Oil Leak at Gulf of Mexico Oil Well

[Guest LAW]

Mr. Lamar McKay

President and CEO,

BP America Inc.

501 Westlake Park Boulevard

Houston, Texas 70779

 

Dear Mr. McKay:

 

BP is now collecting oil through a cap placed on the top of the blowout preventer at the Deepwater Horizon/Macondo well accident site. However, as is evident from the live video feeds being shot at the Ocean floor, substantial quantities of oil continue to escape from around the sides of the cap and from the vents on the cap.

 

On question that remains unanswered is the rate which is still spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. BP is stating that the cap is capturing 10,000 barrels a day and the Coast Guard is moving another ship onto the area to increase containment capacity to nearly 20,000 barrels per day. Conservative flow-rate estimates before the riser was severed was between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels per day, with the potential for a 20 percent increase in flow after removing the kinked and broken riser pipe.

 

As my letter yesterday stated, I am concerned that we still do not know the total amount of oil that is flowing out of the well. Experts will be able to determine the current total flow rate if they have access to archived high quality video of the period after the riser was severed and before the cap was installed.

 

It has come to my attention that the Flow Rate Technical group has not yet received archived video data for this period. Since I have previously requested that you archive all video, I expect that you have stored a copy of all the chronological video feeds. Any efforts on your part to prevent experts from determining the size of this spill is unacceptable.

 

I request that you immediately release the archived video to the Flow Rate Technical Group to me so that the size of this spill can be determined. Five days have passed since BP severed the riser. We need to know the amount of total oil flowing from the well to determine the efficacy of the temporary cap solution and to know the size and extent of the needed spill response.

 

Therefore, please provide me and the flow rate technical group, archived, high-quality video showing the flow of oil from the top of the blowout preventer, after the point in time when the riser pipe was completely severed and prior to placement of the temporary cap.

 

In order to be able to assess the ongoing situation in real time I request that you release video within 24 hours of the receipt of this letter. I would ask that such video be of the highest possible quality and that it include all available camera angles.

 

Sincerly,

 

Edward J. Markey

Chairman

Energy and Environment

Subcommittee

Energy and Commerce Committee

[Guest Enron Ex]

How come, American firms are totally insulated from criticism while BP is flagellated by everyone around the world, including the now inept Obama?

 

Sure BP is the principal contractor. However, they didn't do the actual drilling nor the critical capping where it all went wrong, it was done by American contractors, on their own turf and more importantly to their own "sub-standard American standards".

 

Greater over sight was required of BP? Maybe.

 

Let's get off the "get BP" band wagon. Sheet the blame home to where it lives, Americans once again shooting themselves in the foot and of course, blaming others.

 

Americans are pissed at BP, because BP has lied to Americans from the start. You need to start reading unfiltered media.

[Guest Sun67]

Looks like the oil will be hitting Ocean City in a couple of months. That is a big Bummer.

 

[Guest Mike Jackson]

Ask this big question. Are truck loads of hay being sent down south? No they are not! Show me the trucks! Hay removes oil from the water. It has been used with great success in the past. Either you haven't seen that extremely viral youtube video with the two hicks pulling oil out of water or you're a politician who wants disaster to linger.

 

The absorbent pads currently being used are more effective.

[Guest ALWAYSRED]

What the Obama administration stated during a press briefing on April 29, 2010 will need to be investigated.

 

Q As this investigation continues over what caused this, are other rigs or other wells in the region being looked at or impacted in a way to prevent the problem from compounding?

 

DEPUTY SECRETARY HAYES: Yes, is the answer. Per my earlier statement, we are increasing our inspection frequency. We have a SWAT team of inspectors. We have 55 -- the Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service has 55 inspectors on the ground, in the Gulf, dedicated to this task. So, yes, inspections are proceeding.

 

Q This particular rig was inspected how many times, and did it pass?

 

DEPUTY SECRETARY HAYES: Yes, yes, it was. It was -- this particular rig started drilling in this location in January of this year. Under the regulations, it’s subject to monthly inspections. It had monthly inspections, in fact, with the last inspection being less than two weeks before the incident.

