Category Archives: Regulation
EPA Official: EPAs "philosophy" is to "crucify" and "make examples" of US energy producers
In a Senate speech, Senator Inhofe will draw attention to a little known video from 2010, which shows a top EPA official, Region VI Administrator Al Armendariz, using the vivid metaphor of crucifixion to explain EPA’s enforcement tactics for oil and gas producers. In this video Administrator Armendariz says:
Quote from video:
“But as I said, oil and gas is an enforcement priority, it’s one of seven, so we are going to spend a fair amount of time looking at oil and gas production. And I gave, I was in a meeting once and I gave an analogy to my staff about my philosophy of enforcement, and I think it was probably a little crude and maybe not appropriate for the meeting but I’ll go ahead and tell you what I said. It was kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw and they would crucify them. And then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years. And so you make examples out of people who are in this case not compliant with the law. Find people who are not compliant with the law, and you hit them as hard as you can and you make examples out of them, and there is a deterrent affect there. And, companies that are smart see that, they don’t want to play that game, and they decide at that point that it’s time to clean up. And, that won’t happen unless you have somebody out there making examples of people. So you go out, you look at an industry, you find people violating the law, you go aggressively after them. And we do have some pretty effective enforcement tools. Compliance can get very high, very, very quickly. That’s what these companies respond to is both their public image but also financial pressure. So you put some financial pressure on a company, you get other people in that industry to clean up very quickly. So, that’s our general philosophy.”
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BOEM Seeks Public Opinion on Seismic Survey Activity Offshore Alaska
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced yesterday that it was seeking public input on issues that should be tackled by the bureau in preparing an Environmental Assessment for proposed seismic data acquisition activity in Arctic areas of the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
ION Geophysical Corporation has applied to conduct an exploratory 2D marine seismic survey during the fall of 2012. The application proposes conducting operations throughout much of the Beaufort Sea Planning Area, with specific transect lines and segments within the Chukchi Sea Planning Area. Data obtained during this survey would be used by geologists and geophysicists to view and interpret large-scale subsurface geologic structural features and evaluate prospects for oil and gas reserves.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), an agency under the United States Department of the Interior that manages the exploration and development of the nation’s offshore resources, has also on its website announced ION’s permit application #12-01 and the associated area coverage map. BOEM has also explained the the procedures required for submission of comments, setting the deadline for April 30, 2012. More information can be found at BOEM’s official website.
Below you can see ION’s recent video: Case Study in Challenging
Environments: The Arctic Environment
Top of the world tactics at ION. See the ION approach in action as Joe Gagliardi, Director Arctic Technology & Solutions, tackles the punishing Arctic environment. By combining the capabilities across the company, ION delivers the answers and the technology that allows operators to acquire data further north than ever before and dramatically extends the short working season.
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Norway: PSA Conducts Audit of Major Accident Risk in Connection with Light Well Intervention
In December 2011 and January 2012, the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) conducted an audit of Statoil Petroleum AS (Statoil) and Island Offshore Subsea AS (Island Offshore). The audit was aimed at management of major accident risk and the barrier management system in connection with light well intervention on Island Constructor.
Each year, more than 500 well interventions are carried out on the Norwegian shelf, and this number is expected to grow.
There is a high level of risk associated with work on live wells (major accident potential) and many interfaces (multiple alliance partners).
A survey of well intervention activities carried out during the period 2003 – 2008 concluded that there was a significant need for well interventions on subsea installations. Verification on one of the facilities that carries out light well intervention was implemented to investigate HSE challenges linked with this type of operation.
Island Offshore Management and Island Offshore Subsea have an alliance with FMC and Aker Well Service for operation of the Island Constructor which carries out light well intervention on subsea wells for Statoil.
Objective
* Evaluate the companies’ understanding, knowledge and expertise as relates to major accident risk and managing barriers, on the part of both company management and among the employees.
* Evaluate strategies and principles which are to form the basis for design, use and maintenance of barriers so that the barriers’ function will be safeguarded throughout the entire facility lifetime.
* Verify that performance requirements are established and implemented.
* Develop the PSA’s expertise in following up management’s work to reduce major accident risk, and clarify the need to develop a framework and supervision methods.
