We’ve been following the oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico for a couple of weeks now, watching to see if the lights are coming on in peoples’ minds. So far, no: Just as dim as ever.
The reason we’re watching for signs of life is that we’re not sure people actually understand this technology and the inherent risks that come with drilling holes in the planet to suck out the hydrocarbons.
The first risk is that the crude is almost always under a lot of pressure. Think for a moment, you’ve got several hundreds of meters of heavy rock sitting on top of the oil deposit, as well as several hundred meters of sea water pushing down on the rock. The crude is squeezed into layers of porous rock.
Perhaps a mental construct is in order, with the caveat of Do Not Do This For Real. Ever.
Consider an aerosol can of WD-40, the iconic blue, white and red spray can of lubrication goodness that you have under the sink, or in the garage. What you’re doing at a very elemental level is drilling a hole in the side of an aerosol can of WD-40 when you drill for oil. The scale is different, but not much more.
You know intuitively that if you ever did try it, there would be stuff everywhere, shooting out all over the place and the little red straw would roll under the sofa. You know you’ll get hosed from head to heel with WD-40 and if things went very badly, there is a likelihood you might even burst into flames, especially if you were near a source of ignition. Which explains all the safety technology associated with drilling for oil on a commercial scale.
At best, oil drilling is risky, even on dry land. At sea, be it the Gulf of Mexico, or the Hibernia field, the risk is a few orders of magnitude higher and the technology even more complex.
That a piece of technology failed is not surprising; it’s made by humans and that comes under the heading of “Shit Happens”. We try our best and are as diligent and as wise as we can be, but there are still things that happen with technology that we can’t predict.
What is infuriating are two factoids: One, the US Federal Government let BP punch a hole in the side of the can of WD-40 without any of the commonly used safety technology in place. To say that the lack of action or enforcement is near-criminal is pretty close to spot-on accurate. Plus, oil companies are limited in liability to the first $75 million only. You get one guess as to who picks up the next $75 million in a clean-up tab? (Hint: It ain’t Dick Cheney)
Second, the three fart-catchers for BP (the distributor) TransOcean (the driller) and Haliburton (the well servicing company) who spent the better part of two hours pointing at each other as the responsible party in front of a Senate committee. The three could be re-categorized as the three monkeys of See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Evil.
Yes, there will be lawsuits and yes, each one of those companies will be dragged into court at some time in the next five years, but not one of the companies said so much as a mumbled sorry for trashing a few hundred miles of the Gulf coast for generations to come. That much oil being spilled, even with the most intense clean up possible, will be gurgling up for the next fifty years.
That’s the nature of crude oil. It doesn’t go away and it doesn’t mix with water unless you fill the Gulf of Mexico with balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and whisk briskly. Add five million pounds of chopped garlic and you have a fine vinaigrette, but that won’t bring back the fishery.
RoadDave 