 

Q I’m sorry, does that suggest that inspections are inadequate if they didn’t find something two weeks ago?

 

DEPUTY SECRETARY HAYES: No, we don’t think so.

 

MR. GIBBS: Again, I think it’s hard to determine until you determine the cause of what the incident was.

 

How did BP pass their inspection 10 days prior to the explosion? This was on Obama's watch.

[Guest Jody]

This is what I want to see more from our President

 

 

The only time the President does something is when someone tell him to do it. James Carvel said Obama needs to get down to Louisiana, he finally went. A news reporter said Obama needs to get angry and he finally did. Obama has no clue,I wish he would get out of the way and let people who know what to do lead the way.

[Guest ALWAYSRED]

Now people are using their heads. Why did the Minerals Management Service (MMS) to give BP's lease at Deepwater Horizon a "categorical exclusion" from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on April 6, 2009? Once again this was on Obama's watch.

[Guest Independent Thinker]

The president himself was occupied elsewhere. After returning from his vacation, Obama spent Monday, April 26th palling around with Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees, congratulating them on their World Series victory. He later took time to chat with the president of Honduras. When he put in a call to Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, it was to talk about tornadoes that had caused damage in that state, with only a brief mention of the oil spill. On Tuesday the 27th, Obama visited a wind-turbine plant in Iowa. Wednesday the 28th, he toured a biofuels refinery in Missouri and talked up financial reform in Quincy, Illinois. He didn't mention the oil spill or the Gulf.

 

Besides your blog here, Rolling Stone did a great job on sharing the truth. Read the story...

 

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/111965?RS_show_page=0

 

I am no longer going to purchase BP gas.

[Guest AmericanX]

I personally do not think Google allowing BP to buy all terms associated with the oil spill is not ethical.

 

 

BP used a strategy from Obama's campaign playbook. Pay Google, they control what media is seen, and everything will be fine.

[Guest Defenders of Wildlife]

Everything written here shows overwhelming proof that we need to end our oil addiction and our government needs to take action immediately now.

[Luke_Wilbur]

I think we should be thanking the Coast Guard and all the hard working volunteers who are trying their very best to protect our shores. The efforts will not be in vain.

 

[Guest Boone]

It is important that no one tries to use the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico to their own benefit, but I wanted to share with you two recent newspaper editorials that help make the case for the Pickens Plan in light of the current situation.

 

One is from the Houston Chronicle illustrating the effect of the oil spill on our dependence on foreign oil:

 

"To put things in perspective, if the BP spill is flowing at 20,000 barrels per day, that makes for an environmental catastrophe, but...it's roughly one-tenth of 1 percent of what we use daily.”

 

"Here's another number that might help: 700 billion barrels of oil equivalent. That's a rough estimate of how much natural gas this country has, mostly trapped in shale formations from Texas to Colorado and in the West Virginia-Pennsylvania-New York region. It's accessible without drilling through deep waters and the product is twice as clean as coal."

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/7035607.html

[Guest LAW]

BP removed from the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes

 

The oil company BP plc. was removed from the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI), effective May 31, 2010. As a component of the DJSI World Index, BP was subject to index rules that allow for elimination from the DJSI following extraordinary events. No substitution was made to the DJSI World components. The DJSI World now has 315 components.

 

The extent of the oil-spill catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico and its foreseeable long-term effects on the environment and the local population – in addition to the economic effects and the longterm damage to the reputation of the company – were included in the analysis leading up to BP’s removal. The decision, which was taken by the Index Design Committee, was communicated to the company.

 

Companies are selected annually for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes based on the SAM

Assessment. The construction of the DJSI family is strictly rule-based which applies to the

inclusion and exclusion of companies in these indexes. Index components are monitored daily

for newly arising critical issues. The subsequent analysis assesses a company's involvement in

economic, environmental or social crisis situations and compares its crisis management against

its stated principles and policies.

