http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10317817.stm
Highlights
US Oil
$210 Billion profit in 3 years
$35 Billion in exploration
and wait for it -.1 R&D on spill risk.
ALL Companies used the same Boiler plate
Out of date or non existent equipment.
1 referred to Walruses which haven't lived in the Gulf for millions years
Two actually gave the telephone number to the long dead specialist.
The list of LIES goes on.
My question is how much better are the wells off our coasts?
Anybody got the facts. i.e. Local drilling disaster recovery plans?
Recent disasters would suggest not.
One tends to wonder who is governing whom.
In real terms clearly these and other corporations tend to to "bean counting" i.e. Make a decision as to which is cheaper prevention (opportunity cost considered) or manageability (cost) of legal defenses (and recovery) later. Guess which way they went?
This industry ISN'T a lone exception.
Denialists, clearly there is a problem!
No it doesn't necessarily mean prices to go up .....less exec perks, wages etc. and a more reasonable profit.
Any one with solutions?

Denialists ? where? I'm with you 100%

Look at the climate change SCAM for "denialists" :) I mean those who deny there 'is' a scam.

You make a good point examinator.

In light of the Gulf situation.You would have to be be concerned as to
our own status in relation to regulations re off shore drilling in our country
and the monitoring of company's practices, operating such businesses is
probably necessary.

And for all intensive purposes ALGOREisRICH, the climate/environmental
situation occurring in the Gulf is currently in crisis, so deny all you want.

ROFL Examinator, corporations are about being realists, keep the
sensitive bit for your lover :)

*and wait for it -.1 R&D on spill risk.
ALL Companies used the same Boiler plate
Out of date or non existent equipment.*

Not so, but we know that you are unable to look at these things
with any kind of objectivity.

Firstly, the boiler plate would have had to be approved by
the Govt regulator. So if the regulator, who has the power,
got it wrong, they are as guilty as the corporations.

Secondly, there is indeed lots of equipment around. Oil companies
thought that with their fleet of ROV subs, they could do anything.
All that cutting and sawing down there is indeed being done by
their subs. But this well is beyond them, because they have
never faced these circumstances before, in the history of drilling
for oil.

Yet we have something like over 230 deep sea rigs and over 500 shallow
water rigs out there, drilling every day, around the world.
Their average age is 29 years, so they have been going for a while
now.

So lets look at the information that we know so far. The four major
oil companies are saying that indeed mistakes were made by BP when
this hole was drilled. It seems like one of the seals in the
"fail safe device" could have been damaged at the time of installation.
It seems that when the concrete work was done,
the young BP guy running things cut some corners, against the
advice of the rig workers. As the rig was costing 1 million $
a day, he was trying to hurry things along. The rest is history
or will be revealed by the enquiry

Not so, but we know that you are unable to look at these things
with any kind of objectivity. [Yabby]

Yabby, do you know Examinator in person to call the aforementioned judgement? Examinator profoundly cares for our Australian environment and future depicted in all of his postings which is to be admired.

Any person condoning wealth greed and exploitation of our planet and country simply does not care sufficiently about it. Examinator's motives are transparent. He cares passionately, obviously, in all probability, out of the love for his family, people, innocent creatures killed over many years, that assisted in sustaining our environment [marine enviro in particular]. No ulterior motives given through previous posts.

One tends to wonder who is governing whom [Examinator]

It is about time someone raised these issues on OLO or anywhere Examinator. A tad off the topic re; oil drilling. For many years since massive oil spills and marine disasters affecting our marine life and water I have wondered where and what are the watchdogs doing in their highly paid positions.

It is 2010 and politicians have just declared they intend watching the Great Barrier Reef and protected areas more closely after two major oil spills up north? What about the other spills that destroyed marine species over a good 20 years?

Concepts for Oil Spills? For starters, once Ships reach Australian waters, they should be logged in and out, show engineer reports of their ships, ensure the skippers know exactly the routes they are supposed to travel, monitor the waters around those routes, until they have traversed well out to sea. Regular monitoring conducted to check that Maritime and all the other watchdogs are performing their jobs appropriately.

Customs have emough on their plates and our environmental marine disasters may just have been caused in part by the fact that Customs have been far too busy channelling their energies into dozens of boat people arriving over the past 10 years regularly. An inevitable consequence of having Customs fully distracted.

When I think of the mess collectivist governments have got their economies in, Greece, USSR, and Australia, the role of “corporations” is insignificant.

Corporations exist in an environment of regulation. They have since before the first companies act.

Governments write regulation.

People elect governments.

Blaming corporations is like spanking oneself...

It inflicts some personal discomfort for the pious, some salacious pleasure for the less pious and does nothing for anyone else.

When someone can think of a better way or organising joint stock companies differently i am sure the Market will rally to the innovation (the market has always been proactive that way) but until that happens, Corporations will remain the bastion of the wealth creation which governments rely on to tax -

particularly the rapacious collectivist governments like Rudd (versus the mining companies)