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As For The Facts On This Alleged Diamond Offshore Rig "Spill"...
There seems to be a lot of misinformation floating around on what some have purported to have discovered as a second leak in the Gulf, presumably this one emanating from Diamond Offshore's Ocean Saratoga rig. All of this appears is just innuendo attempting to generate page views and support collapsing Nielsen ratings, and to reinforce today's Goldman takedown of the offshore oil industry (so far for reasons unknown, but as we pointed out earlier, Goldman had a buy on Rig with an $87 PT two weeks ago, only to go and kill the space today with a brand new hit piece - is someone preparing to LBO a perrenial take private candidate or two, i.e. DO and RIG, and needs Goldman's help for this). After some actual investigation, it appears rumors of a second leak are false.
From NOLA.com
Exempted from the moratorium are the two relief wells that are being drilled at the site of the Deepwater Horizon well as part of the long-term effort to completely seal that well.
Two other drill rigs were given a pass from the moratorium. One is the Transocean Discoverer Enterprise, a drill ship that in recent days has been receiving oil and gas collected by a containment cap placed over the damaged BP well.
The other, the Diamond Ocean Saratoga, is operated by Taylor Energy, which has been in the process of plugging and abandoning a Mississippi Canyon well where the platform was toppled during Hurricane Ivan. The Diamond Ocean Saratoga is the only one on the MMS list operating at a depth of less then 500 feet. Eleven of the rigs are operating at greater depths than the Deepwater Horizon, which was drilling a bit more than 5,000 feet below the surface.
Karl Denninger does a good job of actually trying to uncover the truth. Here is his full report:
Yes, there's a leak there.
But there is neither a cover-up or anything new related to this.
From the MMS via NOLA:
"The other, the Diamond Ocean Saratoga, is operated by Taylor Energy, which has been in the process of plugging and abandoning a Mississippi Canyon well where the platform was toppled during Hurricane Ivan. The Diamond Ocean Saratoga is the only one on the MMS list that is operating at a depth of less then 500 feet."
Hurricane Ivan was in 2004 and hit my house!
Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO) along with Transocean (NYSE: RIG) are both getting trashed this morning in no small part, I presume, based on this "disclosure", even though it is not a disclosure at all but rather is a hit piece - the company in question is working to plug and abandon a damaged well that happened six years ago.
There is every reason to be skeptical and ask questions but the "mainstream tout TV hype-based media" ought to pay attention to their facts before reporting what clearly appears to be utter and complete crap.
We completely agree with Karl's conclusion:
Casting aspersions on the companies that are fixing existing damage from a storm that happened some time ago and, it appears, painting their operations in a false light, along with alleging a "coverup" where a quick check of the facts appears to show precisely the opposite, is not "journalism" - it is sensational garbage that has no basis in reality.
I might have the wrong rig, but given that this is a specific exemption to the "tools up" call from MMS, I sorta doubt it.
Go after the real bad guys, not God and definitely not those men and women who are trying to mitigate damage done by God, not man.
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Hoping to buy RIG today.
Jun 50 calls have lots of volume today, whats nice is thetas practically zero
5X PE .7X Book
http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/06/routine-gulf-monitoring-heres-why-we.html
Possible Leak From Platform 23051http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/06/possible-leak-from-platform-23051.html
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_edvxM1dkFlo/TAerVi_TvrI/AAAAAAAAAfw/lq-3WiHm7G...
For what it's worth, here is a fly over of the rig in question.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWHLrcxLVkg
if it takes 6 years, they must be very, very slow. Hope this one goes faster. Saratoga does show a leak of oil on the surface.
Facts and truth are a rare commodity.
It's sad when a parody news site reveals more truth about an issue then the people involved.
Read for yourself,
http://www.theonion.com/articles/massive-flow-of-bullshit-continues-to-g...
During the first week or so BP and the Obama Administration informed us that the rate of oil spillage was 1,000 barrels per day.
Once confronted by those who independantly analysed the slick from satellite photos (remember no live footage was initially forthcoming for some reason...) they choose to up their 'estimate' to 5,000 barrels per day and held that estimate for a month.
During this time the Administration had full access to expert opinion to determine the flow rate but still stuck with the 5,000 barrel figure that both they and BP came up with.
Just before the "Cut and Curl... err Cap" operation they upped the number to 12,000 to 19,000 barrels per day but did not initially state that this was a minimum estimate.
Since they are now recovering up to 15,000 barrels per day (with no noticeable decrease in the flow... but a noticeable 'decrease' in live broadcast coverage of the leak...) they are revising estimates again.
Independant experts have continually stated the flow is on the order of 60,000 to 100,000 barrels per day.
Which brings us to the question.
(Makes one wonder what other numbers they may be deliberately lying to us about!)
+1
Why is the area now a militarized zone? Why is the media not allowed to investigate? And, yes, why do they keep lying to us about it?
Best case, they're just treating us like we treat our own children.
And at worst they are trying to obscure the real amount to help BP mitigate it's losses from the soon to be forthcoming lawsuits and fines.
Question once again is...
