First Criminal Charges Against BP Filed

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On Tuesday, the first criminal charge was filed in relation to the the 2010 Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill. Kurt Mix, a BP drilling engineer, is charged with felony obstruction of justice, in addition to facing about $500,000 in fines.

Allegedly, Mix deleted hundreds of text messages to his supervisor that described the oil that was leaking from the well. The messages in question stated that the operation to plug the well, “Top Kill,” was failing. However, when Mix became aware that his phone texts and calls might be summoned by BP’s attorneys, he reportedly deleted them.

During the spill, BP was frequently giving the government incorrect information regarding the the amount of discharge. BP claimed that there were 1,000 to 5,000 barrels of oil flowing per day; however, the government estimate taken from the wellhead concluded there was more than 10 times that amount. Besides giving false estimates, BP also told government representatives prior to the spill that they were prepared to handle an oil spill at the Deepwater Horizon location. Obviously, they were mistaken.

Officials from BP assured the public as well as the U.S. government that the best estimate for oil spilled per day was around 5,000 barrels per day, but in August 2011 one of the consultants working at BP’s U.S. headquarters indicated that they were aware the flow rate was much larger than that. The consultant, who wished to remain anonymous, stated “Our calculations suggested to us that it was much higher than the number that was being talked about…The top kill operation had a very, very low likelihood of working based on the volumes we were seeing from the well.” The public was told that “Top Kill” had a 60–70% chance of working.

The charges against Mix are only the first of many to come, in addition to the $7.8 billion settlement BP recently finalized with the hundreds of thousands of businesses and families affected by the disaster.

BP’s Newest Problem

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Although two years have passed since the infamous BP Gulf oil spill, the troubled company is in the midst of another mess. A little over a week ago, a drill site in the Prudhoe Bay oil field in the Alaskan North Slope experienced a spill that has yet to be contained.

Experts estimate that nearly 4,000 gallons of a mix of crude oil and freeze protection liquids have leaked thus far. Eight technicians are there removing snow by hand from one of the piping areas while crews try to remove materials, ice, gravel, and snow that have been compromised. The spill was triggered during a well warm-up procedure, and could not have come at a worse time for the oil giant.

The same week, reports were released negatively connecting the 2010 spill to troubled marine life in the Gulf. Although the evidence is not entirely conclusive, experts suspect that the fish they’re finding in the area with open sores and dark streaks are likely a result of the presence of petroleum in the water. Not only are fish apparent victims to the spill, but dolphins, coral, seaweed beds, and countless other plants and animals are showing strange symptoms that greatly point to contamination. Some shrimp were deformed and even eyeless, while the sick fish have ulcers, parasites, and open wounds. BP has declared the Gulf seafood “as safe as it was before the accident.” The fishermen, however, have a different story. “Every time we talked about bad fish, everybody kind of went nuts on us. Just like, ‘You’re hearsaying,’ you know? And we’re saying, ‘Well, they’re there,’” said Wayne Werner, commercial fisherman in the area. “They’re still there. Now that the water is getting warm again, we’re starting to see more and more again.”

Total Gas Leak, Total Mess

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Already being compared to the disastrous BP oil spill, the gas leak from
French oil company, Total, off the coast of Scotland is on track to
becoming a costly, messy mishap.

Detected on March 25, the leak is releasing around 7 million cubic feet of
natural gas per day and costing Total around $2.5 million each day as
well.

If the company decides to drill relief wells, it’ll cost another $200
million. Although the financial damages are extreme, the oil giant is more
concerned with the BP comparisons tainting their reputation. As an attempt
to distance themselves as far as possible from the spill, Total
representatives emphasized that natural gas is being leaked instead of
crude oil, posing a smaller environmental risk. However, environmental group
Greenpeace noted after traveling to the site that the gas is methane,
which is “20 times more dangerous for the climate than CO2 (carbon dioxide).”

Still, Total is planning to stop the leak but must wait until a series of
tests are completed. The company will likely use one of two methods: the
“top kill” or drilled relief wells. The first solution involves plugging
the well with mud, and if that proves unsuccessful Total will drill the relief
wells, which may take up to six months to complete.

Total may not be concerned with the financial losses, but the lack of time
to successfully stop the leak is alarming. The gas leak is 150 miles off
the coast of Scotland in the North Sea, in an area most certainly not ideal
for an accident of this magnitude. Iain Reid, an analyst at Jeffries & Co,
noted the field ³…has the highest pressure, the highest temperature. They are
dealing with something very difficult.²