 

Additional information on the daily monitoring process can be found at:

 

http://www.sustainabilityindex.com/07_htmle/assessment/monitoring.html

[Guest LAW]

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, 6/9/10

 

Q On BP, following Admiral Allen's letter to BP demanding more information on how the company was seeking damage claims, do you feel you're getting sufficient cooperation from BP in dealing with compensation claims?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, today's meeting is a direct offshoot of what we have heard from those in the Gulf, some of what we heard on the last trip to the Gulf on Friday, that there is a series of steps that BP needs to take, particularly in terms of the transparency of claims. We heard from folks about the degree to which larger claims have not been either addressed or paid out.

 

I don't want to get ahead of the result of what Admiral Allen and others say out of that meeting, but I will say, going into that meeting we think they're -- and that letter outlines some specific steps that we think BP needs to take right now to address this claims process. They've got a certain amount of time to pay these claims. We want to see some transparency as to what claims have not been paid.

 

Again, in meeting with either a seafood processor or a convenience store owner or a larger commercial fisherman -- you may have gotten a $5,000 check. That is likely not going to cover how much you might owe on your boat, or the lost income of not processing more shrimp, or the loss that you've seen in your convenience store. All of those were personal stories the President heard just last Friday.

 

Yes, sir.

 

Q In terms of the claims process and also in terms of the cleaning process, which are the two most important aspects of what's going on beyond plugging the hole down there for Louisianans, why is BP in charge of that? Why is the government not supervising? I mean, BP is hiring contractors. Why doesn't the government hire contractors and --

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, the government has activated members of the National Guard. The government has activated -- or has Coast Guard members. Different branches of the government have different folks down there. I would say we are -- the relationship that we have in terms of directing them is the same as we have in the broader relationship.

 

Q They're failing at cleaning -- BP is failing at the cleaning process, they're failing at the claims process.

 

MR. GIBBS: Which is, Jake, why Admiral Allen sent that letter and why Admiral Allen, again, off of the meeting that the President had last week, has set up a meeting to fix this claims process.

 

Q But why doesn't the government take -- why doesn't the government --

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, again, I don't want to come out of -- not in the meeting, the claims meeting, today. I do think a series of remedies that have been outlined that we believe BP must take will be discussed, and we'll move forward from them in order to make the claims process, which we know is going to be large -- economic damages out of this thing certainly will swell into the many billions of dollars -- and we will work in every way we can with the people of the Gulf and with the states affected to ensure that the process is one that is completely fair for them.

 

Q Thanks, Robert. I just want to go back to BP in terms of the claims process. When the President told NBC that he has still not talked directly to Tony Hayward, the CEO -- in order to move that and many of these other things along, why hasn't the President just picked up the phone and talked directly to the CEO?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, again, I think what's important to understand is it's not entirely clear to anybody that -- look, the CEO is elected by the board. Anything that the CEO wants to do has to be approved by the board. I'm not entirely sure, based on the executive structure of corporate governance, that --

 

Q He's the public face of this.

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, and that's apropos of what?

 

Q He's been out front from day one. He's the person who's making the decisions on the ground, not the board.

 

MR. GIBBS: Any decision that the CEO makes has to be approved by the board. So I don't -- again, we're in constant contact with --

 

Q He's the leader of the company. He's the guy who has been the -- he's in the ads, the $50 million ads the President has criticized. It's Tony Hayward saying, we're going to get this done, we're going to clean it up.

 

MR. GIBBS: No, I understand who's in the ads. I'm just -- I'm telling you based on the corporate governance structure, Ed, in order to implement what -- whatever you get from BP, the CEO has to get clearance from the board to do. That's the way the corporate governance structure is laid out.

 

Q Okay, so -- but when the President said in the NBC interview that he talks to these experts so he knows who's "blank" to kick, presumably --

 

Q "Ass" was the word.

 

Q Yes, I think -- presumably Tony Hayward is the biggest "blank" in this whole -- he's the leader, right? (Laughter.) Is that a hollow claim, that he's kicking butt here, or why not pick up the phone and tell the CEO, we've got to clean up this claims process?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, that's happening today as a result of the meeting that's happening between Tony Hayward and the person in charge of claims for British Petroleum.