* Contribute to the PSA developing its own methods that will form the basis for more effective barrier supervision.
Result
The audit activity uncovered three nonconformities and four improvement items as regards Island Offshore.
The nonconformities related to deficient analysis of defined hazard and accident situations, layout of kill and stimulation lines, and deficient basis for and documentation of maintenance.
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APNewsBreak: US oil spill plan prepares for Cuba >>> “show me the Plan”
By JENNIFER KAY, Associated Press – 2 days ago
MIAMI (AP) — If a future oil spill in the Caribbean Sea threatens American shores, a new federal plan obtained by The Associated Press would hinge on cooperation from neighboring foreign governments. Now that Cuba is the neighbor drilling for oil, cooperation is hard to guarantee.
The International Offshore Response Plan draws on lessons from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and was created to stop offshore oil spills as close to their source as possible, even in foreign waters. The plan dated Jan. 30 has not been released publicly. The AP obtained a copy through a Freedom of Information Act request.
After crude oil stained Gulf Coast beaches, state and federal officials are eager to head off even the perception of oil spreading toward the coral reefs, beaches and fishing that generate tens of billions of tourist dollars for Florida alone.
The plan comes as Spanish oil company Repsol YPF conducts exploratory drilling in Cuban waters and the Bahamas considers similar development for next year. Complicating any oil spill response in the Florida Straits, though, is the half-century of tension between the U.S. and its communist neighbor 90 miles south of Florida.
Under the plan dated Jan. 30, the Coast Guard’s Miami-based 7th District would take the lead in responding to a spill affecting U.S. waters, which includes Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The district’s operations cover 15,000 miles of coastline and share borders with 34 foreign countries and territories.
Repsol’s operations in Cuban waters are not subject to U.S. authority, but the company allowed U.S. officials to inspect its rig and review its own oil spill response plan.
“We’ve demonstrated already and we continue to demonstrate that we’re a safe, responsible operator doing all in its power to carry out a transparent and safe operation,” Respol spokesman Kristian Rix said Thursday.
Rix declined to elaborate on the company’s response plans, but he did say two minor recommendations made by U.S. officials inspecting the rig were immediately put in place.
If an oil spill began in Cuban waters, Cuba would be responsible for any spill cleanup and efforts to prevent damage to the U.S., but the Coast Guard would respond as close as possible.
Though a 50-year-old embargo bars most American companies from conducting business with Cuba and limits communication between the two governments, the Coast Guard and private response teams have licenses from the U.S. government to work with Cuba and its partners if a disaster arises.
The U.S. and Cuba have joined Mexico, the Bahamas and Jamaica since November in multilateral discussions about how the countries would notify each other about offshore drilling problems, said Capt. John Slaughter, chief of planning, readiness, and response for the 7th District.
He said channels do exist for U.S. and Cuban officials to communicate about spills, including the Caribbean Island Oil Pollution Response and Cooperation Plan. That’s a nonbinding agreement, though, so the Coast Guard has begun training crews already monitoring the Cuban coastline for drug and migrant smuggling to keep an eye out for problems on the Repsol rig.
William Reilly, co-chairman of the national commission on the Deepwater Horizon spill and head of the EPA during President George H.W. Bush, said the Coast Guard generated goodwill in Cuba by notifying its government of potential risks to the island during the 2010 spill.
It would be hard for the Cuban government to keep any spill secret if Repsol and other private companies were responding, Slaughter said.
“Even if we assume the darkest of dark and that the Cuban government wouldn’t notify us, we’d hear through industry chatter and talk. If the companies were notified, I’m quite confident we would get a phone call before they fly out their assets,” he said.
Funding for a U.S. response to a foreign spill would come from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund managed by the Coast Guard. As of Feb. 29, that fund contained $2.4 billion.
The plan covers many lessons learned from the 2010 spill, like maintaining a roster of “vessels of opportunity” for hire and making sure the ships that are skimming and burning oil offshore can store or treat oily water for extended periods of time. Other tactics, like laying boom, have been adapted for the strong Gulf Stream current flowing through the Florida Straits.
