Oil Leaks/Spills (merged)

[dohboi]

It struck me that an environmental forum in a peak oil site should have a regular thread about oil eco-disasters. Of course, sucking chains of carbon out of the ground and oxidizing them into the atmosphere at the furious rate of 30+ billion tons a year is itself a mega-eco-disaster which we discuss on many threads here. But we shouldn't forget that more local disasters are constantly destroying lives and ecosystems all over the world, particularly in the form of oil spills.

To kick it off, here's news on the latest major spill in Nigeria (thanks to dd):

http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2011/10/fresh-oil-pollution-reported-in-nigeria.html

A Nigerian environmental group on Monday claimed an oil spill from a pipeline operated by Italian firm ENI had badly polluted an area in the south of Africa's largest oil producer.

The spill which reportedly occurred on September 27 is said to have polluted the swamps of the Ikeinghenbiri area of Bayelsa state in the main oil-producing Niger Delta region.

"The volume of the spill is very high and in some cases it is difficult to separate the crude from the water," Environmental Rights Action field monitor Morris Alagoa told AFP a day after he visited the village.

The group's executive director, who is also chairman of Friends of the Earth International, Nnimmo Bassey, said, "I understand it's a very severe spill."

Alagoa said he found that "in some places the whole length of the swamp is black (with oil)." […]

And then there's:

http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2011/10/rena-oil-pumping-passes-halfway-mark.html

Please add your commentary, reaction, links to current and past spills and other disasters...

[babystrangeloop]

Pipeline explosion reported between Reynosa and Monterrey
Action 4 News / November 14, 2011

Mexican authorities are investigating a PEMEX pipeline explosion that shot huge flames into the sky on a highway between Reynosa and Monterrey.

It all happened near the City of General Bravo, Nuevo Leon around 11 a.m. Monday.

... The exact cause of the explosions was not immediately known. ...

[Oakley]

When violence comes to the US, I suspect that this will be common here too. The electric grid, the pipeline system and the rail system crosses considerable territory that would be difficult to to protect from insurgents or freedom fighters depending on which side you view them from.

[gnwk15]

with the subject of this thread i recall one of the biggest catastrophe that i'm sharing along with you. December 3, 84 has become a memorable day time for that town of Bhopal in Madya Pradesh region, India. Shortly after midnight, a toxic gas impair steered clear of in the Marriage Carbide Indian Restricted (UCIL) way to kill pests factory. The impair included Fifteen metric a lot of methyl isocyanate (MIC), covering an area in excess of 30 square miles. The gasoline drip killed a minimum of 4.000 nearby citizens instantly and triggered health issues such as oedema not less than Fifty.000 to possibly Five hundred.000 individuals. These types of health issues wiped out about Fifteen.Thousand more victims in the years to come. Approximately One hundred.Thousand people nevertheless are afflicted by chronic disease consequential in order to gas publicity, today. Research conducted by the BBC in 04 noticed that this pollution nevertheless causes people to get sick, as well as ten much more pass away every year. The wedding has become referred to as most detrimental commercial ecological disaster in order to actually have occurred.

The reason for the actual accident has been researched following the disaster. Apparently water ended up within Microphone storage space fish tanks, leading to an exothermal reaction which released some poisonous gasoline big enough to spread out the safety valves. Usually scrubbers would intercept getting away gasoline, however these had been temporarily out of order with regard to repair.
Research demonstrated that manufacturing plant staff overlooked a number of safety methods. There were no valves to prevent water from entering the storage space fish tanks. The actual cooling installing of the fish tanks and the flaring installation that may possess flared the gasoline that was launched lost of purchase.
Security was really low in this manufacturing plant associated with Union Carbide, when compared with it's other locations. The security methods were neglected due to budget slashes.

[Claudine47]

The truth is that there’s not much more that President Obama can do to stop the eco-disaster now hitting the Gulf of Mexico. But his response to our fossil fuel-driven crises — so far — can still be deemed grossly inadequate.

That’s because the Gulf spill is actually one of two environmental catastrophes now unfolding, and Obama doesn’t seem to understand how they are related.