 

Q Just whose butt is the President kicking? He said he's looking -- trying to determine whose butt to kick. Whose is he kicking and whose has he kicked?

 

MR. GIBBS: Us in government and those in BP.

 

Q Who in BP?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, we are, as I said a minute ago, meeting directly today with the person involved in claims.

 

Q I mean the President himself.

 

MR. GIBBS: Right, the --

 

Q The President is not meeting with him.

 

MR. GIBBS: No, the President is not meeting with him. The President asked Thad Allen to meet with him as an offshoot of the meeting that the President was involved in.

 

Q You'd think if the President says he's looking for butts to kick, he's going to do something other than just send Thad Allen to a meeting. Wouldn't he actually, as Ed said, pick up the phone? And if he's constrained by the board, then why not call the board members? Why not call them all --

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, again, we're in constant contact with many in the corporate structure of BP about how and what they must do -- whether it's the claims process, whether it's a directive that was issued today by Thad Allen, the national incident commander, in order to ensure that there is a redundancy that allows for, as the cap can take more oil and as different things are added to the strategy of the top cap, that vessels are in place in order to be able to do that.

 

Q You seemed to concede to Jake that BP is failing at both the claims and the cleanup process. Does the President -- is that how the President describes this --

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, again, the meeting is an offshoot of complaints that we have all heard, particularly on the claims process, that has to be remedied, absolutely.

 

Q How would you describe the President's level of confidence in BP now? Is he losing confidence? Does he have any confidence in them --

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, our job is to make sure that the response is -- takes care of the needs of those in the Gulf. And if there are things that need to happen, like ensuring that the person in charge of claims at BP is providing information to our officials who are helping citizens with the claims process, that's what we'll do.

 

Q Is it the President's view that he is just stuck with BP no matter how badly they fail?

 

MR. GIBBS: In what way?

 

Q If they continue to fail with the cleanup process and the claims process, as the President --

 

MR. GIBBS: No, if there are things that need to happen, we will continue to direct them to take those steps.

 

Q Yes, but is he stuck with BP if they continue to fail?

 

MR. GIBBS: I don't --

 

Q Can you get BP out of the way? Has the President gotten to the point where he's discussing that?

 

MR. GIBBS: BP caused the accident, Chip. BP is the cause of --

 

Q They would have to pay for it eventually, but if they're not getting the job done --

 

MR. GIBBS: Again, we will evaluate -- if the claims process is one that can't be remedied, then we'll look for solutions to ensure that it is.

 

Q Thank you. Does the administration intend to try to force BP to pay the salaries of workers who are being -- oil workers who are not being paid right now because of the moratorium?

 

MR. GIBBS: Yes, let me get from the -- I think both through legislation in terms of unemployment compensation but also economically through -- look, I think it is -- the moratorium is a result of the accident that BP caused. It is an economic loss for those workers. And it is -- those are claims that BP should pay.

 

Q So the White House's view is that --

 

MR. GIBBS: Yes.

 

Q -- BP should pay the full salaries, because unemployment of course is a fraction of the --

 

MR. GIBBS: Is a portion of, right.

 

Q So they should pay the full salaries?

 

MR. GIBBS: We believe it's an economic damage caused by this, not unlike losing business at your bait-and-tackle shop.

 

Q Another oil workers-related issue. When the families of the victims of the oil rig come here tomorrow, what's the President going to say to them about -- in their quest to change the law that limits the amount of money that people in their situation can recover?

 

MR. GIBBS: I'm sorry, in terms of -- are you talking about economic -- oh, you're talking about the --

 

Q The oil -- the people who died on the rig.

 

MR. GIBBS: Let me check with Legislative Affairs on -- I don't know whether that's in some of the legislation that's gone up.

 

Obviously the President will express his heartfelt condolences for the families of the 11 that lost their lives the very first night of the explosion, and I think is eager to discuss with them what their family was telling them about safety conditions and what type of changes can and must be made in the regulatory framework to ensure that deepwater drilling that goes forward is done in a way that is safe and not life-threatening.