What the plan doesn’t cover is the research on how an oil spill might behave in the straits, said Florida International University professor John Proni, who’s leading a group of university and federal researchers studying U.S. readiness for oil spills.
Among the unknowns are the effect of dispersants on corals and mangroves, how oil travels in the major currents, the toxicity of Cuban and how to determine whether oil washing ashore in the U.S. came from Cuba.
“My view is that the Coast Guard has developed a good plan but it’s based on existing information,” so it’s incomplete, he said.
Former Amoco Oil Latin America president Jorge Pinon, now an oil expert at the University of Texas, said the Coast Guard had a solid plan.
He cautioned against recent congressional legislation introduced by one of South Florida’s three Cuban-American representatives to curtail drilling off Cuba by sanctioning those who help them do it. The bill is sponsored by Republican U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami.
Instead, Pinon said the U.S. needs to formalize agreements with Cuba about who would be in command if an oil well blew, because the U.S. has more resources available.
“The issue is not to stop the spill from reaching Florida waters, the issue is capping the well and shutting it down,” Pinon said. “We can play defense all we want, but we don’t want to play defense, we want to play offense, we want to cap the well.”
Reilly said the U.S. still needs to issue permits for equipment in the U.S. that would be needed if a Cuban well blew, Reilly said. For example, if a blowout occurred, the company would have to get a capping stack from Scotland, which could take up to a week.
“We know from Macondo that a great deal can happen in a week,” Reilly said. “I’ve been very concerned about getting the sanctions interpreted in a way that permits us to exercise some common sense.”
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Recap: Worldwide Field Development News (Mar 16 – Mar 22, 2012)
| This week the SubseaIQ team added 8 new projects and updated 32 projects. You can see all the updates made over any time period via the Project Update History search. The latest offshore field develoment news and activities are listed below for your convenience. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mar 22, 2012 – Salamander Energy has contracted the ENSCO 53 (350??? ILC) jackup to commence a four-well drilling program for License B8/38 offshore Thailand. The company will initially drill two development wells followed by exploratory drilling in May. The license houses the Bualuang oil field in 197 feet (60 meters) of water.
Mar 21, 2012 – Nido Petroleum announced that fabrication and installation of the turret mooring and riser system for Phase II of the Galoc field was progressing on schedule with production expected to resume at the end of 1Q 2012. Furthermore, the FEED for Phase II is being performed as planned and remains on track for FID in 2012.
Mar 16, 2012 – Santos has found a new gas reservoir through well Sangu-11 in the Sangu area with about 66 feet (20 meters) of good-quality gas pay. The well will be completed and tied into the Sangu facilities. The operator is continuing to assess the volumes and flow potential of the reservoir. After completing Sangu-11, the Seadrill jackup Offshore Resolute (350??? ILC) will be demobilized. Sangu-11 was the final well in a three-well drilling campaign in Block 16 PSC that commenced in September 2011. The first well, South Sangu-4, found gas in one target but was unable to add further reserves due to encountering anomalously high formation pressure, and had to be abandoned prior to reaching its primary objective. The second well, NE Sangu-1 drilled in December 2011, failed to encounter commercial hydrocarbons and was also abandoned.
Mar 20, 2012 – FMC Technologies has signed an agreement with Statoil for the manufacture and supply of subsea production equipment to support the Fram H-Nord development. The scope of work includes one subsea production tree, one manifold and one multiphase meter. Deliveries are expected to occur throughout 2013.
Mar 16, 2012 – Trap Oil will acquire a 15 percent working interest in the Athena oil field from Dyas UK Limited, subject to DECC and Dyas partners’ approvals. The effective date for the transaction is Jan. 1, 2012. Ithaca Energy is the operator and currently holds a 22.5 percent stake in the block. Following completion of the acquisition, the remaining equity holders will be Dyas, the largest equity holder with 32.5%, EWE Energie AG with 20% and Zeus Petroleum with the remaining 10%. The field will be developed via four existing production wells and one water-injection well tied to a stand-alone FPSO, the BW Athena vessel. The vessel is expected to arrive at the Athena location this month and, since the majority of the subsea elements for the field have already been installed, all of the production wells are ready for hook-up.
