Halliburton - Gulf Oil Rig Explosion

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Swerdloc
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Post by Swerdloc » 06-16-2010 08:34 AM

I don't know if this will link properly if you don't have a Facebook account. This is James Fox's latest update, from days 56-57 in the Gulf.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/vid ... 5715336072
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Psychicwolf
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Post by Psychicwolf » 06-16-2010 09:34 AM

Spot on...plus 1K, as usual. I love the boys from Berkeley (DeLong and Reich).

snip:
"The top executives of powerful corporations are pursuing profits in ways that menace the nation. We have not seen the likes not since the late nineteenth century when the “robber barons” of finance, oil, and the giant trusts ran roughshod over America. Now, as then, they are using their wealth and influence to buy off legislators and intimidate the regions that depend on them for jobs. Now, as then, they are threatening the safety and security of our people."

Awesome.

http://robertreich.org/post/703369788/o ... rtunity-to
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Post by Psychicwolf » 06-16-2010 09:40 AM

For example:

Two of the four oil companies on the hook for the Gulf cleanup tab have rejected a Senate request to come testify about their efforts to make residents and businesses whole. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

The CEOs of Anadarko Petroleum and MOEX Offshore have cited scheduling conflicts. Anadarko CEO James T. Hackett, however, does have time this week to be in Houston to accept Oil and Gas Investor's Executive of the Year award, handed out Tuesday.

"Last year this leading Houston-based company generated a 68 percent return to shareholders, while cutting costs and spending during the downturn," reads the announcement of Hackett's award. Cost cutting may have led to significant shareholder returns, but it also is believed to have contributed to the fatal explosion and blowout of the well.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/1 ... 12974.html
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Rombaldi
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Post by Rombaldi » 06-16-2010 11:23 AM

Expect those two to be 'escorted' to a hearing soon...

and for those not up to date. BP just agreed to a 20 Billion Escrow fund to be administrated by a third party. Just like they were TOLD they were going to.
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Psychicwolf
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Post by Psychicwolf » 06-16-2010 12:29 PM

Rombaldi wrote:
and for those not up to date. BP just agreed to a 20 Billion Escrow fund to be administrated by a third party. Just like they were TOLD they were going to.


I am pretty certain that'll never happen, or at least will never reach B.
Note that the operative word is tenatively and over several years:
BP, whose executives met today with President Barack Obama at the White House, has tentatively agreed to place about billion over several years into a fund to pay compensation to residents along the Gulf of Mexico, a person familiar with the talks said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... j8ak&pos=1

Reading the rest of the article, the street seems to think BP U.S. ops may well cease to exist after this. Labor Day BK??? Their bonds are now junk rated so they can't borrow money. We can't sue the largest corp of our BFF:the Brits. Given Cameron's problems with the UK economy they may be facing Iceland status.

No, this baby belongs to the American taxpayer. :mad:
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Post by Rombaldi » 06-16-2010 01:33 PM

PW.. with respect.. bovine stuff...

Just announced live, no 'tentative' the 20 Billion fund for economic damage.. and this is NOT capped at 20 billion.

Separate 100 Million fund for oil workers that have/will lose work.

Environmental damage fines a separate issue and will be assessed (right now, that's a fine of $4300 a barrel.. belching at 45-60 thousand barrels a day... for 57 days now... do the math...)
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Post by Rombaldi » 06-16-2010 02:50 PM

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/ ... ll-claims/

BP Suspends Dividend to Help Pay for Spill Claims
June 16, 2010, 3:17 pm

BP announced Wednesday afternoon that it was suspending its dividend payments for the rest of the year because of the costs involved in setting up a $20 billion fund to pay for damage claims from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP’s chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, disclosed the dividend suspension after meeting with President Obama at the White House to discuss how to deal with the oil spill. The company, in a statement, said its board would consider restoring dividend payments in 2011 after it reviews its fourth-quarter 2010 results.

(snip)

In its statement, BP provided details of the $20 billion claims fund that it would set up over the next three and a half years, and the company confirmed that Kenneth R. Feinberg, the Obama administration’s “pay czar,” would oversee the fund.

BP said it would initially make payments to the fund of $3 billion in the third quarter and $2 billion in the fourth quarter. These would be followed by payments of $1.25 billion in each of the following quarters until a total of $20 billion has been paid to the fund.

The company reserved the right to reclaim any money that might be left in the fund after all claims are paid. But it did acknowledge that the $20 billion fund “does not represent a cap on BP liabilities.”

----

nothing 'tentative' in that...
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FACT SHEET: Claims and Escrow

Post by Rombaldi » 06-16-2010 02:55 PM

(press release, not subject to copyright)

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
June 16, 2010

FACT SHEET: Claims and Escrow

INDEPENDENT CLAIMS FACILITY
A new, independent claims process will be created with the mandate to be fairer, faster, and more transparent in paying damage claims by individuals and businesses.