 

Q Does he and the people -- do he and the people around him feel that they're sort of the forgotten victims of this whole thing after all that's happened --

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, I don't think --

 

Q -- and that's why you're having them here?

 

MR. GIBBS: No, Pete, I don't think they're forgotten. I think they are -- they were the very first victims of what is a very long and sad tragedy. It has changed the lives of many. It changed first the lives of those 11 families. It will do untold economic and environmental damage. It's the largest economic disaster that this country has ever seen. They are not -- they're certainly not forgotten.

 

Q Thirty lawmakers wrote Hayward today on the dividend issue -- stop paying the dividend. And also they wanted to have them stop the advertising campaign that we're all seeing so much. What's your view on both of those issues?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, look, I don't want to get into the legal obligations that -- I would simply reiterate --

 

Q You just weighed in on saying that they should be paying claims and --

 

MR. GIBBS: Right, well, let me just -- I'm going to reiterate exactly what the President said on this topic on Friday. If you're able to do any of those things, then we better not hear about the nickel-and-diming of an economic claim for a convenience store owner, for a commercial fisherman, for an out-of-work driller. The company's responsibility is to make -- is to pay for the damages that this accident caused.

 

Q So should the company at all be concerned about pension funds that may be relying on this dividend, or is that not part of their purview?

 

MR. GIBBS: I'm way over the tips of my skis on the economics of pension funds.

 

Q Quickly on BP, yesterday Interior Secretary Salazar said that not only would the Gulf be cleaned up, but it would be in a better condition than it was before the spill. Does the President believe that --

 

MR. GIBBS: Yes.

 

Q -- and is that the President's personal goal?

 

MR. GIBBS: Yes.

 

Q How does he define "better"

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, look, I don't -- I think there's no doubt that the environmental degradation that happened as a result of Katrina was significant. The discussion about building berms and barrier islands is because what was once there to stop storm surge from -- that would prevent oil from coming to different parts of the marsh are gone. You've seen wetlands -- I forget what percentage of wetlands we've seen that have been destroyed not as a result of this oil spill, but over years and years and years of degradation.

 

Q Right, and some decisions made by the Army Corps of Engineers --

 

MR. GIBBS: Right. We had a process in terms of -- as it related to Katrina and as it related to Gulf restoration that was ongoing before this to improve where we were, quite frankly, the day before all this happened. So, yes, the President believes that the ecosystem involved --

 

Q -- just clean up the coastline, but to rework it --

 

MR. GIBBS: Yes, this is -- it's a little bit -- if you go camping, you leave the area that you camped in a little bit better than you found it. I think that's the goal that the President has.

 

Q To pick up on the President's colorful metaphor, you said kicking the government and BP -- can you give us a practical example of when that's happened and how that came about?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, I'll give you just the most recent two examples, which are claims and vessels directives in order to ensure that we have in claims a transparent process that works for those in the states of the Gulf that have seen their economic livelihoods damaged as a result of this accident; the directive that was also given to them today.

 

As we have a -- the top cap, obviously, is taking some amount of oil in. There are other things that can be added and will become online that will allow us to get more of that oil. We have to have a system on the surface, as we add the things that Secretary Chu and others in the scientific community from the national labs have pushed BP to do, namely -- one example being the choke and kill lines, which on a normal riser pipe would run parallel to -- it's what forces mud into a blowout preventer that's ultimately capped with cement. Obviously, those are not normally used as production for additional oil. We believe and we have believed that that is a possibility and should be used.

 

The directive for ships on the surface is to when we are ready to do that, we have the capability, as well as adding the Q400 and increasing its capability to burn off oil and gas that's coming up through the top cap mechanism.

 

Q And these examples would represent, at least in part, an angry President picking up a phone and --

 

MR. GIBBS: These would represent the continued response of the government to ensure that BP does all that it can to cap the leak, to deal with the economic and environmental devastation that's been caused by the accident on April 20th.

 

Q Robert, a couple more BP questions. You said the President is eager to talk with the families of the victims about the safety conditions. What kinds of questions does he want answered? And does this kind of put him in the role of factfinder, in a way, when there's a criminal investigation going on?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, there obviously is -- he's not an investigator on behalf of the Department of Justice, if that was the second part of your question.

