Deepwater Companies Pull Up Stakes, and Some May Never Return

[ProSense]

Source: New York Times

Walter Oil & Gas Corp. executives were within 9,000 feet of finding out if they would hit oil under the Gulf of Mexico. Now, they don't know if they will ever find out.

The company and its contractors had drilled about 12,000 feet down from a seabed located about 1,200 feet from the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, in Ewing Bank Block 834. The oil they were looking for was supposed to be at 21,000 feet.

But now the company is pulling up stakes, under Obama administration orders to put a halt to most deepwater drilling in the Gulf, where a BP PLC well has been stubbornly billowing crude since late April despite repeated attempts to plug or divert it.

"We'd spent millions and millions of dollars, and we don't know if we will ever have the opportunity to get a return on our investment," said Ron Wilson, a Walter manager.




Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/06/03/03greenwire-deepwater-companies-pull-up-stakes-and-some-ma-10130.html

[Zoeisright]

1. Oh wah wah wah.

If there's one thing I cannot STAND, it's rich people whining.

[Celebration]

2. BP should pay them off for their investment n/t

[snappyturtle]

3. Like any oil drilling is guaranteed. I could care less if they lose

their investment and elated they are pulling up stakes.

[suzie]

23. And you've gone completely off the power grid?

Wow! That's impressive.

[snappyturtle]

39. ??????????????

[totodeinhere]

4. Good. Maybe we can avoid another disaster like this one. n/t

[Ian David]

5. Maybe they can slant-drill from shore? n/t

[damntexdem]

10. Naw, it's easier for them to slant the news.

And that's the basic drill.

[tabatha]

11. !

[karynnj]

17. LOL You might have to ask April Gillespe - Isn't she in charge of that?

[rrneck]

6. Bye.

[awoke_in_2003]

13. From tombstone...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBfYQOSSPqc
(note- at the 9 sec mark it get a little nutty, but couldn't find a clip of just Curly Bill)

[gateley]

7. Their anger should be directed at BP for taking the cheap steps that may have

contributed to this disaster.

[Nihil]

40. Yeah ... like there's one operator out there that *hasn't* taken "cheap steps"?

e.g,. Transocean aren't a BP subsidiary you know and they've been directly
responsible for past foul-ups in the GoM ... not that the US regulatory
authorities have ever given a toss about that before April this year ...

[katnapped]

IT'S NOT FAIIIRRR!!!!!

WE WANNA POLLUTE THE GULF TOO!!!! WHY SHOULD BP BE THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS SOME FUN?!?!?!?

[damntexdem]

8. It's a system where one doesn't know whether one will get a return on investment.

It's called capitalism.

And when a company really, really fouls things up, that lessens the likelihood that other companies will be able to get returns on their investments.

If a company doesn't like it, they should advocate a different economic system. ;-)

[Veruca Salt]

9. ...

:nopity:

[Fumesucker]

12. Good, now all those highly paid offshore oil workers can learn to say..

"Do you want fries with that?"

This isn't going to hurt the truly wealthy, it's going to end up hurting a lot of (mostly) guys who do the hard, dirty and dangerous jobs on the rigs.

[ProSense]

18. " hurting a lot of (mostly) guys who do the hard, dirty and dangerous jobs on the rigs."

So the moratorium should be lifted?

People seem to want the President to end drilling and protect drilling jobs, and they can't have it both ways.

[laconicsax]

19. What do you think?

In http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8472787">another thread, you're implying that the priority should be on protecting jobs. You're not trying to have it both ways, are you?

[ProSense]

20. "you're implying that the priority should be on protecting jobs."

Maybe your assumption is inaccurate.

The point was the same: people are trying to have it both ways.

Bobby Jindal, Mary Matalin and those calling for an end to the moratorium are assholes.

[laconicsax]

21. Thanks for the clarification. n/t

[Fumesucker]

22. Just pointing out that certain policies have severe down sides for some people

And they're not *all* rich people, indeed many of them are lower middle class to middle class.

The gloating going on over this ignores the fact that it will hurt quite a few people who have basically played by the rules and done nothing wrong personally.

[Downwinder]

24. Don't they have a "legitimate claim" on BP? n/t

[Fumesucker]

26. What claim would workers have on BP if the government shuts down their jobs?

And it would be years to decades before they could prevail in a court of law anyway, even if they did have a claim.

Most regular workers have neither the time nor the money to pursue such a course.

No, their best bet is as I said, learn to say "Would you like fries with that?" just like the rest of us.

[Downwinder]

30. How about the hotel maid in Florida who has her hours cut

due to decreased tourist traffic because of the BP blowout.

[Fumesucker]

31. Yes, DU has sympathy for that person..

But the gloating over the oil rigs being shut down allows no sympathy for the workers that particular policy hurts.

Indeed, I have sympathy for every innocent person and creature this hubris caused disaster is going to damage in any way.

[Downwinder]

32. So who are we to say who should be protected and who not?

How many of the producers in the Gulf have pitched in to help mitigate the effects of the blowout?

[Fumesucker]

34. Where did I say anything about protecting anyone?

I was just commenting on the gloating over some people's jobs disappearing while having sympathy for others in the same predicament.

Back in the 80's I worked offshore for a few years, it was hard, dangerous work and took me away from my family for weeks at a time, I have sympathy for those who will lose their jobs, *all* of the lower level people who bear no responsibility for this disaster.

[Downwinder]

35. This will have far reaching repercussions that probably none

of us can envision. With less tourism, fewer flight crews will be necessary.

The legal system is the only option. I have not yet seen any reports of class action suits for any of the groups we have mentioned, I am sure they will be forthcoming.

[marions ghost]

27. Quite a few people have been and will be hurt

all over the Gulf before this is over.

Policies must change. The smart companies will accept the changes and cut their losses.

In this recession how many --in many other fields--have found their jobs gone, with no protection?

Sorry, put the oil rig crews to work in clean energy technology. Their skills are transferable.

[Fumesucker]

29. I know that..

But DU isn't gloating over most of them.

And skills are indeed transferable, I wish someone would tell our corporate overlords about that fact because they seem to be totally ignorant of it.

[marions ghost]

33. The word overlord you used

says it all. They are overlords. The workers are pawns with very few protections. Workers under these conditions have to accept uncertainty. The overlords guarantee nothing and will not listen to anyone "telling" them to be fair and ethical. They must be made to conform to the expectations of a just society--by legal force. And I would argue, this corrective force must have the weight of an essentially moral people behind it. (Not sure that there are enough of those kind anymore). When you have corporations driven by nothing but competition and greed, there are no incentives to treat employees as anything other than easy come, easy go. You don't really invest in them.

I know I'm stating the obvious, but people forget this when job loss happens to them and they come to learn just how expendable they are.

[Whoa_Nelly]

14. Am assuming they will be leaving all their metal crap behind n/t

[pattmarty]

15. Gee fucking whiz. Can we now finally start looking for OTHER.............

.........ways to "fuel" our machines without destroying the earth, air and every goddamn thing else? Europe is WAY ahead of us in this regard.

[Ian David]

16. So, THIS is what it took for The Oncelers to leave. n/t

[penndragon69]

25. Screw' em !

They don't deserve a dime.

[goforit]

28. The GREED is astounding!! It's time for these narrow minded brainless twits

to think how money can now be made in other energies besides "Black Gold"

These guys won't be around any more than we will if they continue to
blow up our environment like they are. Their own children and grandkids
won't have a chance in hell either.

[LawnKorn]

36. Make them fill in the hole and clean up the drill site before they leave

Next time they will invest in clean, renewable energy and perhaps they will see a profit.

[Earth_First]

37. Good riddance...

What, am I supposed to be angry over this?

Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!

[Taverner]

38. Good Riddance!!!!

AFT!