Deepwater Horizon Update July 15, 2010

By The Maritime Executive 12-21-2010 04:03:09

Leak containment cap has its own leak Well integrity test preparations paused pending repair of choke line leak. In preparation for commencement of the well integrity test, the middle ram of the capping stack has been closed and a leak has been detected in the choke line of the 3 ram stack. It has been isolated and will be repaired prior to starting the test. To view a live feed of the leak click here. BP faces 7-year offshore drilling ban A US Congressional committee has agreed measures that would ban BP from new offshore drilling for seven years. The House committee on natural resources voted in favor of precluding companies with poor safety records from offshore oil exploration permits. The proposed law does not name BP, but would apply to any company that has experienced 10 or more deaths in the last seven years. The April explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 workers. According to the draft legislation, the deaths must have taken place at drilling, production facilities, or refineries, and must have broken US health and environment laws. The Deepwater Horizon disaster is still being investigated. BP has already accepted its guilt in a separate accident in Texas in 2005 that killed 15 people. Although the proposal does not affect BP's existing US oil wells, if it became law it would be a major blow to the UK oil company. Obama Administration sends BP it's 4th bill The Obama Administration sent BP a bill for $99.7 million yesterday. The government bills BP and other parties regularly for costs incurred by the federal on-scene coordinator to support federal, state and local response efforts and ensure the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is reimbursed on an ongoing basis. This is the fourth bill the administration has sent to date. BP and other responsible parties have paid the first three bills, totaling $122.3 million. It was also reported that BP (BP) is looking to sell its stake in the United States' largest oil field, the Prudhoe Bay project in Alaska, to boost its clean up fund for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The reports said BP is in talks with Houston-based oil and gas company Apache Corp., and the sale would raise about $10 billion. Footage from the Deepwater Horizon Response, Wednesday July 14, 2010 90 day foreclosure suspension for Gulf Coast Citigroup promised a 90 day suspension on June 17, 2010 of foreclosures in certain zip codes of the Gulf Coast affected by the BP oil spill until September 17, 2010. Also, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will provide additional relief to homeowners affected by the spill. As a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of seafood from the Gulf of Mexico and protect consumers, NOAA has expanded the closed fishing area in the Gulf of Mexico. The closed area now represents 83,927 square miles—approximately 35 percent—of federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico. This closure does not apply to any state waters. This leaves 65 percent of Gulf federal waters available for fishing. Details can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/. Approved SBA Economic Injury Assistance Loans Surpass $12 Million SBA has approved 161 economic injury assistance loans to date, totaling more than $12.6 million for small businesses in the Gulf Coast impacted by the BP oil spill. Additionally, the agency has granted deferments on 631 existing SBA disaster loans in the region, totaling more than $3.6 million per month in payments. For information on assistance loans for affected businesses, visit the SBA’s Web site at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance, call (800) 659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the hearing impaired), or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. By the numbers: