Friday, May 7, 2010

True Irony - BP Style

Via WBAY-TV (Green Bay), AP is reporting the latest on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blast (emphasis mine):
The deadly blowout of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was triggered by a bubble of methane gas that escaped from the well and shot up the drill column, expanding quickly as it burst through several seals and barriers before exploding, according to interviews with rig workers conducted during BP's internal investigation.

While the cause of the explosion is still under investigation, the sequence of events described in the interviews provides the most detailed account of the April 20 blast that killed 11 workers and touched off the underwater gusher that has poured more than 3 million gallons of crude into the Gulf.

Portions of the interviews, two written and one taped, were described in detail to an Associated Press reporter by Robert Bea, a University of California Berkeley engineering professor who serves on a National Academy of Engineering panel on oil pipeline safety and worked for BP PLC as a risk assessment consultant during the 1990s. He received them from industry friends seeking his expert opinion.

Seven BP executives were on board the Deepwater Horizon rig celebrating the project's safety record, according to the transcripts. Meanwhile, far below, the rig was being converted from an exploration well to a production well.

As the workers removed pressure from the drilling column and introduced heat to set the cement seal around the wellhead, the chemical reaction created heat, destabilizing the seal and allowing a gas bubble to form inside the pipe.

11 comments:

  1. No. Are you saying the seven BP execs knew what was about to happen?

    I see irony but no point in it. Just like the irony of this happening on Earth Day.

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  2. The execs were celebrating safety on a day that the rig blew up, and you don't find that ironic?

    You do know what irony means, right?

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  3. Yes, a liberal finds irony in most tragedies.

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  4. Well, a conservative that actually admits it's a tragedy. Will you now admit that offshore drilling is a bad idea?

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  5. Most accidents are tragedies...this does not mean irony always go with them.

    To your premise that drilling offshore is bad. If you are asking me to admit to something as being bad I must assume you are already against it. If this is true you must also be against petroleum, but if you were you would not be typing on that piece of plastic in front of you... hypocrisy is also a nice form of irony.

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  6. Or maybe coal is a better way to go...

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  7. Maybe someone should admit that they enjoy the benefits of petroleum exploration and production every day even though they believe, "It's a bad idea."

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  8. Or maybe there are better, more responsible ways than those two choices. GASP!

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  9. Which one are you using on a regular basis that enables you to not use oil? I'll gladly switch.

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