Obama Moves Forward on Arctic Drilling Despite Cleanup Challenges

The US Department of the Interior has proposed long-awaited federal regulations for oil and natural-gas in Alaska's Arctic region. Environmentalists have pointed out that the environment makes it nearly impossible to clean up spills.

The regulations point out the challenges in drilling in the Arctic environment and mandate extensive contingency plans for a swift response to spills. 

Spills are notoriously difficult to clean in the frigid and remote waters. Such rules include having an additional rig that could drill a relief well in the event the company loses control of the primary well.

According to analysis compiled by the National Energy Board, conditions in the area present huge obstacles to any potential cleanup efforts, even during the busy summer months. Looking at how wave heights and ice patterns could prevent the use of cleanup tools such as in-situ burning, containment and the use of dispersants, they determined cleanup would be impossible 20% of the time in June, 40% of the time in August and 65% of the time in October. After October, any response would most likely have to be deferred until the following season.

No company is yet drilling the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off the coast of Alaska yet, but Royal Dutch Shell is planning on starting exploratory drilling this summer. ConocoPhillips and Statoil also have leases in American Arctic areas but have yet to announce any drilling plans. However, Shell’s summer drilling will not be governed by that rule since it won’t be in place by then and would only apply to drilling operations farther in the future.

Shell was involved in a disastrous attempt to drill in the Arctic in 2012 when it was towing its Kulluk oil rig out into Dutch Harbor by ship. The ship lost control when a winter storm hit and the rig, along with 150,000 gallons of fuel and drilling fluid, later washed up along pristine Alaska coastline.

As a result, the Environmental Protection Agency fined Shell $1.1 million for violations of the Clean Air Act as a result of the Kulluk’s engines releasing nitrogen oxide, ammonia and other pollutants and they cited Shell with 33 air permit violations.

Since then, oil companies and environmentalists have been waiting to see how the Interior Department would react to industry lobbying efforts to drill in Alaska. It is believed that the region holds between 24 billion barrels of oil and 104 trillion cubic feet of gas comprising as much as 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil reserves and 30 percent of its undiscovered gas reserves, a potential boon for American production.
  sputniknews.com
 21/2/15
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Related:

• Arctic Council Signs Oil Spill Response Deal

• Αρκτική: «Όχι» στις γεωτρήσεις, λένε έμπιστοι του Ομπάμα

• Στην Αλάσκα διασώζουν εξέδρα γεώτρησης που έχει κολλήσει στα ρηχά (VIDEO)

• Rosneft gets access to $100bn gas and oil field in Alaska

• Attempts to save drilling device which has run aground postponed

• No oil spill seen at Shell drill ship in Alaska

• VITTORIA! Shell ferma i piani di trivellazione in Artico di quest'anno

• Greenpeace complaint halts Norway plans to drill northermost oil well

Shell to Pay Approximately $83Mln for Niger Delta Oil Spills

Amnesty International and the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) has welcomed an offer by oil giant Shell to pay the Nigerian Bodo community 55 million pounds ($83 million) in compensation for its oil spills in the Niger Delta in 2008, according to a statement issued by Amnesty on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Shell agreed to make an out-of-court settlement of 35 million pounds to 15,600 fishermen and 20 million pounds to the Bodo community for the environmental damage caused by the oil spills, according to the statement.

"While the pay-out is a long awaited victory for the thousands of people who lost their livelihoods in Bodo, it shouldn't have taken six years to get anything close to fair compensation," Amnesty global issues director Audrey Gaughran said in a statement.

Amnesty International and CEHRD have been supporting Nigeria on the spills case since 2008, but court proceedings against the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria only began in 2011.

"The compensation is a step towards justice for the people of Bodo, but justice will be fully achieved when Shell properly cleans up the heavily polluted creeks and swamps so that those who rely on fishing and farming for their income can begin to rebuild their livelihoods," Styvn Obodoekwe of CEHRD said.

Shell has accepted responsibility for the oil spills occurred in the Niger Delta in August and December 2008 but seriously underestimated the volume of oil split. During three-year long legal battle, the company revealed that some of its pipelines were old, contained "major risk and hazard" and needed to be replaced. According to Amnesty, the company did not act on this knowledge to prevent the oil leaks.

Environmental restoration of the area where the oil spills occurred is possible but may take 25 to 30 years, according to the United Nations Environment Program.
 [sputniknews.com]
7/1/15
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Related:

•  Shell agrees $84m deal over Niger Delta oil spill ...

