The Next Big Idea

Here’s what BP is going to try next.

If the top kill fails, BP would cut off the damaged riser from which the oil is leaking and cap it with a containment valve that’s already resting on the seafloor. BP is already preparing for that operation, Suttles said.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that this oil will continue to gush until the relief well is finished.

Speaking of which, Canada requires mandatory relief wells to be drilled with every main well as an obvious safety mechanism. And BP is lobbying the Canadian government to drop that rule. Yes. Really.

Yesterday on MSNBC, which has a penchant for hosting lobbyists on their various shows for some reason, the senior economic adviser for the American Petroleum Institute, Rayola Dougher, scoffed at such an idea — basically suggesting preemptive relief wells were out of the question.

The cost of drilling a relief well: $100 million. The cost of mitigating the BP oil spill so far: $930 million.

She said, “That would be — that would really make it unviable [sic]. I couldn’t even imagine such a suggestion.”

Corporate criminals.

Adding… I just can’t stop thinking about this:

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  • ec

    If the oil and gas industry finds this unviable (sic), wait until they get a load of the inevitable regulations that will follow this spill.I hope…

  • grs

    Although far better than spewing crude, has anyone looked at how much drilling mud is seeping from the plume and how long it will take for that to settle out? I’m curious if the fine particulate in the mud will cause another blackout of sorts to the environment.

  • Mather Z