Just askin'...
Oh, I can think of worse, much worse.
It also gives us an indication of the scale of their numbers-deception: two to three orders of magnitude.
somebody's thinking.
more importantly what is one to make of this (Simmons on Ratigan yesterday)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/37560013#37560013
and this on NBC yesterday
Fl Senator Nelson - go to 2:15 mark of video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bj_kco8qTQ
and a great deal of discussion of damage to the well casing on many news sites and blogs
interesting discussion on Simmons latest on OilDrum
Simmons can't possibly be correct about the 'true' source being 7 miles away.
That said... BP did abandon a well just before they drilled this one where they had to cut the stuck drill bit head and pipe off... I'm not sayin' that it's leaking too but perhaps someone in the administration might want to err... like... check it out maybe?
Simmons didn't say that. The source is the drilled well beneath the seabed. The leaks on the seabed are at the ocean floor, above the source. These leaks are thus spread out, not one of which should be referred to as the true source.
I think I get you now...
Considering the high pressures of the reservoir (and throughout the wellbore) and the compromised condition of the casings... it is entirely possible that overlying porous strata thousands of feet above the reservoir formation are being pressurized with oil from the well and leaking out at other locations that we are not seeing. That said... 7 miles away?... I hope this is not the case.
Two great videos.
Unfortunately, the gentleman on the Ratigan program sounds like he knows what he's talking about: we're facing a terrifying, epic catastrophic shitstorm
from the same karl... another masterpiece right up the alley of ZH.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/06/is_there_any_way_to_avoid_the.html
wait wait wait - so we're supposed to be relieved that this is a SIX YEAR OLD LEAK that they are trying to fix?!?!?!? WTF? this is GOOD news ?!?!!? hellloooooo?
it begs the question - if Diamond Offshore's rig has been leaking oil into the ocean for SIX FRIGGIN YEARS why hasn't anyone been talking about it? what am I missing here?
It must be a small leak, something easy to point to and say, look, not so bad. Just don't go looking for Simon's second, larger leak.
It's so frustrating to live under a regime that will lie more easily than tell any sort of truth. The area is a military zone now, so basically it's a black hole of information.
i guess the point is, is there such thing as a "small leak" if even a small leak leaves an oil slick to the horizon on the ocean's surface? sure, it may not be leaking 10,000 gallons/barrels/whatever a day, but that doesn't mean it's not bad - right?
But if it really has been leaking for 6 year, it must not be big enough to be noticed. Oil would've been turning up on beaches during that time, no?
http://materialsforenergy.typepad.com/
"Every year 2 million to 12 million tons of oil naturally seep from the ocean floor and into the sea. In fact, many of the deposits in the Gulf of Mexico were discovered by observing these oil seeps, which is why the hydrocarbon degraders are everywhere, waiting for their “dinner” or fuel."
yes. obviously, though, that doesn't make it ok to leak more from faulty wells...
spek, if you're comparing apples to apples, then why do we never see oil wash up on shores from these natural occurrences?
So Simon on Bloomberg last week was outright lying then? You guys remember his firm claim that a larger plume was discovered 2 weeks ago, of which he never linked to a second rig. Linking it to a rig with a minor spill that's been going on for years, doesn't sound right. Obviously, Simon wasn't referring that spill.
Shoot. I'm no longer sure any of this is real.
I believe this is still damaging to the oil industry, and GS may actually not be totally off the mark in downgrading these guys. It's all about public perception. These guys were hiding a leak for six years? Whatever the complete story is, it just doesn't make them look good, given the current environment.
If you look at the chart for RIG, it's a major support line right now, and the next major one down is at 20. If you really believe in buy low, sell high, you might just want to wait for that one.
6 years, a fina of 4800 dollar a barrel like BP will face.
1 barrel a day, 365 days, 6 years = 10.512.000$
A small leak would be about 500 to 2000 barrels a day
= 5.256.000.000$ to 21.024.000.000$
It's easy to calcualte how much DO has to pay. And if they don't have do: WHY SHOULD BP!!
DO is a near future bankrupt company. You should short it.
For starters Karl's definition of "some time ago" is SIX YEARS. So you mean to tell me that the oil has been leaking for six goddamn years and that this is somehow better than had this been a recent leak? And why has it taken SIX years to plug it? He conveniently "forgets" to mention this little nugget:
"The rig was damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, according to Times Picayune. However, Diamond Offshore tells us, however, it was not hired to close the well until 2009."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/confirmed-there-is-a-second-leaking-rig-n...
This is the same Karl that was first advocating DRILL BABY DRILL RIGHT after the Deepwater Horizon collapse and then later has gotten scared s**tless when the oil is about to reach HIS backyard.
Hypocrisy anyone?
Hypocrisy El Gordo?
Ha ha ha hardly!
Looks like you didn't receive the email my friend... this is simply NOT A STORY!!! Even the US Coast Guard agrees...