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• Μερικώς υπεύθυνη για τη μόλυνση στο Δέλτα του Νίγηρα η Shell

• Νιγηρία: Στα 5 δισ. ευρώ το… «μάρμαρο» από την πετρελαιοκηλίδα

• ΠΕΤΡΕΛΑΙΟΚΗΛΙΔΑ ΤΗΣ SHELL ΣΤΗ ΝΙΓΗΡΙΑ: ΕΝΑ ΠΑΡΑΛΟΓΟ “ΠΑΙΧΝΙΔΙ” ΑΡΙΘΜΩΝ

Arctic Council Needs Russia, to Continue Working With It

WASHINGTON, October 1  - The Arctic Council needs Russia, and is supportive of Moscow's continued engagement in its work, said Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr., US Special Representative to the Arctic said during the conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.
"We work with Russia now. We expect to continue to work with Russia," Papp, who will take over the Arctic Council chairmanship in 2015, said Tuesday.
US Representative to the Arctic noted that Ambassador Bolton just came back from Vladivostok where he worked on fisheries agreements.

"The commander of the Coast Guard was in San-Francisco two weeks ago for the North Pacific Coast Guard forum, in which Russia took part, and he met with his counterpart," he added.
"And in general, as a sailor, I have learned to be pretty optimistic guy. Even in the worst of storms at some points it's going to be better," Papp said, emphasizing that they will continue working with Russians. "We really need them as a part of the Arctic Council."
The opinion that the Arctic Council needs Russia's participation in its work was expressed by many senior officials and experts at the conference.
Vincent Rigby, the chair of the Senior Arctic Officials underlined that up until now there has been a high level cooperation between the Arctic Council members including Russia, and stressed that Russia's participation in an Arctic Council ministerial in Iqaluit next spring is expected.
"The cooperation between the Arctic Council states, including Russia has continued to operate at a very very high level," Rigby claimed, adding that in Dealing with his Russian counterpart up to this point he has received nothing but positive messages with respect to Moscow's commitment to making the Arctic Council work.
"We are certainly supportive of Russia's continued engagement in the Arctic Council. And we are going to try to make this work over the coming months," he stated.
"It is a plan right now to hopefully have an Arctic Council ministerial in Iqaluit that's going to be fully representative," senior Arctic official concluded.
Dr. Andrea Charron, professor at the University of Manitoba said that the future of the Arctic Council would be compromised if Russia is kicked out or leaves it.
"If for some reason Russia is kicked out, or any of the members decide to leave the Arctic Council, the continuation of the Arctic Council will definitely be up for debate," Charron stressed.
"Russia particularly, because it is such a large Arctic player on many fronts," she added.
 (Ria Novosti)
1/10/14
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Related:

• Arctique: Washington souhaite coopérer avec Moscou

• Arctic Council Signs Oil Spill Response Deal

• Arctic should not be arena of conflicting interests (Russian lawmaker)

• Moscow to submit Arctic shelf claim to UN in fall - Russian official

 ------------

• Rosneft to study Arctic’s fauna to protect it during oil exploration

• The Battle for the Arctic /Η αντιπαράθεση με το λιώσιμο των πάγων στην Αρκτικη

Exxon Starts "Most Controversial Oil Rig in the World”

For the oil industry, business comes first. After years of preparation, on Saturday ExxonMobil began drilling a $700 million well in the Kara Sea in Russia’s Arctic. It is Russia’s most northerly well.

In doing so, the oil giant has ignored growing concerns over Russia’s role in the Ukrainian conflict, and the sanctions imposed on its business partner, Rosneft, which is run by a close associate of Putin, Igor Sechin, who is also personally blacklisted.

Indeed, the go ahead shows just how ineffectual the sanctions against Russia really are. Exxon’s excuse is that the contract to hire the rig was signed before sanctions were announced, but the oil giant is still working with Putin’s blacklisted inner circle.

Exxon has also ignored huge questions over whether an oil spill in the region could be contained. And of course it has totally disregarded the issue of climate change and the need to disinvest from fossil fuels in the most ecologically sensitive areas, such as the Arctic.

Not surprisingly, the start of drilling was praised by President Putin, who many people feel has blood on his hands over Ukraine. Putin sang the praises of Exxon, calling it “Russia’s old and reliable partner.”

He also labelled the joint venture as a model of “efficient international cooperation” which Russia was “open to expand.”

Putin added “businesses, including Russian and foreign companies, perfectly realize that and despite certain current political difficulties, pragmatism and common sense prevail, and we are pleased to hear that.”