Mar 22, 2012 – Woodside’s Pluto LNG project has reached ready for start-up and first gas has entered the processing train. First production of LNG will take place in the coming weeks, followed by deliveries to foundation customers and project participants Kansai Electric and Tokyo Gas. The initial phase of the Pluto LNG project comprises an offshore platform in 279 feet (85 meters) of water, connected to five subsea wells on the Pluto gas field. Gas will be piped through a 112-mile (180-kilometer) trunkline to an onshore facility.
Mar 21, 2012 – Woodside reported that the Vincent field has produced roughly 27 MMbbl of oil since start-up in 2008, with 2011 production around 8.5 MMbbl. In September 2011, the company boosted Vincent???s overall production rate with two infill wells (VNB-H5 and VNB-H6) coming online. This resulted in the Ngujima-Yin FPSO achieving its highest production rate of almost 53,000 bopd. Woodside will complete a third infill well at Vincent, VNB-H7, and bring it online in 1H 2012.
Mar 16, 2012 – Santos has shut-down production at its Mutineer-Exeter oil field due to the approaching Severe Tropical Cyclone Lua. Mutineer-Exeter’s floating production storage and offloading vessel was disconnected March 15 and has been sailing to avoid the cyclone since then, a Santos spokesman said in a statement.
Mar 16, 2012 – INPEX has agreed to acquire a 17.5 percent participating interest in the Prelude FLNG project from Shell. This transaction is pending necessary governmental approval. The Prelude FLNG project is located in WA-44-L, approximately 295 miles (475 kilometers) north-northeast of Broome, off the coast of Western Australia. The project includes the Prelude and Concerto gas fields. These fields will be developed utilizing a FLNG facility and will produce at least 3.6 million tonnes per annum of LNG, along with 0.4 million tonnes per annum of liquefied petroleum gas and approximately 36,000 bopd of condensate at peak.
Mar 21, 2012 – The Chinese Government’s State Oceanic Administration has approved the Environmental Impact Assessment for the Beibu Gulf project, which compromises the development of the WZ 6-12 and WZ 12-8 west oil fields located in the South China Sea. This approval allows the company to commence offshore development activities on the project. Subject to final approval, onshore fabrication activities are ongoing and offshore pipeline installation is anticipated to commence during March. On completion of platform installation during 1H 2012, drilling activity is expected to start mid-year and will include four exploration/appraisal wells, which will be followed by the development drilling program. The operator anticipates first oil production from the Beibu Gulf project by the end of 2012 with full-field peak production anticipated by 2013.
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Gulf Locals and Energy Experts Express Concern Over Decreased Gulf of Mexico Offshore Drilling Activity on Jobs, Economy
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 8, 2012 – Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held an oversight hearing on the Fiscal Year 2013 budget for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). During the hearing, Committee Members heard testimony from Gulf of Mexico business leaders and energy experts who expressed deep concern over the slowdown in offshore permitting that has negatively impacted Gulf businesses and local economies.
“Production in the Gulf of Mexico is essential to our nation’s energy security – accounting for 29 percent of total U.S. crude production and 12 percent of total U.S. natural gas production. The thousands of businesses throughout the Gulf and nationwide that support this industry still struggle to stay afloat as a result of President Obama’s moratorium and the subsequent permitorium,” said Subcommittee Chairman Lamborn (CO-05). “We will hear from some of these stakeholders in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as review an analysis that shows that the pace of permitting is still well below historical averages.”
Historically low permitting has caused unemployment, economic instability and businesses to leave the Gulf of Mexico.
James Adams, President and CEO of the Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA), which represents more than 100 firms that operate marine service vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, spoke to how devastating the permitting slowdown has been. “The economic impacts of this permit slow-down or de facto moratorium are diverse and farreaching, affecting individuals and businesses in various industries across the Gulf Coast…businesses are indeed laying off workers, reducing hours and salaries, and limiting new hires as a result of the permit slow-down.” Adams also mentioned the reoccurring theme of businesses moving overseas, “and postponing local expansion puts the regional economy on insecure ground, and the loss of businesses in the oil and gas industry to international markets has potential negative effects on the national economy.”
Brady Como, Ecxecutive Vice President of Delmar Systems, a leading supplier of offshore services in the Gulf, testified that slow permitting activity, “has not only had an impact upon our employees that were laid off, but also has been the driving force for the percentage of our international business outside the Gulf of Mexico more than doubling during that time.” To stay in business, his company has been forced to follow, “rigs leaving the gulf all over the world, from Brazil and Australia, to Trinidad, West Africa and the Mediterranean.” Como reminded Members that, “for every drilling rig that leaves, 200 jobs go with it. That impact is even greater when indirect jobs are considered.”
Benjamin Salsbury, Senior Energy Policy Analyst at SVP FBR capital Markets, confirmed that, “there are just 25 Mobile Offshore Drilling Units or ‘floaters’ and 15 platforms drilling. That is 12% fewer floaters than were operating before the Macondo spill despite crude oil prices more than 25% higher.” Salsbury continued to reiterate what local Gulf businesses already know, “there continues to be a permitting constraint on Deepwater Gulf of Mexico drilling activity.”
Background:
A study put forward by Greater New Orleans, Inc. estimates that of the Gulf businesses they surveyed:
- 41% said they were not making a profit;
- 50% said they have laid of employees as a result of the moratorium; and
- 82% said they have lost personal savings as a result of the permit slowdown.
Printable PDF of this document
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Cuba drills for oil, but U.S. unprepared for spill
By William Booth, Published: March 1
As energy companies from Spain, Russia and Malaysia line up to drill for oil in Cuban waters 60 miles from the Florida Keys, U.S. agencies are struggling to cobble together emergency plans to protect fragile reefs, sandy beaches and a multibillion-dollar tourism industry in the event of a spill.
Drawing up contingency plans to confront a possible spill is much more difficult because of the economic embargo against Cuba. U.S. law bars most American companies — including oil services and spill containment contractors — from conducting business with the communist island. The embargo, now entering its 50th year, also limits direct government-to-government talks.
“We need to figure out what we can do to inflict maximum pain, maximum punishment, to bleed Repsol of whatever resources they may have if there’s a potential for a spill that would affect the U.S. coast,” Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.) told in January a congressional subcommittee that oversees the U.S. Coast Guard.
An unusual coalition of U.S. environmentalists and oil industry executives have joined forces to push the White House to treat the threat of a spill seriously, while tamping down the anti-Castro rhetoric.
“There is no point in opposing drilling in Cuba. They are drilling. And so now we should be working together to prevent disaster,” said Daniel Whittle, Cuba program director of the Environmental Defense Fund, who has been brokering meetings between Cuban and U.S. officials.
Environmentalists applauded the announcement last week of an agreement between the United States and Mexico to allow for joint inspection of rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico and the establishment of a common set of safety protocols between the two countries.
Nothing approaching this exists with the Cubans.
Because of the embargo, the talks between Cubans, Repsol and the Coast Guard are taking place in the Bahamas and Curacao — not Havana or Miami — under the auspices of the U.N. International Maritime Organization, paid for by charitable donations from environmental groups and oil industry associations.
A single Florida company is licensed to deliver oil dispersants to Havana. But there are no U.S. aircraft with contracts or permission to fly over Cuban waters. The current plan is to retrofit and deploy aging crop dusters from Cuban farms to dump the dispersants.
Obstacles to a cleanup
Repsol operates leases in U.S. waters in the Gulf of Mexico and has a staff of 300 based in Houston. But because of the embargo, none of the Houston staff is permitted to have anything to do with the Repsol operation in Cuba. Any assistance would have to come from Madrid.
Because of the embargo, and to protect Repsol from economic sanctions, no more than 10 percent of the components on the Scarabeo 9 drilling rig may be manufactured in the United States.
One of those components is the blowout preventer, a vital piece of safety equipment manufactured by National Oilwell Varco in Houston — whose employees cannot service the equipment while it is in Cuban waters.
If a blowout occurred, Repsol would have to await delivery of a capping stack, which would have to travel from Scotland to Cuba and then out to the rig. Experts predict it would take a week at minimum.
Cleanup crews arriving from the United States would be allowed to skim oil from the water and collect surplus oil gushing from the rig, but they’d have to take it someplace. The question is where? The U.S. tankers can’t enter Cuban territorial waters, and if they do, they are prohibited from returning to the United States for six months. The recovered oil would belong to Cuba, and so it can’t travel to the United States.
Modeling of ocean currents by the USGS suggests a spill at the Repsol exploratory well site probably would not affect the Florida Keys but would be swept north by the powerful flow of the Gulf Stream and then begin to deposit oil on beaches from Miami to North Carolina.
“If anything went really wrong out there, I believe there would be a quick political response,” said William K. Reilly, co-chairman of the national commission on the Deepwater spill and head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George H.W. Bush.
But a lot can happen in a couple of days, Reilly said. “It’s time to face reality. It is, completely, in the interest of the United States that we get this right.”
“This is a disaster waiting to happen, and the Obama administration has abdicated its role in protecting our environment and national security by allowing this plan to move forward,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Ros-Lehtinen and her colleagues sponsored legislation to deny visas to anyone who helps the Cubans advance their oil drilling plans. They have also sought to punish Repsol.
“We need to figure out what we can do to inflict maximum pain, maximum punishment, to bleed Repsol of whatever resources they may have if there’s a potential for a spill that would affect the U.S. coast,” Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.) told in January a congressional subcommittee that oversees the U.S. Coast Guard.
An unusual coalition of U.S. environmentalists and oil industry executives have joined forces to push the White House to treat the threat of a spill seriously, while tamping down the anti-Castro rhetoric.
“There is no point in opposing drilling in Cuba. They are drilling. And so now we should be working together to prevent disaster,” said Daniel Whittle, Cuba program director of the Environmental Defense Fund, who has been brokering meetings between Cuban and U.S. officials.
Environmentalists applauded the announcement last week of an agreement between the United States and Mexico to allow for joint inspection of rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico and the establishment of a common set of safety protocols between the two countries.
Nothing approaching this exists with the Cubans.
Because of the embargo, the talks between Cubans, Repsol and the Coast Guard are taking place in the Bahamas and Curacao — not Havana or Miami — under the auspices of the U.N. International Maritime Organization, paid for by charitable donations from environmental groups and oil industry associations.
A single Florida company is licensed to deliver oil dispersants to Havana. But there are no U.S. aircraft with contracts or permission to fly over Cuban waters. The current plan is to retrofit and deploy aging crop dusters from Cuban farms to dump the dispersants.
Obstacles to a cleanup
Repsol operates leases in U.S. waters in the Gulf of Mexico and has a staff of 300 based in Houston. But because of the embargo, none of the Houston staff is permitted to have anything to do with the Repsol operation in Cuba. Any assistance would have to come from Madrid.
Because of the embargo, and to protect Repsol from economic sanctions, no more than 10 percent of the components on the Scarabeo 9 drilling rig may be manufactured in the United States.
One of those components is the blowout preventer, a vital piece of safety equipment manufactured by National Oilwell Varco in Houston — whose employees cannot service the equipment while it is in Cuban waters.
If a blowout occurred, Repsol would have to await delivery of a capping stack, which would have to travel from Scotland to Cuba and then out to the rig. Experts predict it would take a week at minimum.
Cleanup crews arriving from the United States would be allowed to skim oil from the water and collect surplus oil gushing from the rig, but they’d have to take it someplace. The question is where? The U.S. tankers can’t enter Cuban territorial waters, and if they do, they are prohibited from returning to the United States for six months. The recovered oil would belong to Cuba, and so it can’t travel to the United States.
Modeling of ocean currents by the USGS suggests a spill at the Repsol exploratory well site probably would not affect the Florida Keys but would be swept north by the powerful flow of the Gulf Stream and then begin to deposit oil on beaches from Miami to North Carolina.
“If anything went really wrong out there, I believe there would be a quick political response,” said William K. Reilly, co-chairman of the national commission on the Deepwater spill and head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George H.W. Bush.
But a lot can happen in a couple of days, Reilly said. “It’s time to face reality. It is, completely, in the interest of the United States that we get this right.”
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Continents of the World