Meanwhile, Coast Guard rep Zachary Zubricki tells us "this is not a story."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/confirmed-there-is-a-second-leaking-rig-near-the-deepwater-2010-6#ixzz0qHhNadAwI'm not sure if the US Coast Guard - the same folks who told us that oil was leaking at 5000 barrels/day when CLEARLY it was MUCH MORE - is the most competent/unbiased authority to designate whether something is "a story" or not. Of course, if it were upto them the Deepwater disaster would not be "a story" either.
Especially in light of gems like these..
And actually I do believe that BP is being honest with the administration... it's just so apparent that the Administration and BP are not being honest with us. And our civil SERVANTS (including Obama BTW...) work for who again?
It's like a repeating message, even appears here sometimes, this is not a story, not for you to worry about.
Or, even worse, the story is about the fake fighting between BP and Big Bro.
Another one of those "drill baby drill" morons I presume.
You keep using that phrase, however, I'm quite uncertain what it means. I'm guessing it's your strawman.
i just read through the comment thread on Denninger's forum.
for what it's worth, he says 1) it takes very little oil to cause a visible slick on the ocean's surface and
2) this rig was closed down before Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and started leaking many years later (probably, 2009, according to the Business Insider article GG linked), at which point DO was called in to remedy the situation.
OK, so I guess Denninger is now an offshore oil drilling expert. If its such a small spill, why are they using dispersants on it?
"and started leaking many years later "
It doesn't say that. It only says that Diamond Offshore was HIRED in 2009 to close it.
GG - my initial comment at 12:46 is almost identical in sentiment to the one you posted recently. I have the same concerns as you. I'm just telling you what the contra-argument presented by Denninger is - not saying it's The Word Of Truth or anything.
Fact is, they didn't mention it. So he who lies ones, loses credibility.
The onknown oil on the florida beaches where BP says it wasn't their oil?
Looks like we found spill number 2.
DO lied, so why should we believe their blaming game? If the leak was earlier, it should be mentioned in a contract and they should NOW launch a PR meeting for damage control. If that doesn't happen before Wednesday, it means they are lying.
I'm surprised Tyler sourced his post from one of THE most biased commentators out there when it comes to "drill baby drill".
You sound like you might be just a tad biased, yourself, maybe? I dunno, just saying.
Looks like you actually need to READ what I just wrote instead of passing off random judgments.
Looks like that spankin' you took really hurt...
LOL! Somebody got spanked, and the way he was literally frothing at the mouth, it sure as hell wasn't me, my friend...
Thats one way to look at it. At least you're gracious.
I was just trying to help. Didn't mean to hurt him.
Speaking of facts,
"In case you were tempted to buy the faux Washington outrage at BP and its gulf oil spill in recent days, here's a story that reveals a little-known corporate political connection and the quiet way the inner political circles intersect, protect and care for one another in the nation's capital. And Chicago.
We already knew that BP and its folks were significant contributors to the record $750-million war chest of Barack Obama's 2007-08 campaign.
Now, we learn the details of a connection of Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago mayoral wannabe, current Obama chief of staff, ex-representative, ex-Clinton money man and ex-Windy City political machine go-fer.
Shortly after Obama's happy inaugural, eyebrows rose slightly upon word that, as a House member, Emanuel had lived the last five years rent-free in a D.C. apartment of Democratic colleague Rep.Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and her husband, Stanley Greenberg.
For an ordinary American, that would likely raise some obvious tax liability questions. But like Emanuel, the guy overseeing the Internal Revenue Service now is another Obama insider, Tim Geithner, who had his own outstanding tax problems but skated through confirmation anyway by the Democratic-controlled Congress.
Remember this was all before the letters BP stood for Huge Mess. Even before the Obama administration gave BP a safety award."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/06/rahm-emanuel-bp-gul-o...
Goddammit... Not Rahm Emanuel too!
Is there no-one who isn't feeding at the BP trough in Washington BP?
Beyond Principles is more like it.
Ocean Saratoga did unmoor during Ivan (2005) but that has nothing to do with the leak Ocean Saratoga has now in 2010
Denninger's assertion that Ocean Saratoga was toppled and has been in the process of being plugged and abandoned since Ivan 2005 is complete pull it out your rear balderdash. Please
Where he got his unsourced thesis that is linked all over the internet is unknown. If he did the smallest bit of homework before he decided to spout off, he would know he is wrong. Now he linked all over the internet as some expert saying Ocean Saratoga's leak is from 2005 Ivan - LMAO.
Well guess what Karl,
http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDFArchive/do2008.pdf
Here's another from the horse's mouth, Diamond Offshore
http://www.diamondoffshore.com/ourFleet/documents/October62008web.xls
Now Ocean Saratoga did see damage during Gustav AND Ike as mentioned in the homework
Maybe Denninger should look up what happened to Ocean Saratoga in Gustav AND Ike? He can then consider wheter to edit his non-sourced toss it against the wall and see if it sticks ''cause I live down here' line and pretend to claim he said/meant Gustav the whole time. Just to make it easy for ya' Denninger -- Gustav AND IkeFall of 2008
If Ocean Saratoga's current leak is related to hurricane damage, it was from Gustav AND Ike (2008) not Ivan (2005)
This guy...