Rosneft is certainly excited by the Kara Sea drilling. The well, known as Universitetskaya, is the first of as many as 40 offshore wells the Russian company plans to drill in the Arctic by 2018.

Igor Sechin calls the drilling of the Kara Sea well the “most important event of the year for the global oil and gas industry. As a result of this work we are planning to discover a new Kara sea oil province. Developing of the Arctic shelf has a huge multiplicative effect on the whole Russian economy.”

Sechin brags about the so-called vast reserves of the region arguing that “The volume of resources exceeds the oil and gas resources of the Gulf of Mexico, the Brazilian shelf, the shelf of Alaska and Canada, and it will be comparable to the resource base of Saudi Arabia.”

Exxon for its part said it was keen to carry on investing in Russia. “Our cooperation is a long-term one,” a spokesperson said. “We see big benefits here and are ready to work here with your agreement.”

Many environmentalists are outraged by Exxon’s Arctic plans. Gustavo Ampugnani, an Arctic campaigner at Greenpeace, argues that “The West Alpha platform is fast becoming the most controversial oil rig in the world. He added that Exxon and Rosneft’s plan “to drill in the ecologically sensitive Arctic is nothing less than absurd.”
 http://ecowatch.com
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Related:

• Arctique: Washington souhaite coopérer avec Moscou

Arctique: Washington souhaite coopérer avec Moscou

Washington souhaite coopérer avec Moscou dans l'exploration de l'Arctique malgré sa décision de boycotter la 4e réunion du Conseil de l'Arctique qui s'est tenue les 6-7 août en Russie, a déclaré vendredi le secrétaire du Conseil de sécurité de Russie Nikolaï Patrouchev.

"Les Américains n'ont pas expliqué leur absence, mais ils se disent prêts à coopérer en Arctique lors de contacts bilatéraux", a indiqué M.Patrouchev dans une interview à RIA Novosti.
Les Etats-Unis sont le seul pays à ne pas envoyer leur délégation à la 4e réunion du Conseil de l'Arctique à Narian Mar, dans la république autonome des Nenets. Elle a porté sur les moyens de garantir la sécurité en Arctique, la création d'une infrastructure des transports arctiques, le développement de la Voie maritime du Nord, la production de ressources minières et biologiques, la protection de l'environnement arctique et le développement des peuples autochtones du Grand Nord.

• La prochaine réunion du Conseil aura lieu en 2015 dans la ville russe d'Arkhangelsk.

Créé en 1996, le Conseil de l'Arctique regroupe les huit Etats riverains de l'Arctique (Canada, Danemark, Etats-Unis, Finlande, Islande, Norvège, Russie et Suède) et six organisations des peuples autochtones de l'Arctique. Douze pays ont le statut d'observateurs (Allemagne, Espagne, Chine, Corée du Sud, France, Grande-Bretagne, Inde, Italie, Japon, Pays-Bas, Pologne et Singapour).http://fr.ria.ru/world/20140808/202084255.html
8/8/14
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Related:

• Arctic Council Signs Oil Spill Response Deal

• Arctic should not be arena of conflicting interests (Russian lawmaker)

• Moscow to submit Arctic shelf claim to UN in fall - Russian official

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• Rosneft to study Arctic’s fauna to protect it during oil exploration

• The Battle for the Arctic /Η αντιπαράθεση με το λιώσιμο των πάγων στην Αρκτικη

Turkish ship that ran aground in Aegean Sea may cause ‘catastrophe’

A Turkish cargo ship that ran aground off the Greek island of Mykonos may lead to an “environmental catastrophe,” officials have warned.

The vessel, named the Yusuf Çepnioğlu, had been anchored at a port in the western province of Izmir en route to Tunisia. It was abandoned by its crew after it ran into rocks off the coast of Mykonos and began taking in water on March 7. The ship was carrying 200 tons of fuel.


The container ship remains pinned to the rocks, coast guard authorities. There are concerns that strong winds and waves may cause some of its cargo to come loose and cause a spill near the island.

Responding to a distress call on March 8, a U.S. ship sent a search and rescue helicopter to the location where the vessel had run aground. The Bataan is in the Aegean Sea on a regular deployment in the 6th Fleet area of operations.

Officials said a joint operation to tow the ship to safety and ensure that there was no leakage was currently underway.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-ship-that-ran-aground-in-aegean-sea-may-cause-catastrophe.aspx?pageID=238&nID=63399&NewsCatID=340
10/3/14
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Related:

• Turkish container ship runs aground off Greek island of Mykonos. -Marine pollution near the shore?