* To assure independence, Kenneth Feinberg, who previously administered the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, will serve as the independent claims administrator.
* The facility will develop standards for recoverable claims that will be published.
* A panel of three judges will be available to hear appeals of the administrator’s decisions.
* The facility is designed for claims of individuals and businesses who have been harmed by the oil spill; local, state, tribal, and federal government claims will continue to be handled directly by BP.
* The facility will decide all claims as expeditiously as possible, and in any event within the existing statutory timeframe.
* Dissatisfied claimants maintain all current rights under law, including the right to go to court or to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.
* Decisions under current law by the independent claims facility shall be binding on BP.
* All claims adjudicated under this facility have access to the escrow account for payment.

ESCROW ACCOUNT
BP has agreed to contribute $20 billion over a four-year period at a rate of $5 billion per year, including $5 billion within 2010. BP will provide assurance for these commitments by setting aside $20 billion in U.S. assets.

* BP has reaffirmed its commitment to pay all removal costs and damages that it owes as a responsible party. It will not assert any liability cap under OPA to avoid liability.
* The creation of the escrow account will provide assurance to the public that funds will be available to compensate the injured.
* This account is neither a floor nor a ceiling on liability.
* The escrow account is to be used to pay claims adjudicated by the independent claims facility, as well as judgments and settlements, natural resource damage costs, and state and local response costs.

VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION FOR RIG WORKERS

* BP will contribute to a foundation $100 million to support unemployed oil rig workers.
* The Administration’s May legislative proposal would create a new program of unemployment assistance, modeled after the Disaster Unemployment Assistance Program, to provide benefits to workers who lose their jobs as a result of a spill of national significance.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH MONITORING

* BP has previously committed $500 million for the ten-year Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative to improve understanding of the impacts of and ways to mitigate oil and gas pollution.
* As a part of this initiative, BP will work with governors, and state and local environmental and health authorities to design the long-term monitoring program to assure the environmental and public health of the Gulf Region.
Last edited by Rombaldi on 06-16-2010 02:58 PM, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Saharaka » 06-16-2010 05:04 PM

Link to 11 live cameras filming the spill. If you scroll down to Skandi Rov -1 on the left side...are those flames under water??


http://climate.the-environmentalist.org ... aster.html
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Post by Psychicwolf » 06-16-2010 05:09 PM

Well giving up paying divies is a start, although I'm not sure British pensioners will agree since BP is 14% of dividends in the U.K.’s benchmark FTSE 100 stock index last year. That is where the British government invests to pay British pensioners. We'll see what PM Cameron has to say about this.:D

Wonder what BHO gave up to get this deal, friend of the corporations that he is. Renewal of BPs contract with the Pentagon to the tune of $2.5B a year? Gee, as a taxpayer I sure hope so.:mad:

Obama never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Incredibly, each and every single time he’s faced a crisis and gets the ball, he throws it away or scores for the opposition. Be it the financial crisis, financial regulation, foreclosures, wealthcare reform, war, Iran, Israeli piracy, or ecological disaster, he immediately caves to TPTB.

Obama is a corporatist—he’s one of Them. So there’ll be more bull**** talk about “clean energy” and “energy independence”, while the root cause—corporate anarchy—is left undisturbed. So be it. Just don't expect me to buy your lube in 2012, Mr. President. You want to bend over, so be it. I think I'm gonna find me a real Progressive candidate.
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Post by Psychicwolf » 06-16-2010 05:14 PM

Saharaka wrote: Link to 11 live cameras filming the spill. If you scroll down to Skandi Rov -1 on the left side...are those flames under water??


http://climate.the-environmentalist.org ... aster.html


Someone asked about this on the Oil Drum the other day. Apparently (according to the drilling guys) it is reflected light from all the sand (containing silica) that is mixing with the escaped oil and especially NG.
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Post by Janus232 » 06-17-2010 03:17 AM

Investors lose billions as BP shares plunge
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSect ... Id=5517252

BP Bonds Escape Distressed List, Trade as Junk
http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010- ... rkets.html
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Post by joequinn » 06-17-2010 07:04 AM

How happy I am to see Adam Smith's "invisible hand" shuckin'-n-jivin' while Rome (or rather, the Gulf of Mexico) burns to the ground (or rather, the bedrock)...
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Post by Linnea » 06-17-2010 09:05 AM

If BP were to go down, and abandon any further efforts in the Gulf?

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Post by Saharaka » 06-17-2010 10:57 AM

Psychicwolf wrote: Someone asked about this on the Oil Drum the other day. Apparently (according to the drilling guys) it is reflected light from all the sand (containing silica) that is mixing with the escaped oil and especially NG.


Thanks Psychicwolf! Just did not look right!
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