BP to start burning captured Gulf oil at sea

[kpete]

Source: Associated Press

BP to start burning captured Gulf oil at sea

By BRIAN SKOLOFF and RAY HENRY (AP) – 5 hours ago

NEW ORLEANS — BP PLC plans to boost its ability to directly capture oil leaking from a well in the Gulf of Mexico by early next week.

Kent Wells, BP's senior vice president of exploration and production, said Thursday that a semi-submersible drilling rig should be set up early next week to capture and burn about 420,000 gallons of oil daily.

Once on board, the oil and gas collected from the well will be sent down a boom and burned at sea. Wells says testing will begin this weekend.

A drill ship already at the scene can process a maximum of 756,000 gallons of oil daily that's sucked up through a containment cap sitting on the well head.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gIXWYBTpLtSayJtg41LKXpxSxVPAD9G8G4PG1

[cliffordu]

1. Are these people TRYING to make it worse???

[Soylent Brice]

3. answer: Yes. n/t

[Lagomorph]

5. They have some kind of...

....super duper clean burner that doesn't make smoke or residue. Their problem is the well is discharging too fast. At this point they're just holding a bucket under the leak. They'll figure out a way to recover it about the time the relief wells are finished, I'm sure...(insert irony here)

[Devil_Fish]

14. But their "Super duper clean burner" still emits CO2.

I said from the start that burning the oil is a stupid idea. Here is what I told my friends:

In order to save the coast line, they are going to burn the oil turning it into CO2 that accelerates global warming and melts the glaciers causing the sea level to rise destroying the coastline.... Wait, did I get that right?? Let's see.... Hmmm.....

[Lagomorph]

20. Fossil fuels are known for their emissions...

and predicting global warming is kinda like predicting sunrise. You're not really venturing too far from the irrefutable, but clearly, you have a grasp on the basics.

[Statistical]

29. think about it for a second......

if they capture the oil where does it go ---> tanker --> port facility ----> refinery ---> your car ---> CO2.

The net CO2 output between burning oil at sea or burning it in your car is the same.
Obviously it would be better to burn it in your car (useful work) but it doesn't materially change CO2 emissions.

I doubt BP enjoys burning billins of dollars of "product". If they are burning it is because they don't have another choice.

If burning the oil allows them to boost collection from 15K bpd to 20Kbpd I consider that a net positive.

[Juneboarder]

2. Why would we need...

a drill ship that can process a maximum of 756,000 gallons/day when BP says that there's only what, 5000 barrells "spilling" out every day?!?

:sarcasm:

[montanto]

6. barrels are not the same as gallons.

They initially said 5000 barrels per day = 210,000 gallons. The number has been going up almost daily even by BPs admission.

[Juneboarder]

7. Thank you for the correction...

I realized my error a few minutes ago and will go edit my post, but still the sarcasm applies. I heard a worst case scenario today of 4.2 million gallons a day (from PBS News Hour website's new oil ticker). Based on the lack of valid information already provided over the last 52 days, I bet that 4.2 million figure is still incorrect.

:(

[sasquuatch55]

9. The number, no doubt, has always been far above their lies.

nt

[Buenaventura]

4. no more sushi

:grr:

[Gregin Orlando]

8. This disaster WAY out of BP's scope of control

BP, and their corporate-owned media whores have lied about this from day one. There are three leaks at the Deepwater Horizon site, as well as two other leaks at different sites. Furthermore, this will not only affect beaches and marine life, it could have a drastic economic impact that goes beyond that. Power plants could be shut down and desalization plants that produce drinking water through reverse osmosis along the Gulf coast could be shut down if oil fouls their intakes. That would cause an economic disaster of epic proportions. For more info., check out this article: http://www.examiner.com/x-38220-Orlando-Independent-Examiner~y2010m6d9-Satellite-imagery-shows-up-to-three-oil-leaks-in-Gulf-FL-power-and-water-supplies-may-be-at-risk

[rzemanfl]

10. I posted a couple of nights ago about trying to live here with

oiled beaches, no air conditioning, no lights and limited water. We will just fucking leave. The bank can have the house, it will be worthless and unsaleable.