• Μύκονος: Μετά τη βελτίωση του καιρού η επιχείρηση απομάκρυνσης του τουρκικού κοντέινερ (VIDEO)

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Death toll from China oil pipeline blast rises to 47.

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The casualty count from oil pipeline blast in the Eastern China stands at 47 while 136 wounded

SHANGHAI
The death toll from an oil pipeline blast in the coastal town Qingdao in Eastern China rose to 47 while wounded 136 people are treated in hospitals, said local sources.

The explosion occurred when leaked oil caught fire as workers were trying to contain a rapture at an underground oil pipeline belonging to Chinese petroleum giant Sinopec.

Over 100 firefighters were deployed to douse the blaze.

Local authorities stated oil spill had spread across 3,000 square meters on sea and 22 sea cleaning vessels, 10 fishing boats and 6 coast guard boats continued clean up effort.
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/headline/255059--death-toll-from-china-oil-pipeline-blast-rises-to-47
23/11/13
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Death toll from oil pipeline blast in China... από euronews-en

Danish divers launch mission to remove oil from a ten-year-old wreck

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Danish divers have launched a major operation in the Baltic Sea in a bid to avert an environmental disaster.

They are trying to remove hundreds of cubic metres of fuel oil which are still on board a Chinese cargo ship which sank ten years ago.


It's a dangerous mission for the specialist divers who are having to work in depths of around 70 metres to locate the fuel tanks which have corroded and are in danger of leaking.

The Baltic Sea can be very rough and the operation which depends on calm waters could take up to a month to complete.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJS8KWzVHCE 

Arctic Council Signs Oil Spill Response Deal

KIRUNA, May 15 (RIA Novosti)

 – Foreign ministers from the Arctic Council’s member states have signed a legally binding agreement on preventing and responding to oil spills in the Arctic to protect the region’s waters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.
The treaty is “an effective tool protecting the Arctic environment at a time of active exploration of the opening Arctic deposits, and shows the firm responsibility of the Arctic states for the situation in the region,” Lavrov said at the opening of the council’s ministerial session in Sweden’s northernmost city of Kiruna.
Lavrov said he “welcomed” the decision to expand the council by granting the so-called observer status to new states. China, Italy and four other Asian countries - India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore - gained observer status on the Council at a meeting on Wednesday. The Council also said it “positively” viewed the idea of granting the European Union observer status. However, a decision on the EU status has been deferred because of Canada’s concern over an EU ban on import of seal products, which came into effect in August.

“Interest in the Arctic is on the rise. In particular, this is confirmed by the growth of the number of aspirants seeking to obtain an observer status in the Arctic Council,” Lavrov said.
Gao Feng, head of China's delegation to the event, told Xinhua after the decision granting China's observer status was announced: "China will first get to know the Arctic better, and then it will be able to join in international cooperation effectively."
The Arctic Council intergovernmental forum, comprising Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States, was established in 1996 to protect the Arctic region's environment and its indigenous peoples.
Russia has stepped up exploration of its Arctic oil and gas reserves in recent years, and has signed agreements with international partners including Shell, Statoil, Total and ExxonMobil to help exploit the region’s natural resources.

But environmental activists claim accidents in the area could have dire consequences, both because of fragility of the Arctic ecosystem and the complexity of cleaning up spills in remote areas.
The Arctic has also become an increasingly important region in economic and political terms thanks to climate change. The Arctic territories, believed to hold vast untapped oil and gas reserves, have been the subject of claims by the United States, Russia, Canada, Norway, and Denmark, with rising temperatures leading to a reduction in sea ice making hydrocarbon deposits under the Arctic Ocean increasingly accessible.
.rian.ru
15/5/13
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-
Related:

• The Battle for the Arctic /Η αντιπαράθεση με το λιώσιμο των πάγων στην Αρκτικη

• Plateau continental arctique: la partie russe serait plus grande de 1,2 M km²

• Λαβρόφ: το Αρκτικό Συμβούλιο μετατρέπεται σε διακρατικό οργανισμό......

• mid ru: Lavrov, Kerry to meet on Arctic Council sidelines in Sweden...

 

Lower Mississippi River shut down after huge oil spill

Two barges struck a Mississippi River bridge Sunday morning, causing an oil spill that kept part of the waterway shut down to ship traffic and held up at least 21 boats, barges and vessels.
One of the two tank barges was carrying more than 80,000 gallons (302,833 liters) of light crude oil, an unknown amount of which spilled into the Mississippi River after the vessel hit the Vicksburg Railroad river bridge. Cleanup crews have not yet determined the extent of the oil spill, but a pollution response team is currently assessing the size of the spill and monitoring tank levels for further leakage, the US Coast Guard relayed in a press release. Each of the two ships contains eight tanks of oil.