The milder but more imminent of the two is the BP disaster. It’s now clear that the Gulf Coast will be ravaged, that the impact will be felt for at least a generation, and that we will probably be testing seafood from the area for decades. If the Loop Current entrains a significant amount of the oil and dispersants to the Florida Keys, America’s great coral reef might suffer irreparable damage.

Most of the blame rests with BP — and with Big Oil’s powerful supporters in Congress, who have created the voluntary, “trust us” self-regulation we now have. Some of the blame also resides with the Minerals Management Service, which became absurdly cozy with the industry under the Cheney-Bush administration.

[Satori]

breaking news
Saudi pipeline under attack by insurgents ?

http://www.thearabdigest.com/2012/03/sa ... ution.html

[Repent]

Saudi Oil Pipelines Destroyed In Explosion, Sends Crude Soaring

Among the many factors responsible for the jump in WTI to just shy of $109 over the past hour, and Brent to new records in various currencies, is the following news reported so far only by Iranian PressTV: "An explosion has hit oil pipelines in the flashpoint Saudi Arabian city of Awamiyah in the kingdom’s oil-rich Eastern Province."

From Zerohedge: http://www.zerohedge.com/

(Multiple stories)

[dsula]

Sweet.

[Satori]

info still very sketchy
no real verification

http://www.businessinsider.com/crude-oi ... z1ntwP4eAW

[dolanbaker]

Still no mention on the BBC, still looking for this story elsewhere!


edit: found this denial.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/03 ... ne-attack/
DUBAI -- Reports about an explosion that hit a main oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia's oil-rich Eastern Province are untrue, senior Saudi officials said late Thursday.

"The reports are completely untrue. They originated from Facebook and Twitter, and the pipeline is still up and running," one official told Dow Jones Newswires.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/03 ... z1nuJ7NKOx

[Pops]

Man, you 2 were on that one! You posted the same minute. LOL

[Satori]

may be nothing to report
so far nothing on the main stream media
hoax ??

[seahorse3]

Ostensibly, the US "democratized" Iraq back in 2003 to plant the seed of democracy in the Middle East. Well, last year, we got the first Arab Spring, the fruits of all that effort? Looks like the seeds of democracy are now blowing in the wrong direction, though, to the Eastern oil rich provinces of our good friends and dictators of Saudi Arabia's eastern oil fields. Either that or the Iranians have planted a Trojan Horse or "heretical" Sunni brothers right where it hurts us the most. Either way, doesn't look good. We can't allow either democracy or heretics there.

[Sys1]

You can think whatever you want with case 1 and 2 the most probable
1) happy hoax
2) trader hoax
3) real new silented by authorities to prevent an economic crash
4) Fake news test in order to test behavior of the market when it will become real (like nuclear test)

[Ferretlover]

Pipelines feed one of the world's largest oil terminals Ras-Tanura - Huge fire from the explosion can be seen from large distance

Breaking on presstv.ir

Gold & Silver price go up as Oil price go up.

[Obbeg]

Oil Down 50%. Gasoline up 100%

Why is Gasoline 100% higher when international crude oil price have fallen 50%? Today Gasoline must be $2 per gallon because international crude oil price have fallen 50%.

Read all..

http://dangerousmother.com/oil.html

[Satori]

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2285ec12 ... z1nutD7cJY

"“This report is completely false,” a Saudi industry official said. He said there had been “no incident whatsoever”.

He said the report of a pipeline explosion was a deliberate hoax put out to move oil markets. “There are certain parties who are upset with Saudi Arabia’s role in the current situation,” the official said."

[MD]

gl reading thru the haze. a small enough pipeline maybe easy enough to hide. who knows. If it was truly large there would be no way to hide it.

[Repent]

A hoax to hide an impeding war with Iran (which would drive up oil prices sky high), this non-event would be a convienent scapegoat to hide higher prices from the public??

[Anvil]

This pipe line explosion is the biggest thing to happen all year it all over press TV that for sure and they would have Shiite population reporting to back that up id say.

It looks like the Western Fascists have a challenge on there hands covering up this disaster.