Community | April 30, 2010 | 118 comments

Halliburton May Be Culprit In Oil Rig Explosion

source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/30/halliburton-may-be-culpri_n_558481.html

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Vierotchka
Giant oil-services provider Halliburton may be a primary suspect in the investigation into the oil rig explosion that has devastated the Gulf Coast, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Though the investigation into the explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon site is still in its early stages, drilling experts agree that blame probably lies with flaws in the "cementing" process -- that is, plugging holes in the pipeline seal by pumping cement into it from the rig. Halliburton was in charge of cementing for Deepwater Horizon.

(More at link)
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118 comments // Halliburton May Be Culprit In Oil Rig Explosion

  • iamaman
    • 0
      iamaman  

    • every answer they have so far is to keep the line open, other then the "junk shot". what the hell? just plug the fucker! any plumber would know how! inflatable bags? stick one in there! pump it up with water. it'll stick!!

    • 2 years ago
  • Todd_Stevens
    • +3
      Todd_Stevens  

    • As a result of the closed door energy meeting that then VP Dick Cheney held in 2003 regulators decided that acoustic switches on oil rigs were too costly to be used (the cost 500k). These switches would have prevented this accident from happening and now that 500k cost seems pretty minimal. Also, it appears that Halliburton was the company in charge placing the cement casing surrounding the base of the bore hole (where the oil is flowing from), if the casing was sufficient the preventers would have worked and the blow out would not have had this effect, it would have been contained. It is not a question of being liberal, it is a question of simple right and wrong and placing responsibility where it belongs, with the parties that could have prevented it but allowed it to happen out of simple greed and negligence

    • 2 years ago
  • Sapience
  • artemis6
  • Todd_Stevens
    • +1
      Todd_Stevens  
    • Sapience:

      don't really know if i follow you on that. At the depth that it occured at and knowing the geologic forces at work I can not think of any way that someone, no matter how determined could have intentionally done this.

    • 2 years ago
  • Sapience
  • Todd_Stevens
    • +2
      Todd_Stevens  
    • Sapience:

      Not why, anyone can find a reason for anything they want to do, but how, logistically it would be next to impossible to create the same event, with the given factors the main one being the depth at which the even occurred. The only feasible way that this could happen is from a blow out. If someone simply blew up the oil rig itself you would not have the same result, just a sunken oil rig. This all happened from a blow out which deals with geologic forces and pressures and thus why the issue is at the bore hole 5000 feet below the surface and we are questioning the cement casing and shut off valves and other prevention techniques and devices. The source of the explosion on the rig had little to do with the rig itself other than having equipment that can create a spark. The source is the blow out of gas from below ground that was released and then ignited on the rig. If the casing was done correctly and we had proper safety in place (like acoustic switches) the blow out would have been detected before any of this had happened and there would be no accident to speak of or question. So, to recap, yes it was Cheney who helped the oil companies relax regulations so that necessary safety equipment was not required, and it was Halliburton who was in charge of the casing which obviously substandard as we can tell by the current situation. Sorry to be so long winded, but before you make assumptions you should always do your research to back up your argument!

    • 2 years ago
  • Todd_Stevens
    • +1
      Todd_Stevens  
    • artemis6:

      I just wish someone would really get into everything that went on in that office from 2000 through 2008 and do something about it. It is really sad how a group can lie cheat and steal then spin the story and so many people are gullible enough to lap it up without doing any investigation to determine the truth on their own. But what really gets me is that these ignorant and lazy individuals get to vote and make decisions that affect me.

    • 2 years ago
  • Sapience
  • Todd_Stevens
    • +1
      Todd_Stevens  
    • Sapience:

      ok, you are intitled to your opinion but based on the science and factual events that are on record (all of it, not just some parts) I feel pretty comfortable with my statements. Good luck with your theories.

    • 2 years ago
  • Sapience
  • Todd_Stevens
    • 0
      Todd_Stevens  
    • Sapience:

      I am sorry that you feel that way but I assure you that I am not guessing. I will update whit the required information tomorrow for you to reveiw. I don't remember using the word expert earlier either but there is empherical evidence to support my claim but as I am ready to go to bed now it will have to wait until morning. Also one more thing, i apologize for having a condescending tone, it is not intentional, but sometimes it slips out there that way. Well, i look forward to our debate in the mornig regarding posabilities and theory vs fact, evidence, science. good night to you

    • 2 years ago
  • ryan8566
  • telcod
    • +1
      telcod  

    • Ah, more theater for the people. BP was making $600 million a day this year. They are spending $6 million a day to clean up. Then there is the problem of who really pays. They lose some money the price of gas goes up. They pay fines, the price goes up. We need to cap the well and cap the profits or the price just goes up and you and I will always pay it. Corporations never suffer. All things are connected to your labor.

    • 2 years ago
  • ampersand
    • 0
      ampersand  

    • Just a note to those who might not follow the stock market: Today, May 3, 2010, Halliburton stock went UP 2.41%
      In current news of other corporate bad actors, the stock for Goldman Sachs also rebounded today.
      It's a wonderful world isn't it? (For some, that is...)

    • 2 years ago
  • FlexSF
  • Incredulous
  • jeffreyak
  • Paratus
    • -8
      Paratus  

    • What would we do if we did not have the previous administration to kick around? "...the Republican agenda of deregulation and offshore drilling is an ass backwards..." what a moron. Blame it on Republicans. No wonder we have such problems in this country. The last president to allow offshore drilling was the Liar in Chief, Obama, just before this well blew. Gee, since some are floating ridiculous assertions, see my quote above, perhaps Obama and his group had someone blow up the oil rig to give Barry a way out. Gosh, a conspiracy that we can't blame on republicans. how about asking why it took Barry 9 days to respond. Did anyone here beat up on Bush for not going to Katrina within two minutes? Oh wait, It's Obama- that's ok. Intellectual dishonesty, no surprise.
      One thing is for sure, it will be a mess for some time to come. However, this should not steer us in a direction designed not to make ourselves oil self sufficient. As long as we are an oil based energy economy, we need the oil. Develop something else but I dont' see a lot of hope here due to the regulation process or the hostility in this country toward energy companies and, face it, whichever company that develops alternative energy that can be economically produced will make a fortune. Many here are looking for someone to blame when they should be looking for some way to fix the problem. Too much dead wood.

    • 2 years ago
  • aquamammal
  • Incredulous
    • 0
      Incredulous  
    • Paratus:

      "the hostility in this country toward energy companies"

      are you kidding me? It's not like they haven't earned our hostility, and the negligence that precipitated this disaster is yet another reason for us to hate them.

    • 2 years ago
  • spanishinquistion
  • navider
    • +1
      navider  

    • This proves that the Republican agenda of deregulation and offshore dilling is an ass backwards way of dealing with Americas energy needs.

      How many times do these mindless bastards (Mainly republicans and their masters...... the oil companies) have to fuck up until the people of this country see their true colors of greed and corruption?

    • 2 years ago
  • PlatoTacius
    • +3
      PlatoTacius  

    • An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...or in this case, 20 million gallons plus...

      Do we understand, yet, the impact of DEREGULATION..? It's time for a very serious investigation into this mattter...and serious measures toward prevention...why should things be made easy for Oil Rich Fatcats..?

    • 2 years ago
  • FoosMaster
    • +3
      FoosMaster  

    • No matter how much it costs the oil companies, the ecosystem, and the American people for this mess the oil barrons will just raise prices to pay for it and still make billions of dollars profit on this. Where is the justice for the American people and the environment? Exxon's fine for Valdese was later REDUCED after complaining to politicians about the cost with I'm sure Huge bribes while they made Record Billions in profits during the Bush years. I just wonder how this will play out.

    • 2 years ago
  • FoosMaster
    • +2
      FoosMaster  
    • FoosMaster:

      Yes, I know it was the court that decided to reduce the fine but it was the Bush administration that petitioned the court for the reduction. I'm sure that there was some kind of pressure put on the court to "obey" the administration.

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
    • +2
      jubal  
    • FoosMaster:

      Exxon's fine was reduce, but they still haven't even paid it. They barely paid for all the cleanup and much of it is still there, in the environment.

      They make 10.5 Billion in profit and can't pay the 2.5 Billion fine? That is opulent greed at its finest.

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
  • spanishinquistion
  • courage
    • -2
      courage  

    • You know it was the Regime they love to create a crisis then use the crisis to expand the goverment this will be used to push cap and tax

    • 2 years ago
  • navider
    • 0
      navider  
    • courage:

      Why is BP not using it's billions of dollars in profits to fix this mess?

      If the government has to step in with our tax dollars to fix this mess, then we should nationalize the oil fields.

    • 2 years ago
  • NATIONAL
    • +4
      NATIONAL  

    • WHAT IS THE PRICE OF LIFE?

      WHAT IS THE PRICE OF DEAD?

      PRICELESS...

      WHO PAYS THE HARM....

      OIL INDUSTRY VERSUS PEOPLE VERSUS USA VERSUS BRITISH CO.

      WHO PAYS THE BILL, WE ALWAYS DO...

      THE SAME WAY,

      THE ANIMALS DO.

      WITHOUT PEOPLE, THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT

    • 2 years ago
  • NATIONAL
    • +1
      NATIONAL  

    • o PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG ON THE DATES SINCE THEY ARE VERY IMPORTANT:

      APRIL 21, 2010: THE EXPLOSION OF THE OIL (AS WE KNOW IT)

      APRIL 19, 2010: Senate passed the bill of immigration…

      QUESTION, DO YOU BELIEVE THEY KNEW OF THE PROBLEM OF THE OIL DRILLING BEFORE THE EXPLOSION?

      COULD THE IMMIGRATION "MESS" BE A DISTRACTION OF THE "OIL" MESS?

      NEWS (EVENTS) CAN BE DISTRACTED WITH OTHER NEWS...

      BUT WITHOUT THE IMMIGRATION MESS, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN WITH THE OIL MESS.

    • 2 years ago
  • NATIONAL
    • 0
      NATIONAL  

    • PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG ON THE DATES SINCE THEY ARE VERY IMPORTANT:

      APRIL 21, 2010: THE EXPLOSION OF THE OIL (AS WE KNOW IT)

      APRIL 19, 2010: Senate passed the bill of immigration…

      QUESTION, DO YOU BELIEVE THEY KNEW OF THE PROBLEM OF THE OIL DRILLING BEFORE IT EXPLOTED?

      COULD THE IMMIGRATION "MESS" BE A DISTRACTION OF THE "OIL" MESS?

      NEWS (EVENTS) CAN BE DISTRACTED WITH OTHER NEWS...

      BUT WITHOUT THE IMMIGRATION MESS, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN WITH THE OIL MESS.

    • 2 years ago
  • frank_runyeon
  • Toughth
    • +2
      Toughth  

    • Again The people of the USA are going to be expected to pick up the tab for a corperate bunch of profit over people and the enviornment. The oil industry made over a 150 billion in profit last year. I think that this is anouther runaway bunch of corperations that is just looking at this disaster as a new way of taking more out of the pockets of the american people. The major oil companys are going to laugh all the way to the bank with fistfulls of cash and make the U.S. Taxpayer foot the bill. They will also say that it will drive up the price of gas and oil to make the system safer. We have seen the same stratagy used many times in the past, and our lawmakers are just going to let them get away with it.

    • 2 years ago
  • itoldyouso
  • olddogdaddy
    • +2
      olddogdaddy  

    • once again, washington was bought and paid for allowing these corporations to skirt simple technologies, like the shut off valves that posed 'financial hardships to oil reclamation operations'.

      if there be an honorable people's representative, somewhere in the federal government, they will fight to make these companies financially responsible for the unprecedented enviromental restoration required. Holding them responsible for at least 100 years does not seem excessive at this point.

      Exxon Mobil reported that their clean up costs for the Valdez Sound were less than 1% than their annual profits.[nspe] Valdez has yet to heal!

      Just look what big oil and corporate interests are doing to Onondaga Lake, [Syracuse NY] with toxic waste deposits. If that is not enough see what big oil is doing with natural gas extraction NY and other northern states. Their 'safe' processes plan to use chemicals specifically excluded, [after considerable lobbying], form the 2005 Clean Water Act.

    • 2 years ago
  • futuregen
  • Vierotchka
  • futuregen
  • SNJ
    • 0
      SNJ  

    • Every single packaging in the grocery store, needed oil to create. Stop the use of oil would be to live like the native Americans lived 2000 years ago. Can we really be entertained by nature again? without television, video games and yes, even computers?

    • 2 years ago
  • Vierotchka
    • +1
      Vierotchka  
    • SNJ:

      Buy locally produced groceries that don't need plastic packaging. Living like the native Americans did 2000 years ago would not be a bad thing, but it is not feasable since the white man has destroyed all the buffaloes and the nature. Of course we can live without television, video games and computers. We would be well advised to do so.

    • 2 years ago
  • Kurta
  • TypicalStereotype
  • Ares
  • nursediesel
    • 0
      nursediesel  

    • Seems strange this happened right after it was announced President Obama would relax the regulations to allow more offshore drilling.....hhhmmm... Who was working on the rig to prevent this very thing from happening....?

    • 2 years ago
  • ampersand
    • +4
      ampersand  

    • Whether Halliburton was the (ir)-responsible party in this disaster or not, the wonderful thing about a corporation is that it protects the members of the corporation from personal liability for disasters such as this.
      No matter what the findings, here or in Iraq, or anywhere, the board and owners of Halliburton will sail on untouched. That's the shinning system of corporate law that waves inviolate, and eternal, above us all.

    • 2 years ago
  • Gunderdog
  • Kurta
    • 0
      Kurta  
    • ampersand:

      Even if they are held accountable, it's just a drop in the bucket to them. Even if it came close to bankrupting them, they're "too big to fail". They get to keep the cake and eat as they please. "I'm the Juggernaut bitch..."

    • 2 years ago
  • EmperorThan
  • Mark701
    • +1
      Mark701  

    • Make no mistake, I despise Halliburton. However, let's wait and see how this goes. Oil platforms are complex pieces of machinery and lots of things can go wrong. We going to have to wait for the results of the investigation before we know for sure.

    • 2 years ago
  • nursediesel
  • FoosMaster
  • Incredulous
    • 0
      Incredulous  
    • Mark701:

      and even then, considering how Exxon, Massey Energy, Enron and other corporate giants have gotten off, even when the evidence of their misdeeds was right in our face, can we trust the results of an investigation anymore?

    • 2 years ago
  • wally60
    • +1
      wally60  

    • greed is what Halliburton is all about.they are the reason we are at war.its all about making money.everyone knows this you have to be a fool to think our
      goverment gives a shit about anything else.can we drill deep in the ocean
      yes we can the question is should we and the answer is no!we are going to kill our planet all for a buck in there pocket. oil needs to go away we can develop
      other forms of energy but as long as our goverment is owned by these
      companys it will never change!

    • 2 years ago
  • navider
    • +3
      navider  

    • Thank you again George Bush for your deregulations that stopped the requirement of automatic shutoff valves for these rigs. I guess it's more important to save oil companies a few hundred thousand dollars than to protect the economy and the environment of the Gulf of Mexico.

      That bastard is still messing things up even tough he's is out of power.

      Spill baby spill!

    • 2 years ago
  • GodsnLiberals
    • -3
      GodsnLiberals  

    • RIDE YOUR BIKE MORE....DRIVE LESS..FUCKING CONSERVE,,

      no need to pound on your chest and bark at the moon like some "concerned' dumb ass...

      no need to make me a president..give me an Oscar for best documentary..no need to give me a noble prize..JUST CONSERVE

    • 2 years ago
  • CalgarC
  • Incredulous
  • Vierotchka
  • Monkey_Films
  • GodsnLiberals
  • JuliusBC
  • Timmyeatworld
  • SNJ
    • +4
      SNJ  

    • The scope of this great disaster has not yet been grasped. The devastation is heartbreaking.
      It is a shame to think most of the elected officials that are in the Republican party have supported and funded Halliburton in there continued search for making more money. Half of the group of people running this country do not yet consider the Earth as a living being. Whereby drilling holes for oil, mining whole sides of mountains substances, logging huge mountains for trees, are an approved of and sanctioned game of how to make the most money for free.
      I am horrified at what will happen in the newt few years to the wildlife on the gulf coast who have been the silent witness to this.

    • 2 years ago
  • GodsnLiberals
  • bailey78
  • Mark701
  • Incredulous
  • CalgarC
    • +6
      CalgarC  

    • i think its time we got our selves on of them superheroes we see in the movies... it figures haliburton would be behind something like this.

    • 2 years ago
  • Blkwdw
  • remanns
  • GodsnLiberals
    • -7
      GodsnLiberals  
    • CalgarC:

      yes you are right..you can be my superhero...you should get a cape and fly off on top of a building...

      (i am telling ya..motherfucker needs to lay off the dope..they get pretty wishy washy all the time)

      ride a bike..drive less and conserve..THERE YOU GO..no need for superheros just a little fucking sacrifice..i am sure a lot of people thinks "raising awareness" is sacrifice enough..

    • 2 years ago
  • bailey78
  • Mark701
  • CalgarC
  • CalgarC
  • PlatoTacius
    • +2
      PlatoTacius  

    • So they can have more oil rig catastrophes giving them another excuse to raise the price...you'd think by now they would have figured out a quick and efficient way to clean up oil spills...

      This really helps the alternative energy effort...

    • 2 years ago
  • macfan
    • 0
      macfan  

    • Hey wait the Republicans want to drill baby baby and the drill
      is from Halliburton and Republican Vice President Dick Cheney
      is former Vice President of Halliburton gee i wonder why they want to do off shore
      drilling.