A section of the lower Mississippi River has been closed to all traffic, backing up at least 21 tugboats, barges and other vessels going both northbound and southbound, Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Ryan Gomez told the Associated Press.
The spill occurred at around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, and oil was reported as far as three miles downriver later that day. Cleanup clews, including the US Environmental Services, are frantically trying to prevent the oil from spreading and have laid out containment booms – temporary floating barriers used to contain an oil spill.
“They have the boom to contain any cruise oil that’s leaking out of the barge. They have a secondary boom to corral any crude oil that gets past the first boom,” Gomez told AP.
“They are continuing to try to remove the product from the damaged tank to one of the non-damaged tanks on the same barge. The ultimate goal is to transfer all of the crude to a different barge,” he added.
Gomez said investigators are still trying to determine how the accident happened. Third Coast Towing LLC, the company that owns the two barges, has not made any public statements about the collision and has not responded to reporters' requests for comment. At the time of the accident, both vessels were being pulled by the tugboat Nature’s Way Endeavor.
The Mississippi River has suffered numerous oil spills in the past few years, which carry the risk of further devastating the Gulf Coast. In February 2012, part of the river was shut down for one day after an oil barge collided with a construction barge and spilled about 10,000 gallons of oil. In 2008, a fuel barge collided with a tanker, breaking in half and spilling 283,000 gallons of heavy crude into the waterways and keeping a large part of the river shut down for nearly a week.
Large oil spills can leak into the Gulf of Mexico, but Gomez believes the newly spilled oil will not travel the 344 river miles to the gulf. If more oil had been released, then it could have affected residents and businesses in the Gulf Coast states who are still recovering from the 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which released 200 million gallons of oil into the water and killed 11 people.
Still, Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Jason McDonald said it’s too early to predict the environmental impact.
“Rivers have a different dynamic than oceans and gulfs,” he told the Clarion-Ledger. “It’s too early to tell.”
The Coast Guard does not know how long the afflicted portion of the Mississippi River will remain closed.
.rt.com
28/01/13

Στην Αλάσκα διασώζουν εξέδρα γεώτρησης που έχει κολλήσει στα ρηχά (VIDEO)

Ειδικοί ετοιμάζονται να προσδέσουν συρματόσχοινο για ρυμούλκηση στην πλωτή εξέδρα γεώτρησης Kulluk, που ανήκει στην πετρελαϊκή εταιρεία Royal Dutch Shell.

Η εξέδρα ρίχτηκε από τα κύμματα στις ακτές της Αλάσκας στις 31 Δεκεμβρίου, όταν μετά από μία σφοδρή καταιγίδα αποκόπηκε από το ρυμουλκό πλοίο και παρασύρθηκε.
Πάνω στην εξέδρα βρίσκονται πάνω από 500 χιλ. λίτρα πετρελαίου και ντίζελ. Προς το παρόν δεν υπάρχουν ενδείξεις διαρροής.

Ωστόσο, στην εξέδρα βρέθηκε θαλασσινό νερό, γεγονός που υποδεικνύει ότι η εξωτερική επένδυση μπορεί να έχει υποστεί βλάβη.
.ruvr.ru
6/1/13
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ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ- VIDEO:

• Σταμάτησε η διαρροή από πλατφόρμα εξόρυξης πετρελαίου της Shell 

• Φόβοι για διαρροή πετρελαίου στην Αλάσκα

• Attempts to save drilling device which has run aground postponed

• No oil spill seen at Shell drill ship in Alaska

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A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew overfly the conical drilling unit Kulluk Shell's Kulluk platform aground on the southeast shore of Sitkalidak Island about 40 miles southwest of Kodiak City, Alaska, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. The on scene weather conditions were 40 mph winds with 20-foot seas. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis.

Σταμάτησε η διαρροή από πλατφόρμα εξόρυξης πετρελαίου της Shell

Σταμάτησε η διαρροή από την πλατφόρμα εξόρυξης πετρελαίου Kulluk της Shell, η οποία προσέκρουσε σε στεριά κατά τη ρυμούλκησή της από την Αρκτική προς την Αλάσκα πριν από λίγες μέρες, γεγονός που καθιστά ευκολότερη την διαδικασία ρυμούλκησης, ανακοίνωσαν αργά χθες το βράδυ αξιωματούχοι.
Έξι εμπειρογνώμονες επωφελήθηκαν από την μικρή βελτίωση του καιρού για να προσεγγίσουν το κατάστρωμά της, ανακοίνωσε ο επικεφαλής της αμερικανικής ακτοφυλακής Πολ Μέλερ.

