Forgive me for starting another thread, but I thought it might be best to separate it from the thread giving the current status updates.
Being a new mariner in the oil patch, I am curious to hear from those that were part of the marine response to this disaster, if anything has been learned.
Some of my questions:
Did any of your shipboard drills apply to this situation?
Was there any coordination of response or was it boats going everywhere, pumping water in every direction, and a giant clusterf*** on Channel 16?
How did your FiFi equipment hold up?
Were there enough adequately trained people in the vicinity to deal with medical issues?
I know it’s impossible to be ready for anything and everything, but any wisdom I can take back to my boat, from those who were there, would be greatly appreciated!
[I]Did any of your shipboard drills apply to this situation?
[/I]Not to one of this magnitude.
[I]Was there any coordination of response or was it boats going everywhere, pumping water in every direction, and a giant clusterf*** on Channel 16?
[/I]
[I]How did your FiFi equipment hold up?
[/I]I think they had a rig floor deluge system but I doubt it activated and I don’t think they had fifi.
[I]Were there enough adequately trained people in the vicinity to deal with medical issues?[/I]
They had two licensed paramedics aboard the Horizon.
[QUOTE=cmjeff;41536][I]Did any of your shipboard drills apply to this situation?
[/I]Not to one of this magnitude.
[I]Was there any coordination of response or was it boats going everywhere, pumping water in every direction, and a giant clusterf*** on Channel 16?
[/I]
[I]How did your FiFi equipment hold up?
[/I]I think they had a rig floor deluge system but I doubt it activated and I don’t think they had fifi.
[I]Were there enough adequately trained people in the vicinity to deal with medical issues?[/I]
They had two licensed paramedics aboard the Horizon.[/QUOTE]
He was asking those questions of the support vessels, not the DW Horizon crew itself.
Yes something good will come from this ! BP can spread the payment out over 16 years AND deduct it from their taxes as a normal business expense since most is not a “fine” thanks to a federal judge. The Wall St Journal says…
BP PLC has agreed to pay more than $20 billion to settle claims over its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – but the giant oil company won’t actually be paying that much.
BP will be able to deduct a big chunk of the settlement for tax purposes, effectively slicing billions of dollars off the amount it will actually pay. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a consumer advocacy group, estimated that BP will be able to deduct about $15.3 billion of its expenses from the settlement approved by a federal judge this week.
That has drawn fresh attention to the practice of deducting settlement costs, which has been spotlighted several times in the last few years when big banks agreed to huge settlements that also allowed them to take multi-billion-dollar tax deductions. The practice is legal, but critics say it means taxpayers effectively bear part of the settlements’ burden and don’t get an accurate picture about how much companies are really paying.
Under federal law, companies aren’t allowed to deduct fines or penalties they pay as part of a settlement. But only $5.5 billion of the total cost of the settlement is a fine. The remainder, including the billions of dollars BP will pay to the U.S. and five Gulf states to cover environmental damage, can be classified as “ordinary business expenses,” which are deductible.
[QUOTE=tengineer1;183048]Yes something good will come from this ! BP can spread the payment out over 16 years AND deduct it from their taxes as a normal business expense since most is not a “fine” thanks to a federal judge. The Wall St Journal says…
BP PLC has agreed to pay more than $20 billion to settle claims over its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – but the giant oil company won’t actually be paying that much.
BP will be able to deduct a big chunk of the settlement for tax purposes, effectively slicing billions of dollars off the amount it will actually pay. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a consumer advocacy group, estimated that BP will be able to deduct about $15.3 billion of its expenses from the settlement approved by a federal judge this week.
That has drawn fresh attention to the practice of deducting settlement costs, which has been spotlighted several times in the last few years when big banks agreed to huge settlements that also allowed them to take multi-billion-dollar tax deductions. The practice is legal, but critics say it means taxpayers effectively bear part of the settlements’ burden and don’t get an accurate picture about how much companies are really paying.
Under federal law, companies aren’t allowed to deduct fines or penalties they pay as part of a settlement. But only $5.5 billion of the total cost of the settlement is a fine. The remainder, including the billions of dollars BP will pay to the U.S. and five Gulf states to cover environmental damage, can be classified as “ordinary business expenses,” which are deductible.[/QUOTE]
A Deduction is different than a credit. A deduction is taken off of income, a credit is a direct reduction of the amount of tax that is due. Very different things. So there tax bill is not going down by 15.3 billion. They can deduct 15.3 billion from there profits. That is what there tax bill is based on.
[QUOTE=psquiggs;183168]A Deduction is different than a credit. A deduction is taken off of income, a credit is a direct reduction of the amount of tax that is due. Very different things. So there tax bill is not going down by 15.3 billion. They can deduct 15.3 billion from there profits. That is what there tax bill is based on.[/QUOTE]
And (I believe) not all at once either, they can deduct some each year for a period of time.
[QUOTE=Capt. Phoenix;183172]And (I believe) not all at once either, they can deduct some each year for a period of time.[/QUOTE]
Indeed they can. They also can spread the “fine” payment out over 16 years all at the urging of the US Justice Department. Perhaps this is one reason BP’s CEO Dudley is getting a $3.3 Million dollar raise which moves him up to $19.6 million dollars in pay. The guy knows how to cut a deal. BP lost over $6 billion dollars last year, laid off thousands yet the board of directors thought Dudley did such a good job he deserved a few more million. Sheesh… and they complain about union graft?
[QUOTE=ombugge;183228]So what say the oil field people on this forum???[/QUOTE]
no doubt that these new regulations come at a bad time with the industry severely impacted by the low crude prices these days however think back to a couple of years ago when the producers were banking billions upon billions in profits? Ultimately, safe drilling should not take a backseat to prices and must be maintained at the highest level possible regardless of the profits of the oil companies. Regarding whether these new rules are a big step forward towards ensuring failsafe operations is a good question but I believe any extra steps to maintain safety are worthwhile.
I did notice that one of the proposed new requirements which did not get implemented was to have increased reserve hydraulic fluid at the BOP and I often wondered why there couldn’t be a bank of accumulator bottles kept on the seafloor next to a BOP to be used in an emergency if the bottles on the BOP proved not sufficient? I have also wondered why shaped charges could not be fitted into the shear rams on a BOP to be a last resort means to close them if the hydraulics failed?
Anyway, I see the biggest cost in these rules being that the existing BOPs out there are all going to need major rebuilding to meet the new requirements. I often thought any BOP should only be allowed to be used for 5 years before needing a full and complete teardown for rebuilding and upgrades to prevent old less capable BOPs from being kept in service far too long. That alone would create a great many jobs at the manufacturers. How can that be a bad thing?
These have been compulsory for operation in Brasil and Norway for years. I know that some US Drilling Contractors have fitted out their rigs with this extra safety, although not required for GOM operation. Some Oilcos also require them, even when not mandatory.
Even of more importance is adequate education and some form of certification of the drilling and service personnel. On the job training and experience was fine when offshore drilling technology was in it’s infancy, but today’s complex rigs drilling in very deep water and very complex HPHT wells in equally complex formations, requires different skill sets.