 

Obviously, it's the President's job to ensure that, coming out of this disaster, there's a structure in place that -- through regulation, that ensures that these type of accidents don't happen, and that the safety of that equipment is monitored, and that the actions that are taken don't jeopardize those on those rigs doing the work and jeopardize their safety.

 

He will -- look, we've all read and seen interviews with many of these families, with survivors, that talk about not only what happened that night, but we've obviously heard examples of what happened -- what has happened leading up to the accident.

 

Q And then can you talk to us a little bit about his trip next week? What does he intend to do while he's there? What can he learn on this trip and why does he think he needs to go back? And what can he learn that he doesn't already know?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, this trip will take us to the three additional Gulf states that have now been affected by oil hitting their land. Likely stop in Gulfport, Mississippi -- there's a Coast Guard facility there; in Theodore, Alabama, which is just south of Mobile and inside of Mobile Bay, which is a large staging area for many aspects of the surface response, including storage for and cleaning of boom. Obviously when oil comes into contact with boom, it becomes a hazardous material. Part of the function of this facility, among many, is to clean and ultimately stage back on ships for repositioning that boom.

 

I think we talked about a stop -- I don't know if it's been confirmed -- in Orange Beach, Alabama, another place that has been impacted by oil onshore. As well as a stop likely in Pensacola, Florida, Escambia County, the westernmost Panhandle county that is beginning to also see oil wash ashore.

 

I think in each one of these, he's going to meet with -- he will see Coast Guard officials about the -- and response officials about the steps that are being taken to respond to, as you've heard Admiral Allen say, oil that has broken up and gone in many directions and provides unique challenges to the environment in each of these places. Obviously along parts of the Panhandle, you've got -- in Florida, you've got beaches; in places like Mobile Bay, you have some of the richest estuaries in the country -- efforts that are being taken environmentally to stop the flow of oil into and onto those areas; meet with locals, meet with elected officials that are on the ground about the cleanup and, again, hear from those impacted economically by this disaster.

 

Obviously if you think about the pictures that we're all seeing on the television, obviously you've got oil going into marshland in Louisiana. You've got -- along Mississippi and Alabama, you've got a couple of different types of environmental aspects that you're dealing with -- again, like I said, estuaries in some place, recreational beaches in others. And then along the Panhandle of Florida, you've got more -- what everyone thinks of as places where you go in the late spring and summer.

 

The challenges across those vary based on the type of place, and the economic damages incurred by those are different based on whether you own a hotel or whether you're a commercial fisherman, as well as those that are evaluating and seeing what possible environmental impact something like this could have.

 

Q Will he be making more trips? Are we going to -- I know you don't like the Katrina comparison, but his predecessor made eight trips to the region after Katrina.

 

MR. GIBBS: You now have the full -- you now have from me the full course of planning as I know of right now.

 

Q Yesterday Congressman Ed Markey said that because BP initially underreported the amount of oil coming from the well, it had huge consequences in the amount of boom that was made available, the amount of protection given to the workers, the amount of chemicals shot into the ocean. This is a quote: "There were huge ramifications of BP deliberately lowballing the size of the oil spill." You've always said the response was in no way tied to the measurement. So would you dispute his characterization?

 

MR. GIBBS: Look, I don't know what he's basing each of these things off of. Booming is set forth by an ACP, which is a state plan for dealing with a disaster. So, in other words, what has to be protected along the coastline of Alabama, what has to be protected along the coastline of Louisiana, is determined by a process instituted by the governor in each of those states. And we have data sheets about how much their ACP included in terms of feet of boom and how much is in place. In each of those cases -- in those cases right now -- I know in Alabama we're in excess of what the state plan calls for.

 

So, again, I don't know what facts and figures Congressman Markey is using. We used both subsea and surface dispersants to break up oil, again, at different depths. That was -- the amount of subsea dispersant is not determined by the rate of flow.

