Despite the best early morning wide-eyed televised efforts of Carol Browner this week, the BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill story just will not die :-
https://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/05/oil-spill-white-house-accused-spin
“Gulf oil spill: White House accused of spinning report : Scientists say it is ‘just not true’ that the vast majority of oil from the BP spill has gone : Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent, guardian.co.uk, Thursday 5 August 2010”
Use all the dispersants you want (or are just about legally entitled to), but an ecological catastrophe like this will not go away and die quietly, even though a large number of marine animals will be forced to :-
https://motherjones.com/environment/2010/08/feds-giving-spill-data-to-bp-not-public
“…to use dispersants…doesn’t make the oil go away, it just puts it from one part of the ecosystem to another…”
Barack Obama said that things were nearly sorted out :-
“Obama says BP Gulf spill near end : By Anna Fifield in Washington and Sylvia Pfeifer in London : Published: August 4 2010 : President Barack Obama said the “long battle” to combat the Gulf of Mexico disaster had reached a turning point as a new government report showed that the majority of the spilt oil had disappeared. In his most positive statement on the crisis since the accident on April 20 that killed 11 workers, Mr Obama said the battle “is finally close to coming to an end”. His comments came as the British oil company announced it had reached a “significant milestone” in its attempts to seal the leak in the Macondo well by pumping heavy mud into it from the top. A new study, led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the majority of the 4.9m barrels of oil that had spilt from the Macondo well was no longer in the water…”
Carol Browner claimed “good news” this week. She said much of the oil has “disappeared”. No, it hasn’t. It may not show on the satellite monitoring, the surface of the sea may indeed look cleaner, but what counts is what lies beneath :-
https://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/deepwater-disaster/index.ssf
And what’s this ? The Gulf of Mexico may actually benefit from this oil spill ? I expect nobody except stockbrokers will believe this yarn :-
“How BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill could actually lead to an increase in fish stocks : By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE : 5th August 2010 : The massive BP oil spill could lead to increased fish stocks and improvements in biodiversity in the Gulf of Mexico, according to marine expert. The White House admitted yesterday that the leak was less catastrophic than previously thought. In a humiliating climbdown, the Obama administration conceded the ‘vast majority’ of the oil that gushed into the ocean from the ruptured well has already gone. The rest, it says, is probably so diluted, it does not appear to pose much of a threat…”
Public Relations Rule Number One : Don’t lie to the public. They won’t forgive you.
I have a pertinent question. Why is it that Barack Obama called the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill such a tragedy on 14th June 2010 – and then, after BP sells its Colombia operations, and after rumour they may sell their Siberian operations, Barack Obama says the oil spill is not as bad as he thought it was and that it’s nearly all dealt with ? :-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10307782
“14 June 2010 : Obama: Oil spill ‘an environmental 9/11’ : US President Barack Obama has said the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico will have the same impact on the US psyche as 9/11. The disaster will “shape how we think about the environment… for years to come”, he told US website Politico.”…”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/15/obamas-oil-spill-speech-w_n_613642.html
“Obama’s Oil Spill Speech: What Was The Point? : First Posted: 06-15-10”
“AUGUST 4, 2010 : Talisman Energy And Ecopetrel To Buy BP Colombia Unit For $1.9Bn : LONDON (Dow Jones)–Talisman Energy and Ecopetrol S.A. said Wednesday they have agreed to buy BP PLC’s unit, BP Exploration Company (Colombia) Limited, or BPXC, for $1.9 billion…The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2010, subject to Colombian and U.S. regulatory approval and other customary conditions…”
“BP Russia Talks Stoke Rally for TNK-BP Bonds, Erasing Loss Since Oil Spill : By Jason Corcoran and Denis Maternovsky – Aug 5, 2010 : Talks between Russia’s government and BP Plc’s newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Robert Dudley are stoking the best rally in 17 months for bonds of TNK-BP on expectations asset sales will help the Moscow-based affiliate…The worst oil spill in U.S. history has brought Dudley back to Moscow two years after he fled Russia as the chief of TNK-BP, citing “sustained harassment” and visa difficulties. Dudley met yesterday with Igor Sechin, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s deputy for energy. TNK-BP, Russia’s third-largest oil producer accounts for about 25 percent of BP’s output and a fifth of the company’s reserves, and may boost that share as BP sells projects to cover the $32.2 billion charge linked to the leak…Dudley, who succeeds Tony Hayward on Oct. 1, will oversee as much as $30 billion of asset sales…”Maybe in the longer term there will be some new ideas that surface that unite us further,” Sechin said during the meeting with BP’s Dudley and Hayward last night in Moscow….”
One reply on “BP Oil Spill : The Undead Story”
BP vs. the people takes place in New Orleans in Sept., that will tell the tale. Follow the money