    • 2 years ago
  • GodsnLiberals
  • bailey78
  • Seraphina76
  • dalistuff
    • +1
      dalistuff  
    • Seraphina76:

      Thank U Seraphina76. this is certainly gr8 reading... and the story goes on and on like a pipeline to no where. Money ,Power and treachery, treason, perfidy. No one sees the monies that are swindled and made on other country's sources. WOW

    • 2 years ago
  • PlatoTacius
  • CarlosBobthe3rd
  • futuregen
  • futuregen
    • +1
      futuregen  

    • Excerpt from your Wall Street article:
      Last year, Halliburton was also implicated for its cementing work prior to a massive blowout off the coast of Australia, where a rig caught on fire and spewed hundreds of thousands of gallons into the sea for ten weeks.

      In that incident, workers apparently failed to properly pump cement into the well, according to Elmer Danenberger, former head of regulatory affairs for the U.S. Minerals Management Service, who testified to an Australian commission probing that accident.
      ===========================
      So it's not their first 'blow out'.
      ===========================
      Excerpt continued:
      "-- Halliburton performed a variety of services on the rig, including cementing, and had four employees stationed on the rig at the time of the accident. Halliburton's employees returned to shore safely, due, in part, to the brave rescue efforts by the U.S. Coast Guard and other organizations.

      -- Halliburton had completed the cementing of the final production casing string in accordance with the well design approximately 20 hours prior to the incident. The cement slurry design was consistent with that utilized in other similar applications."
      ============================

      I bet the cement was laced with underwater nanothermite. Three locations. You NEOCONS have so fucked up our country.

    • 2 years ago
  • GodsnLiberals
    • -2
      GodsnLiberals  
    • futuregen:

      let me guess..you never bought..never used ..any oil..

      are you fucking aware that everything in your fucking life is integrated with oil...our global economy is lubricated by oil....

      case in point..that fucking chair your sitting on..the tree was cut by a machine that needed oil and petrol..sent to a factory by a truck that runs on oil and gas..milled and processed by a factory that needs oil and gas..OPERATED BY PEOPLE that went to work using a car that needs oil and gas...then same oil and gas operated truck delivers to the store..where more people who uses oil and gas goes to work to sell you that chair..YOU DRIVE to the store to get the fucking chair..and then you sit there pounding on a computer that went on the same process..and bitch about republicans and the evils of oil and gas..

      you like your fucking steak as long as you dont see how the cow was butchered..THAT my stupid friend is the problem..

    • 2 years ago
  • bailey78
  • Incredulous
  • futuregen
    • +1
      futuregen  
    • Image

    • Fuck the Neocons. {Sorry Vierotchka I didn't see this when I posted on other site.) And fuck the Catholic Diocese of Peoria who is covering for them.

      http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/27/headlines

      "Oil Spill Grows in Gulf of Mexico

      The oil spill from last week’s oil rig explosion off the Louisiana cost has grown to cover 1,900 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico. The US Coast Guard and crews hired by the rig’s operator, BP, are struggling to contain the spill. The underwater well where the rig exploded continues to leak around 42,000 gallons of oil a day. Ed Levine of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said at least some of the oil will reach the Gulf Coast shoreline.

      Ed Levine: “There will be shoreline impacts from this eventually. There’s no way that we will pick up all the oil that’s being released.”

      Eleven workers remain missing since the explosion and are presumed dead. The wife of one of the missing workers, Natalie Roshto, has filed a lawsuit accusing BP of negligence in operating the rig. The suit also names the oil services giant Halliburton, which performed work on the well before the explosion."
      -----------------------------------------------------------------

      And for more Earth Day News:
      "Study Claims Chernobyl Disaster Killed Nearly 1 Million

      A new study released on the twenty-fourth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster says the death toll is far higher than previously thought. In a book published by the New York Academy of Sciences, a Russian author and a Belarusian author say nearly one million people have died from exposure to radiation released by the Chernobyl reactor. According to the book, the disaster’s radioactive emissions may have been 200 times greater than the initial estimate of 50 million curies, and hundreds of times larger than the radioactivity from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The authors based their findings in part on Slavic sources they say have never been available in English."

    • 2 years ago
  • GodsnLiberals
    • -4
      GodsnLiberals  
    • futuregen:

      dont worry the liberals will save us..they will drive to a concert for a nude protest..

      anyways they voted obama to change this..so dont forget to vote for obama he will do something about this

    • 2 years ago
  • bailey78
  • Incredulous
  • tenletterz
  • futuregen
  • GodsnLiberals
  • GodsnLiberals
  • Vierotchka
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