Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Stay Tuned for More Bad News on Oil Spill

According to Climatewire:

The companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill made several risky decisions to save time -- and consequently money -- ahead of the disaster, according to a document that was pulled at the last minute from a presentation of the president's oil spill commission earlier this month. The document obtained by Greenwire shows BP PLC, Halliburton Co. and Transocean Ltd. made a series of 11 unnecessary decisions that may have increased the chances of disaster. The findings paint a harsher picture than statements made by the panel's chief counsel during a recent presentation that workers onshore and on the drilling rig didn't cut corners on safety to save money. And it may be a harbinger of stronger findings in the panel's final conclusions due out in January.

This is being investigated by an Obama administration task force panel, which reminds me of the recent auto industry task force overseeing the GM and Chrysler bankruptcy bailouts. The White House and Congress don't possess ultimate authority over the economy or any megacompany like BP, not nearly as much as they used to. There are other power forces lurking such as banks in China and other parts of Asia that have a lot of investment/ownership in our federal deficit.

Still, BP's Gulf spill and its aftermath is the Rubik's Cube for gaining some control over the world's largest industry, oil. Their competitors are being very cautious and have been launching marketing campaigns with references to being responsible for the planet and being more than just oil companies.

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