[Devil_Fish]

15. yup, time to go now before they lock you in like they did with Katrina. N/T

[wordpix]

17. Bob Dudley, BP: "Everybody at BP is devastated"---enough devastated to stop the DIVIDEND?

BP is not fucking devastated like those birds and dolphins, asshat. The least you could do is STOP THE DIVIDEND and give your money to the Gulf Coast, not your fucking investors :grr:

[Statistical]

30. Corporations exist for one purpose and one purpose only

To maximize long term shareholder value. Period.

If BP could legally increase shareholder value by killing your children and converting them into oil they would. Period.

People need to stop expecting corporations to do "the right thing". The "right thing" from the mindset of corporation is .....
To maximize long term shareholder value. Period.

It is like getting mad a Wolf because it is a meat eater. It will always be a meat eater. No amount of protesting and anger will change that.

The role of govt is to keep corporations in check via regulation, penalties, and oversight.

[maxsolomon]

11. fine. burn it.

they're already burning substantial amounts. better burned that fouling the everglades.

at this point we're talking about the LESS worse option.

[Vincardog]

12. That is one way to ensure that there are NO net proceeds from the recovered oil to donate in aid of

the recovery effort.

[glinda]

13. Can't they use several huge cheese-cloths nets to capture this crud?

I am having a difficult time believing that there isn't some sort of fine netting that can be drug over and over again to capture some of this. Particularly undersea as well as on top.

[wordpix]

16. Who has miles and miles of cheesecloth? Oil is spread throughout 1200 sq. mi.

based on a scientific observer's calculations from the air

[glinda]

24. Not talking miles of it but just massive yards and yards of it dragged over and over again.

I mean.... what they are doing now is a failure why not have teams out there with some sort of micro netting that catches the goo while all this other stuff is going on. Any little bit helps especially in big numbers.

[wordpix]

18. I thought they were going to sell the oil to pay for wildlife rehab

WTF? :shrug:

[time_has_come]

19. Well, there goes all those "they won't plug it because they want to capture and sell it" argument.

Bloody strange thing to do though...burning it all.

[Devil_Fish]

21. Yes, it make you think that there is an even bigger conspiricy going on...N/T

[time_has_come]

22. like?

[scheming daemons]

26. Not if you are trying to keep anyone from finding out the actual amount coming out.

[time_has_come]

28. Hmmm. I would have thought the opposite...

...take it back to a processing plant you control and tell people whatever you want ("you" being BP....all nice and quiet-like.

Burning it attracts more attention.

But then, is it a motivation at all anymore now that the government has pegged it at 35-30,000 barrels/day? Not really. Everybody knows it's a shitload, so what's the point trying to hide what everybody knows?

[riskpeace]

23. Day 52 and BP is still planning to boost its ability and

the Coast Guard has begun its inventory of skimmers!
This is so far past too much.
And the Obama administration has allowed this all to occur and to linger in incompetence.
So very sad in so many ways.

[scheming daemons]

25. This is to hide the actual amount that is coming out of the well.... no data means no liability

[kirby]

27. On June 8th...

they announced that the proceeds from all sales of the captured/recovered oil would go to the environment. Today they start burning the oil because they do not have enough production capacity. Hmmm.

(Reuters) - BP Plc on Tuesday said it will donate net revenues from oil recovered from its stricken Gulf of Mexico oil well to restore wildlife habitats on the coastlines of four affected Gulf Coast states.

[Javaman]

31. displacing the pollution.

burn it because once it's in the air, it's harder to see!!!

So if and when ever they get fined for this massive polluting of the gulf catastrophe, will they get fined for massively polluting the air as well?

Fat chance.

Out of sight out of mind.