Την Δευτέρα, η πλατφόρμα προσέκρουσε στη στεριά όταν το παγοθραυστικό που την ρυμουλκούσε υπέστη μηχανική βλάβη εν μέσω καταιγίδας. Η πλατφόρμα Kulluk διαμέτρου 81 μέτρων μετέφερε 540.000 λίτρα ντίζελ και 45.000 λίτρα πετρελαίου λίπανσης, δήλωσε η Ντάρσι Σενκλέρ, εκπρόσωπος του κέντρου διοίκησης της ακτοφυλακής που έχει αναλάβει τον χειρισμό του ατυχήματος.
Και τα 18 μέλη του πληρώματος της 290 εκατομμυρίων δολαρίων πλατφόρμας της Shell διασώθηκαν. Την πλατφόρμα ρυμουλκούσαν προς το Σιάτλ για συντήρηση όταν προσέκρουσε στη στεριά στην ανατολική ακτή του ακατοίκητου νησιού Σιτκαλιντάκ στον Κόλπο της Αλάσκας.
.energypress.gr
3/1/13
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ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ:

• Φόβοι για διαρροή πετρελαίου στην Αλάσκα

• Attempts to save drilling device which has run aground postponed

• Η διάσωση της εξέδρας γεώτρησης της Shell αναβάλλεται

• No oil spill seen at Shell drill ship in Alaska

• Shell Drill Ship Runs Aground On Island Off Alaska

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  Pictures: Errant Shell Oil Rig Runs Aground Off Alaska  [.nationalgeographic.com (+PICS) ]

 

Φόβοι για διαρροή πετρελαίου στην Αλάσκα

Πλατφόρμα που μετέφερε τρυπάνι της πετρελαϊκής εταιρείας Shell προσάραξε την περασμένη Δευτέρα στις ακτές της Αλάσκας, λόγω κακοκαιρίας.
Σύμφωνα με ανακοίνωση αξιωματούχων της εταιρείας και της κυβέρνησης το πλοίο «Kulluk» ξέφυγε από την πορεία του και χτύπησε σε βράχια κοντά στο νησί Κόντιακ.


Τα 18 μέλη του πληρώματος είχαν ήδη εγκαταλείψει το πλοίο από το Σάββατο με τη συνδρομή της Αμερικανικής Ακτοφυλακής λόγω των κινδύνων από τις κακές καιρικές συνθήκες, καθώς έπνεαν άνεμοι με ταχύτητα 100 χιλιόμετρα την ώρα και η στάθμη της θάλασσας στον Κόλπο της Αλάσκας είχε ανέβει κατά 11 μέτρα.
.protothema.gr
2/1/13
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ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ:

• Attempts to save drilling device which has run aground postponed

• Η διάσωση της εξέδρας γεώτρησης της Shell αναβάλλεται

• No oil spill seen at Shell drill ship in Alaska

• Shell Drill Ship Runs Aground On Island Off Alaska

   

  
  Pictures: Errant Shell Oil Rig Runs Aground Off Alaska  [.nationalgeographic.com (+PICS) ]
• Drift of Thunder
  Photograph courtesy Sara Francis, U.S. Coast Guard

  The oil rig Kulluk is seen here at sea on Saturday, 80 miles south of Kodiak, as its crew is airlifted to safety. The 20-year-old conical rig was named in 1982 by an Inuvik schoolgirl; the word means "thunder" in her native language.
  The ship has a draft of 41 feet (13 meters); it is beached in water that is 24 to 48 feet deep (7 to 15 meters), about 1,648 feet (500 meters) from shore, says the Coast Guard (see map). The Coast Guard says that the Kulluk is upright and stable with no signs of environmental impact.
  But on Tuesday, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation official Steve Russell warned, "The Kulluk still presents a significant threat to Ocean Bay and the surrounding areas."
  The joint government-industry task force, the Unified Command, planned multiple flyovers on Wednesday to assess the site. Once conditions are deemed safe, the plan is to place a team aboard the vessel to get a better view of its condition. But weather conditions continued to be severe, with flight restrictions in place. The Coast Guard was maintaining a safety zone of one nautical mile around the vessel this morning.
  The Coast Guard said it had no immediate estimate of the costs of the response operations, but said that Shell was assuming responsibility for the effort.
  Coast Guard Captain Paul Mehler said the response effort had benefited from the extensive oil-spill planning and joint training in advance of Shell's first Arctic drilling last summer. But when asked if the plans had ever anticipated events like those unfolding this past week, he said, "This particular scenario—certainly not. I don't think we could have come up with a scenario as this has played out. This has been that challenging."
  