 

Look, I think it is very safe to say that as we have gone on, we have better data and better technological advances that allow us to see 5,000 feet below the ocean.

 

Again, the work that's been done at the sight of the blowout preventer and the riser has all been done remotely by remotely operated vehicles. Nobody can walk up to the blowout preventer as you could in a shallow-water well because the blowout preventer is on the surface of the water. We have seen -- and many of you all have seen -- enhanced video that we have used, working with video technicians to enhance the view that we now see down there. So -- and the flow -- the amount of discharged pollution will ultimately be used to determine the set of fines that is imposed on BP as a result of the cause of this accident.

 

Those numbers -- the flow rate technical group and the different teams in the flow rate technical group continue their work even as we speak to come up with additional pre-riser cut numbers. We'll also likely see over the several days and next several weeks, post-riser-cut numbers. The Department of Energy and Interior have also been doing calculations using pressure readings that were taken throughout the process of the top kill effort, and as the top cap was ongoing that allow us to make estimations -- very good estimations about the increased flow as a result of the riser cut based on those pressure readings.

 

So we are -- we will continually be adding to -- based on the new information and more enhanced information that we get, revising flow estimates. But that has not curtailed the response.

 

Q On hurricane season in the Gulf Coast, what specifically is in place? Because we're now in hurricane season and there is concern that if a hurricane does come to the area that it will spread more so the oil that's still gushing. What's in place?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, they have -- part of what the vessel directive and the redundancy will take into account, and part of what is going to be ultimately a longer-term solution until the relief well is drilled, is a different platform apparatus that allows intake of oil to take place in different category -- or different intensity storms.

 

Obviously one of the main concerns that we have as we drill the relief well is -- right now the situation is, as you've heard Admiral Allen and other say, precarious because right now the ships that are out there and mechanism that is taking oil from the top -- up through the top cap would have to be disconnected in the event of a hurricane.

 

Q So it's long term, not a short-term fix right now?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, there are several different -- the long-term fix obviously is the drilling of the relief well. There are different apparatus -- I don't know if apparatus -- I don't know if the plural -- apparati -- I should go back to pensions and stuff. There are a whole series of mechanisms, let's say that, that have to be -- that are being looked into as to how to deal with production as the weather might turn.

 

Q And on this phone call situation, did the --

 

MR. GIBBS: As the what -- the what situation?

 

Q The phone call, this phone call, this potential, possible phone call with Hayward and the President.

 

MR. GIBBS: Oh, oh, oh.

 

Q Did the White House inquire about this, or did BP inquire about a phone call? And how do you --

 

MR. GIBBS: Not that I'm aware of.

 

Q Well, why would -- well, how did it come up that there's a board that he would have to consult with before he would talk to the President?

 

MR. GIBBS: That's just, as you understand the corporate governance structure, again, the CEO plays a role but the way their board is devised, the chairman of the board and the board okay what happens by the CEO.

 

Q Was this an assumption on the White House part or was this -- did you already look into it and see --

 

MR. GIBBS: I mean, that's just looking at the corporate structure.

 

Savannah.

 

Q Would the President want to meet with Tony Hayward when he's here next week testifying before Congress?

 

MR. GIBBS: If I've got any scheduling updates, I'll let you know.

 

Q Do you see any kind of value in such a face-to-face meeting?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, again, we're in contact with BP about what they need to do.

 

Q Not to belabor the point, but just -- I mean there is some value, isn't there, to have the President speak personally to Tony Hayward, whether in person or on the phone, because he might leave an impression, some of these frustrations you have. I mean --

 

MR. GIBBS: I think he's -- I don't know if he watches NBC, Savannah. I don't know if that's what you're getting at. I think he -- I think he knows that the frustration that many people have throughout the Gulf.

[Guest BP]

Subsea operational update:

 

For the first 12 hours on June 9th (midnight to noon), approximately 7,920 barrels of oil were collected and 15.7 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared.

 

On June 8th, a total of approximately 15,000 barrels of oil were collected and 29.4 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared.

 

The Massachusetts began lightering this morning and should finish early morning on the 10th (lightering is a process of transferring crude oil between vessels, in this case, Enterprise to Massachusetts).

