Recently in Energy Category

In the tradition of "Without Bad Luck, We Wouldn't Have Any Luck at All," the National Hurricane Center this morning forecasted a 70% chance that Invest 97, now just south of the Bahamas, would form into a tropical cyclone.  Destination?  The central Gulf.  In his McBriefing yesterday, Kent Wells announced that instead of running and cementing the last liner into relief well 1, they had already run in a storm packer to temporarily seal the...

I was on Countdown tonight, with guest host Lawrence O'Donnell, talking about the growing rift between the US government and BP as they try to manage the risk of the blowout well getting worse during the "well integrity test".  Have a look:Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy...

I'm listening to Kent Wells Monday afternoon McBriefing.  After all of the normal generalities, he has just dropped the bomb that they're considering the "static kill".  He said that it's not approved and they studying it, and then did not elaborate.  So far, the press hasn't picked up on it and are mostly focused on the Hatfields and McCoys style feud that kicked up yesterday after the Suttles briefing.  In his brief introduction of the...

Yesterday afternoon, an anonymous US Government official leaked to the press that a sea floor seep had been discovered near BP's blown out Mississippi Canyon Block 252 well.  A media frenzy ensued, and my phone began to ring.  Reporters wanted to know how significant this seep was, whether the well was leaking, and what should be done next.  AP had broken the story about 5:00 PM my time, citing the unnamed official complaining that BP...

I was interviewed by KPRC yesterday evening about the latest seep discovered close to the well and the growing rift between BP and the US government.  I can't embed it, so here's the link....

Update for statement from Adm Allen:  Last evening, in an email statement, National Incident Commander, Thad Allen, ordered BP to reopen the well at the completion of the current shut in test.  He had ordered another 24 hours shut-in with extensive montitoring, which ends this afternoon.  This morning, Doug Suttles, standing in for Kent Wells, held the morning McBriefing, providing scant information, then proceeded to not answer reporters' questions (one per customer, no follow-ups, no...

I was on the Today Show this morning talking about the blowout with Lester Holt.  Have a look:Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy...

Kent Wells just completed his morning McBriefing, lasting a whopping 8 minutes, including questions (limit one per customer, follow ups not allowed, no coupons accepted).  He said that the test is continuing, and that pressure continues to build, currently at 6,700 psi.  Even though Wells said that pressure is continuing to rise, the 6,700 happens to be the same pressure reported by the Washington Post last night, a few hours after the well was shut...

I'm listening to Kent Wells morning "technical briefing" just as he is announcing that the much discussed well integrity test has still not begun.  They are repairing a leak in the choke line from the capping stack that showed up as soon as they started the procedure yesterday evening.  They are venting oil from the kill line on the new stack, and sometime last night resumed recovering oil through the choke and kill lines on...

I was on Countdown tonight talking about BP's last minute "well integrity test" that the government approved this afternoon.  Have a look:Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy...