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Deepwater Horizon: BP shares dive as criminal investigation launched

A criminal investigation has been launched into the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and the subsequent oil spill disaster, triggering a nosedive in the share price of oil giant BP.

US attorney general Eric Holder said yesterday, “As we have said all along, we must also ensure that anyone found responsible for this spill is held accountable. That means enforcing the appropriate civil – and if warranted, criminal – authorities to the full extent of the law.”

Attorneys from the Justice Department have been in the Gulf of Mexico since shortly after the spill, Holder said, collecting information about possible prosecution under America’s Clean Water Act, Oil Pollution Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Endangered Species Acts, “and other criminal statutes”.

President Barack Obama continued the tough talking as he met the heads of the national bi-partisan BP Oil Spill Commission.https://xkcd.com/


“If the laws on our books are insufficient to prevent such a spill, the laws must change. If oversight was inadequate to enforce these laws, oversight has to be reformed,” he said. “If our laws were broken, leading to this death and destruction, my solemn pledge is that we will bring those responsible to justice on behalf of the victims of this catastrophe and the people of the Gulf region.”

As Obama promised to hold BP liable for clean up and impact on livelihoods, BP’s share price continued its dramatic plummet. BP shares dropped 13% on news of the criminal probe (Reuters).

Some are now suggesting that the very future of the oil company is in doubt (Guardian). This is worrying British papers plenty, as the company accounts for around £1 in every £6 received by pension funds via dividends (eg: Times).

Out in the Gulf, at the source of the leak, the response team yesterday began slicing through the leaking riser pipes to try and make the leak more amenable to a snugly fitting containment cap.

People are also starting to worry about the impact of a hurricane blowing through the Gulf. Severe storms could well force the teams currently capturing leaking oil ashore, increasing the amount of oil escaping into the ecosystem. Hurricanes could help mix the oil in slicks at sea, accelerating its breakdown, says NOAA. However, a storm in the right (or rather, the wrong) place could also push more oil onto shore.

In other news, artists are starting to join the attacks on BP, and film director James Cameron has been summoned to contribute to response efforts. At least it wasn’t Michael Bay, who features on today’s XKCD comic:

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    Mike Reda said:

    It is well known in the oil industry and the oil companies are well aware that:

    When drilling in oil and gas-bearing formations submerged in deep water, the reservoir gas ( mainly methane) may flow into the well bore and form gas hydrates due to the low temperatures and high pressures found during deep water drilling( similar to the situation in the Deep water Horizon Oil Spill). The gas hydrates may then flow upward with drilling mud or other discharged fluids. As they rise, the pressure in the drill string decreases and the hydrates dissociate into gas and water. The rapid gas expansion ejects fluid from the well, reducing the pressure further, which leads to more hydrate dissociation and further fluid ejection. The resulting violent expulsion of fluid from the drill string is referred to as a “kick” (see. Petroleum Science volume 6: pages 57-63, 2009). This could possibly be the reason for the accidents which caused the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

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