 

The next update will be provided at 9:00am CDT on June 10, 2010

 

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/incident_response/STAGING/local_assets/html/Q4000_ROV1.html

[Guest ALWAYSRED]

I love colorful protesters.

 

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/102219-salazar-testimony-sullied-by-black-spatter

 

A female protester disrupted the Senate testimony of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday when she poured what appeared to be fake oil all over herself.

 

Diane Wilson, who identified herself to photographers as a fisherwoman from Seadrift, Texas, stood up a few rows behind Salazar and doused herself with dark syrup from a jar labeled “oil.”

 

Capitol Hill police immediately grabbed Wilson and took her out of the hearing room, handcuffing her in the hall.

 

The messy protest was one of the most confrontational disruptions of a Cabinet secretary’s testimony in recent memory. Protesters usually just shout criticism or wave signs before being escorted from the room.

 

Senate staff had difficulty cleaning up the black mess Wilson left behind, which did not appear to be real oil, said a Senate aide who witnessed the incident.

 

The audacity of the stunt is a sign of mounting public anger over the federal response to the Gulf oil spill, which Salazar has helped coordinate.

 

An ABC News/Washington Post poll showed 69 percent of people have rated the federal reaction negatively. That is worse than the 62 percent negative rating of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

[Guest Wise Texan]

So many people want to have it both ways. First, when the Obama administration continues the TARP program, and passes stimulus measures, you all yell about government over-stepping it's boundaries. Now that an environmental disaster has occured at the hands of a corporation, you're all yelling where is the government. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans many of you made remarks along the lines of: "It's not the governments responsibility to help you. You all need to get off the system and help yourselves." How is it that a natural disaster is beyond the scope of government involvment, but a man-made disaster caused by a publicly traded corporation is not?

[Guest Fedup]

So the President will not talk to Tony Hayward??? He is an Executive member of the BP board of directors. The only person higher than him is Carl-Henric Svanberg, Chairman of the BP board of directors.

[Guest Enron Ex]

You are right on target. BP insiders and shareholders prefer that CEO Tony Hayward stay on and Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg leave if a corporate "scalp" is needed. BP stock has plummeted and shareholders are nervous on President Obama's tough talk on the company's upcoming dividends and commercial spending.

[Guest TrueBrit]

You Yanks need to get a better sense of humor. Here is a brilliant explanation from Down-Under.

 

http://www.wimp.com/clarkedawe/

[Guest Enron Ex]

With BP stock dropping 40% PetroChina is looking to acquire the company.

[Guest greenzen]

Standard Chartered said a takeover of BP by PetroChina would transform China's biggest oil and gas producer from a low-growth company into a global oil champion and boost its earnings per share significantly.

 

There was also no overlap in assets and PetroChina would pay less than $7 per boe (barrels of oil equivalent) for BP's reserves, which was seen as cost-effective, the bank said, adding that, in addition, BP's output would hedge a third of China's oil imports.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE65901Q20100610

[Guest Broke Investor]

U.S. investors own the majority of BP stock. I would advise them to start purchasing the stock now or China will be able to hedge a third of it petroleum reserves on its control of the company. I wish I had the money to buy BP stock

[Guest Milk Toast]

Actually UK owns the majority of the stock at 44%. The US owns 39%. Your government cannot force a foreign company to stop dividends. I am waiting to see what moves BlackRock makes.

[Guest G. Kopel]

We do need to think of all the people who have pensions connected to BP.

 

State Street Corporation

Wellington Management Company, LLP

Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss Inc.

Columbia Management Company

State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins CO

T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.

Sanders Capital, LLC

Fidelity Management and Research Company

Tradewinds Global Investors, LLC

Gates Bill & Melinda Foundation

Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P.

Pnc Bank, National Association

FAF Advisors, Inc.

Van Kampen Asset Management

Wells Fargo Bank Na

Clearbridge Advisors, LLC

RiverSource Investments, LLC

Northern Trust Investments, N.A.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC

Fiduciary Management, Inc. of Milwaukee