Monthly Archives: May 2010

Time to Cooperate

Posted on May 30, 2010 by Tim Newman

When the Enron scandal brought down Arthur Andersen, it was an open secret that the hearts of the other four of the “Big Five” accounting firms skipped a beat.  Arthur Andersen had done nothing that the other four hadn’t also … Continue reading →

Posted in Macondo, Oil & Gas | 1 Comment

The Nutters Emerge

Posted on May 30, 2010 by Tim Newman

BP is clearly struggling to get the Macondo well under control, and it’s latest attempt at a “top kill” has unfortunately failed.  Last night I was watching BP’s live video feed from the ROVs which are on the bottom of … Continue reading →

Posted in Macondo, Oil & Gas, Russia | 1 Comment

The Evacuation of the Deepwater Horizon

Posted on May 29, 2010 by Tim Newman

There is another good article in the Wall Street Journal which describes the chaos on the Deepwater Horizon during the evacuation, based on interviews with people who were on board at the time.  It is worth reading in full, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Macondo, Oil & Gas | 2 Comments

Fateful Decisions on the Deepwater Horizon

Posted on May 29, 2010 by Tim Newman

For all my dismissal of the mainstream media in their coverage of the Macondo disaster, it appears (thanks to Gringo in the comments) that the Wall Street Journal is doing a pretty fine job of it.  This article is probably … Continue reading →

Posted in Macondo, Oil & Gas | 7 Comments

A View of Life in Phuket

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Tim Newman

Living in a place like Phuket is similar to living in a place like Dubai.  Phuket, like Dubai, is primarily a holiday resort and holiday resorts are not normal places.  If you come here on holiday you will have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Phuket | 3 Comments

The Wisdom of Academics

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Tim Newman

Upstream Online provides us with a good example of the type of rubbish which is being bandied about regarding the Macondo well (emphasis mine): Estimates for the flow rate have been controversial since the spill began after a blowout at … Continue reading →

Posted in Macondo, Oil & Gas | Comments Off

BP’s Assets

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Tim Newman

I’ve just watched a CNN video of Barack Obama addressing a group of journalists about the federal government’s response to the Macondo oil spill, and he has reiterated that the government just does not have the assets that BP has … Continue reading →

Posted in Macondo, Oil & Gas, Politics | Comments Off

Back Pedalling over BP

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Tim Newman

Further to this post we get an unsurprising admission: The Obama administration is facing a rising tide of anger against its handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and acknowledged on Sunday that it did not have the technical capabilities … Continue reading →

Posted in Macondo, Oil & Gas, Politics | 19 Comments

Macondo Failure Mechanisms Identified

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Tim Newman

We are still far from getting a clear idea of what exactly caused the well blowout on BP’s Macondo prospect, but the invesigation has managed to identify seven control mechanisms on which it will focus: The investigation team’s work thus … Continue reading →

Posted in Macondo, Oil & Gas, Politics | 2 Comments

More Macondo Madness

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Tim Newman

Just when I was beginning to think the US government couldn’t get more stupid regarding the Macondo oil leak, we get this: Oil firm BP may be “pushed out of the way” if it fails to perform in the Gulf … Continue reading →

Posted in Macondo, Oil & Gas, Politics | 3 Comments