GOM oil infrastructure update
via George Ure, UrbanSurvival.com
“Let me sum up: Hurricane Ivan destroyed 7 platforms and 100 piplines and 0 rigs.
Katrina & Rita destroyed (so far) 90 platforms and (who knows) pipelines and 100? rigs.
There are typically around 130 rigs working in the Gulf. Today, there are 23. There will be virtually no new exploration in the Gulf for the next year or so, assuming everything stays the way it is right now. Plus, with the rigs left in operation, there are several countries bidding to have them work in their waters. Guess who wins? Highest bidder.
Gasoline was up $0.40 at my test location just since last night. Expectations are that it will rise over $1.00 by Sunday night. Two years ago, I could fill my SUV (26 gal tank) for $28. Today, it cost me $28 to fill my buzzie with a 10 gal tank.
Service companies are strained to the max. There is very little equipment available. Dive equipment, generators, winches and the whole lot were destroyed in the storms. Rentals are going out all over the world to get the equipment to do the job. Right now, everything is on an even keel, but one more surprise could put the whole remediation effort over the edge, as well.
Still working on the refinery data for you. Don’t trust the happy talk. These are eyeball numbers. We are keeping a large wall map up-to-date in the war room. (Oilman1 is at an oil service company that does offshore work – G)
It’s not only bad, it’s very bad.”
(1 October, 2005)
See also this Associated Press article.
Theres a thread discussing this hereover on The Oil Drum, as well as..
Is this post rigged, or Information on Oil Platforms
Heading Out, The Oil Drum
I noticed, over the past week, that there is some increasingly technical talk about the various ways that we get oil out from underwater in the Gulf of Mexico. And while I suspect that most of those who comment on this site are vary familiar with all the terms, some of the more general readership may not be.
Since this is going to be a fairly hot topic in the near term, as the impact (spelled out in earlier posts and comments) spreads from the oilfields to the refineries and then up the pipelines to the local distributors and gas stations let me therefore explain just a bit about some of the different words that are being used here – with reference, where I can find them – to pictures of the different types of structures that are being used.
And if I miss some, please chip in either to ask or answer. This is replacing a chat I was going to have about Horizontal Drilling, but that will be along at some time in the future. Earlier technical posts are listed at the end of this one (with a comment on the levee question). …
(2 October, 2005)
Kunstler on Financial Sense Online
Jim Puplava, Financial Sense Online
Link above is to transcript, go here to pick an audio format.
Excerpt:
JAMES KUNSTLER: The effect of the two hurricanes alone has been very, very impressive, and even though we’re a week past the second storm, the reports are not nearly in even about what the damage has been. And we’re still reeling from both of those storms. Yes, I agree with you, the potential for acceleration is very impressive and these tend to have mutually reinforcing effects on each other, and ramifying effects. As I said a little earlier, right now, because of the effect of the hurricane, and the rise in oil and gas prices, there are individuals all over America who are deciding not to buy those houses that they thought about buying back in August and July. And when you add up those choices, they may add up to the end of the housing bubble, and the end of the housing bubble may add up to a lot of people in the financial sector
turning around and thinking, “well, you know what, this stream of bundled debt and investment revenue that we’ve been counting on, never coming to an end, seems to be coming to an end, what are we going to do? How are we going to cover our casino bets that we’ve made all over the world?” We seem to be heading into what you yourself have described on your website as a perfect financial storm.
JIM: Well, I couldn’t agree more. I think at this point the energy of that storm is just gaining force, and I think we’re going to see in the next 12 to 18 months, events unfold that we’ve never seen before, and it’s going to be quite a bit of a shock.
In conclusion, Jim, if you wanted somebody to read your book and walk away with one important point, what would that be?
JAMES KUNSTLER: Oddly enough, it’s something we haven’t talked about. And it has to do with people thinking that we’ll get through this somehow, we’ll come up with something. And in a way, I have my own thoughts about that because I’m basically a cheerful person, and in my own way I’m also an optimistic person. I’m not really a doomy-gloomy guy. And I would leave you with this thought: that the American people have historically been a generous, brave, forward looking, resourceful group, and we’ve shown great courage in the face of adversity before. I think we’ve become kind of a somewhat sloppy and complacent people in the last 25 years or so, but it doesn’t mean we can’t recover a lot of those virtues that are really part of the fiber of our national character. It’s still there and can still be recovered, and I think we’re going to be able to do that. It’s not going to be true for every place and everyone, but I think that’s going to help us a lot. So I have a lot of faith just in our national character, and the better angels of our nature, as Abraham Lincoln said.
(1 October, 2005)
Facing up to the coming energy crisis
Larry Chin, Online Journal
US officials, energy industry analysts, and the corporate media continue to issue conflicting and contradictory reports on the damage wrought by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. …
Those who scoff at Peak Oil, and argue that Peak is not real, are missing the only important point. The criminal acts of this Empire—from 9/11 to the sequential oil war under the “war on terrorism” rubric, to the USA PATRIOT Act and militarization of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast (a rehearsal for the military control of the United States under post-Peak conditions), and unfolding economic crises—are continuing, as if Peak is real. The entire argument has been rendered academic by actual events. It is time to stop wasting time.
If even a single aspect of the worst case scenarios comes about, the people of America, and the world, are in for plenty of hurt. The real bullets are coming.
(1 October, 2005)
Brief article backing claims of under-reporting of oil infrastructure damage.-LJ
