 billion dollars since then.
“…2 engineers made what turned out to be a catastrophic misjudgment about a critical safety test. Now the men face criminal charges in a court case starting later this month that experts say will be a tough test for both the prosecution and defense.”
“Don Vidrine, 65 years old, and Robert Kaluza, 63, are slated to appear in U.S. District Court in New Orleans on Nov. 28 on charges including "seaman's manslaughter" that could send them to prison for a decade or more.”
“The charges stem from their failure to properly interpret a key safety test on the drilling rig before the deadly blowout, which killed 11 people and caused the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. “
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323622904578127173280594296.html
Pipeline Components
Pipeline Components
“The speed at which pipelines are built is one of the more serious constraints in preventing impacts. Most big infrastructures take many years to plan and build. Completion of pipelines, on the other hand, often takes 24 to 36 months. This means it is even more important for the ESA of pipelines to begin as soon as the prefeasibility planning begins. Route selection, the main means of reducing impacts, is often one of the first items planned by the engineers. “
Being how I am blogging for a Valve Manufacture, I will save you some extra details about what a pipeline consists of. Depending on if you are an end-user, Mfg, or just a reader hoping to gain more info, you probably already know the different parts. Typically, you might see pipes, flanges, valves, fasteners, and of course many more parts. Some of the ball valves you might see would be the Trunnion Mounted Ball Valves. (This is our specialty)
GVC’s Trunnion Ball Valve are manufactured accordance to API 6D, NACE Compliant, they consist of 2 piece and 3 piece designs, also are Double Block & Bleed. We have a variety we keep in stock from ANSI 150-2500. If you are interested in GVC’s Trunnion Mounted Ball Valves, and want to know more information please visit our direct website which will route you to our Trunnion Valves: (For more information on our Trunnion Ball Valves, please visit our site; http://http://gvcintl.com/products_trunnion_mounted_ball_valves.html
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Interesting Oil Facts
Here are some of the most interesting oil facts I found on the web: Feel free to comment and leave any of your own
Oil was formed more than 300 million years ago
Oil is made into many different products like for instance clothes, fertilizers, plastic bottles, pens and lot of other products
Oil as well as other fossil fuels emits dangerous greenhouse gases which cause the global warming
Oil biggest producer is Saudi Arabia followed by Russia
Oil together with coal and natural gas supply about 88 % of the world's energy needs
Oil field that is largest in the world is Ghawar in Saudi Arabia that contains between the 75-85 billion barrels of oil which is six times more than the Prudhoe Bay in Alaska as the largest oil field in US
Fixing the oil industry, one beer at a time
“The importance of the pipeline in industry, agriculture and nearly every vital facet of civilization cannot be under-emphasized. Without pipeline construction, we would lack plumbing and electricity, not to mention access to gas & petroleum reserves.”
“A massive undertaking of over 5 km in length, the Veltins Arena beer pipeline was constructed to ensure that it would never “run dry”.
What a great idea! If we could use the abandoned pipeline to make them into beer pipelines- nothing would go to waste! We wouldn't have any decommissioned pipelines lying around either.
http://www.cmarshallfab.com/solving-the-oil-industrys-pr-and-financial-problems-one-beer-at-a-time
Forest fires and the affect on Pipelines
A forest fire had started on June 23, in the Pike National Forest. The fire exploded eastward toward the city, destroying 346 homes and killing two people.
“According to fire officials, they expect to have the Waldo Canyon Fire fully contained on July 16. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The cost of the fire is estimated at $8.8 million.”
I believe the weather has a major impact on these fires in Colorado- lately we have seen the temperature rise up from 95 to 105! If the fires come across any pipelines this could be bad news. Thankfully- there are not any pipelines in the area where the fires are currently at in Colorado. If a pipeline is damaged, natural gas could escape causing fires, explosions, or asphyxiation.
http://www.9news.com/news/local/article/275442/222/Residents-see-Waldo-Canyon-Fire-damage-firsthand
Pipelines in Poland
“Exxon Mobil Corp. said Monday it has dropped further shale exploration in Poland after two wells failed to yield commercial quantities of natural gas, a hit for the country’s efforts to reduce its dependence on imports from Russia”
We know that Obama has cancelled the Keystone Pipeline- why not take all our resources and send some workers to the Eastern European countries to build a pipeline? This will not only help out our neighbors but also create jobs for thousands of people.