  Published January 2, 2013

  
  

Attempts to save drilling device which has run aground postponed

The attempts to save a drilling device, which had run aground near Alaska’s shore, have been postponed because of strong wind.

The device, which belongs to the “Royal Dutch Shell” company, ran ashore near the island of Kodiak on Monday.

On December 30, the device began to drift because the engines of the towing vessel went out of order. The crew of the device was evacuated.


Voice of Russia, BBC
.ruvr.ru
2/1/12
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Related posts:

• No oil spill seen at Shell drill ship in Alaska

• Shell Drill Ship Runs Aground On Island Off Alaska

   

  
  
  • Η διάσωση της εξέδρας γεώτρησης της Shell αναβάλλεται
  
  Οι προσπάθειες διάσωσης της εξέδρας γεώτρησης της εταιρείας Royal Dutch Shell, που κάθισε στα αβαθή στις ακτές της Αλάσκας αναβλήθηκαν για αργότερα λόγω των ισχυρών ανέμων, μεταδίδει το BBC.
  Η πλωτή εξέδρα γεώτρησης Kulluk παρασύρθηκε στα ανοικτά των ακτών της Αλάσκας και προσάραξε στις νήσους Κόντιακ τη Δευτέρα. Σύμφωνα με την αμερικανική Ακτοφυλακή, η κατάσταση προς το παρόν δεν είναι επικίνδυνη. Στις 30 Δεκεμβρίου κατά τη διάρκεια καταιγίδας η εξέδρα άρχισε να πλέει ανεξέλεγκτα αφότου υπέστησαν βλάβη οι κινητήρες του πλοίου ρυμούλκησής της. Το πλήρωμα της εξέδρας Kulluk απομακρύνθηκε όταν προέκυψε κίνδυνος σύγκρουσης με ένα από τα νησιά.

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No oil spill seen at Shell drill ship in Alaska

An overnight Coast Guard flight over an Alaska drilling rig that ran aground in shallow water off a small island on New Year's Eve found no signs of a fuel spill.

But officials at a unified command center run by the Coast Guard, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, state responders and others said they'll have to wait until daylight to know for sure what environmental impact the grounding might have caused.

The Kulluk grounded Monday night on rocks off the southeast side of Sitkalidak Island, an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Alaska.


The North Pacific storm that has caused problems for Shell's efforts to move the drill into place near Kodiak Island is expected to continue Tuesday, at a slightly milder intensity, said spokeswoman Darci Sinclair.

Voice of Russia, AP
ruvr.ru
1/1/13
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Related post:

• Shell Drill Ship Runs Aground On Island Off Alaska

Μεγάλη διαρροή πετρελαίου από αγωγό της ExxonMobil στα ανοιχτά της Νιγηρίας

Σε ακτίνα τουλάχιστον 30 χιλιομέτρων από τα παράλια εκτείνεται η διαρροή πετρελαίου από έναν αγωγό της εταιρείας ExxonMobil στα ανοιχτά του Δέλτα του Νίγηρα, καλύπτοντας τα νερά με μία ταινία βούρκου και προκαλώντας τεράστια προβλήματα στους αλιείς που κατοικούν στην περιοχή.

Η ExxonMobil διέκοψε τη λειτουργία του επίμαχου πετρελαιαγωγού την προηγούμενη Κυριακή, 11 Νοεμβρίου, λόγω της διαρροής, ωστόσο το πρόβλημα δεν έχει ακόμα επιδιορθωθεί.


Τα αίτια της διαρροής δεν έχουν αποσαφηνιστεί, με τον τοπικό επικεφαλής της εταιρείας, Μαρκ Γουάρντ, να αναφέρει πως έχουν κινητοποιηθεί οι μονάδες καθαρισμού.

Πρόκειται για τη δεύτερη μεγάλη διαρροή πετρελαίου που εντοπίζεται κοντά σε εγκαταστάσεις της ExxonMobil στην περιοχή τους τελευταίους τρεις μήνες.