“Analysts have said that Poland and other Eastern European countries faced a big challenge for developing unconventional energy resources, owing to a lack of infrastructure and manpower. Unlike the U.S. and Canada, Poland doesn’t have a well-developed pipeline system to move gas from the fields it is produced to where it is consumed, nor the strong drilling services industry needed to tap shale reservoirs.”
http://rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=118675
FOX PETROLEUM ACQUIRES RENFRO, CAMERON PARISH PIPELINES
“Fox Petroleum announced that it is acquiring Renfro Energy LLC and Cameron Parish Pipelines LLC for three-hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) in cash.”
Among all of the pipeline encounters and devastating accidents the Fox Petroleum is proudly to announce of their $300,000 full on cash for this Renfro Energy LLC as well as Cameron Parish Pipelines LLC which will start producing between 15-20 barrels a day which adds to 600 barrels per month.
Renfro Energy LLC is located in Dallas, Texas, which developed in March of 2002. (In the article: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fox-Petroleum-Acquire-Renfro-iw-981621205.html?x=0%20ForceRecrawl:%200). They’re based at a limited liability hold a house existing oil and gas assets which is located in Texas, Oklahoma and for acquisitions identified in Louisiana. They sold over $6 Million of oil and gas properties through approximately 15 acquisitions.
This project will significantly lead to the bottom line and being how the cost will be at a decent price for a long term asset which will continue to have a great value. (In the article: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=110891) This company expects to complete the transaction by October 31st, 2011 upon completion of PCAOB audits. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, so the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or to changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law, that is if they decide to mandatory the statements.
Women in the Oil and Gas Industry
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Table 18: Employed Persons by Detailed Industry, Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity," women make up just 18% of the workforce in the oil and gas industry. Because this is a historically male dominated field which, for some, conjures up images of dirty, rig workers which means oil and gas is not always an appealing field for women.
The old boys mentality that is so ingrained in the field is a deterrent and tends keeps women out of top level positions, usually this is not intentional on the part of the company. In 2009 the oil and gas industry experienced a mass exodus of women in key top level positions, and currently less than 10% of executive and board member positions in oil and gas companies are held by women.
Source: http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/06/24/oil-and-gas-industry-called-out-for-lack-of-women-in-top-posts/
OOPS! WRONG PIPELINE BILL PASSED
As the title speaks for the article, the government sure does know how to mess things up when it comes to bills being passed! They say “The House by unanimous consent late Wednesday agreed to the version they meant to approve Monday; the Senate is expected to quickly follow suit.”
(In the article http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70466.html)
Apparently the government seems to not understand the major impact that measure moved swiftly following multiple high-profile accidents. Last year a deadly explosion in San Bruno, California, killed eight residents and injured many more. In July, an Exxon Mobil pipeline dumped an estimated 1,000 barrels in the Yellowstone River. Now the bill has doubled to $2 Million the maximum fine for safety violations, “Where economically, technically and operationally feasible.”
If you ask me, the government is in over their heads when it comes to signing a bill to either pass or object, they cannot make up their minds and it’s heart breaking to know that this is what we the American people are dealing with. We may have a Freedom to state our opinions but for this – I do believe we have said enough and unfortunately we the Americans cannot get across to the government. This is a sign and they choose to ignore it!
Barnett Shale Region of Texas
Orion Petroleum and Petrel Energy recently executed a binding transaction agreement to merge. Petrel is a private upstream company. Orion will acquire Petrel for 115.1 million shares going to the current stakeholders in Petrel.
The groups first project will focus on the Barnett Shale region of Texas.
The Barnett Shale is a geological formation located in the Bend Arch-Fort Worth Basin. It consists of sedimentary rocks in Texas. The formation underlies approximately 5,000 mi and at least 17 counties.
Some experts have suggested the Barnett Shale may have the largest producible reserves of any onshore natural gas field in the United States.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnett_Shale