Οι διαρροές πετρελαίου είναι αρκετά συχνά φαινόμενα στη Νιγηρία, όπου η εφαρμογή κανονισμών προστασίας του περιβάλλοντος είναι ιδιαίτερα χαλαρή και ένοπλες συμμορίες συχνά προκαλούν ζημιές σε αγωγούς προκειμένου να κλέψουν αργό πετρέλαιο.

Εντός της εβδομάδας , η BP ήρθε σε εξωδικαστικό συμβιβασμό με τις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες για την υπόθεση διαρροής ποσότητας πέντε εκατομμυρίων βαρελιών αργού στον Κόλπο του Μεξικού το 2010, συμφωνώντας να πληρώσει συνολικά 4,5 δισεκατομμύρια δολάρια ως αποζημίωση.

Παρά τις συχνές και μεγάλες διαρροές που λαμβάνουν χώρα στη Νιγηρία κάθε χρόνο, καμία μεγάλη πετρελαϊκή εταιρεία δεν έχει υποχρεωθεί να καταβάλει οποιαδήποτε χρηματικά αξιοσημείωτη αποζημίωση.
. skai gr
18/11/12
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• Ιστορικό πρόστιμο κατά της BP

• Νιγηρία: Στα 5 δισ. ευρώ το… «μάρμαρο» από την πετρελαιοκηλίδα

• ΠΕΤΡΕΛΑΙΟΚΗΛΙΔΑ ΤΗΣ SHELL ΣΤΗ ΝΙΓΗΡΙΑ: ΕΝΑ ΠΑΡΑΛΟΓΟ “ΠΑΙΧΝΙΔΙ” ΑΡΙΘΜΩΝ

• Εκπαίδευση για αντιμετώπιση καταστροφών

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Nigeria Exxon Spill Spreads for Miles along Coast 

By Tife Owolabi
IBENO, Nigeria (Reuters) - An oil spill at an ExxonMobil facility offshore from the Niger Delta has spread at least 20 miles from its source, coating waters used by fishermen in a film of sludge.
A Reuters reporter visiting several parts of Akwa Ibom state saw a rainbow-tinted oil slick stretching for 20 miles from a pipeline that Exxon had shut down because of a leak a week ago. Locals scooped it into jerry cans.
Mark Ward, the managing director of ExxonMobil's local unit, said a clean up had been mobilized, and he apologized to affected communities for the spill.
Exxon said last Sunday it had shut a pipeline off the coast of Akwa Ibom state after an oil leak whose cause was unknown.
"This is the worst spill in this community since Exxon started its operations in the area," said Edet Asuquo, 40, a fisherman in the Mkpanak community, as women scooped oil into buckets. In some marshy areas, plants were poking out of the slick, not yet dead and blackened by the oil.
"The fishermen cannot fish any longer and have no alternative means of survival," Asuquo said.
The U.S. major's outage comes on top of multiple production problems in Africa's biggest crude exporter, after fellow oil majors Shell and Eni reported disruptions at onshore sites due to oil theft and Nigeria's worst flooding in 50 years.
"Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) regrets this incident. Our teams are being mobilized to clean up the area," Ward said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
"We apologize for the inconveniences that it has caused."

OIL SLICK
One fisherman described noticing a large quantity of oil on the surface of the sea and all over the beach the Friday before last, adding that the company has since sprayed chemicals in the water, which was helping to disperse it.
It was the second major oil spill near Exxon facilities in three months. At the end of August, an oil spill left a slick running for miles along the coast.
Oil spills are common in Nigeria, where enforcement of environmental regulations is lax and armed gangs frequently damage pipelines to steal crude. Oil majors say thieves are responsible for most of the spills on shore.
A U.N. report in August last year criticized the government and multinational oil firms for 50 years of oil pollution that has devastated the Ogoniland region.
"Our prayers are for tough punishment on the oil companies operating the Niger Delta," said Inyang Ekong, the secretary of the fishermen's association, as the car he was in swept past oil washing up onto beaches in an area called Ibeno.
Oil major BP Plc this week agreed to pay $4.5 billion in penalties for spilling nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Despite thousands of barrels a year spilt by oil majors in Nigeria, none has ever been forced to make a financially significant settlement.
Some communities are now attempting to sue for compensation from Shell in Western courts.
A raft of production outages has caused export delays to Nigerian crude to lengthen, as the country's number one export suffers acutely, oil traders say.
Shell still has a force majeure in place on Forcados and Bonny Light crude oil grades after a tanker being used to steal oil caught fire on September 30, spreading a blaze across several oil and gas installations.
(Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Alison Williams)
 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nigeria-exxon-spill-spreads-for-mil
17/11/12