Moving Forward

Very glad to know that Tony Hayward has allowed himself to heal from the terrible tragedy that happened to him.

Mr Hayward was speaking the day after part of his 2011 video deposition on the Gulf of Mexico disaster was screened in a New Orleans court, where BP is facing trial for the accident. Mr Hayward resigned as BP chief executive after facing criticism for his handling of the spill.

He said he was “not really” keeping an eye on the proceedings, adding: “For me it’s the past. I have no role to play.”

His role at BP had not been an issue when seeking exploration access for Genel and was raised “only ever in a positive way”.

"Positive ways" in which Hayward's role at BP could be raised: "It blew up real good, didn't it?" "Before this, nobody knew how magical microbes could be!" "The boys who sell us Corexit say business has never been better!"

Yes, but was it "grossly negligent"?

I mean, sure, we know it was all these other things.

The damning testimony from industry veteran Alan Huffman came during the third day of a civil trial over the 2010 disaster off Louisiana. It heightened the pressure on BP, with billions of dollars at stake from the outcome of the trial.

“Drilling ahead in this environment was not only unsafe, it violated every standard I know in how wells are drilled in deep waters,” said Huffman, chief technology officer of SIGMA³ Integrated Reservoir Solutions.

Huffman, who has over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and has previously worked for Exxon and Conoco, said BP in drilling the well repeatedly violated the safe drilling margin, in some cases drilling with no margin at all.

“That is not what a prudent operator does,” Huffman said.

Huffman said there were several kicks, or evidence of gas or oil intrusion, in the well during the drilling of the well. The work should have stopped at that point, he said.  But BP decided to continue to drill ahead when it reached 18,220 feet, endangering the lives of the workers on the Deepwater Horizon rig above.

“I would have been very concerned for everyone on that rig,” he said.

Actually that article leaves out the most damning statement from Huffman.

Huffman: BP's actions were "unsafe and dangerous...They were egregious beyond anything I've seen in my career." #bptrial
— George Talbot (@georgetalbot) February 27, 2013

Still.. couldn't he have worked in the word, "gross"? Somewhere between the "unsafe" and "egregious" maybe?

The Fuel Fix article does, however, include a link to Tony Hayward's video testimony which was also presented today. No, he does not do the Harlem Shake.



After lunch, there will be a cross-examination of Huffman and, I think, more video testimony from Spill Cam. 

Information overload

It wasn't the only reason cited but according to this one reason Judge Barbier ruled that evidence BP's prior incident record wouldn't have been admissible at the trial that was just averted is because... well, there's sooo much of it.

On Feb. 9, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled that both BP's past safety record and a number of investigative reports involving past accidents and the Gulf oil spill could not be used in the first chapter of the three-part court battle, called the "incident" phase, which deals with events leading up to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig.

He based his rulings largely on the length of time that would be added to the trial by either assuring information on which the reports were based followed federal evidence rules, or allowing BP and other defendants to contest the materials.

Hey, Heckuva job!

Former BP Boss Tony Hayward eligible for $950,000 bonus

Meanwhile, back at the ranch,

More than half of the 110,299 private claimants suing BP in the huge trial set to begin in federal court Feb. 27 have never filed with claims czar Kenneth Feinberg, calling into question whether they are eligible for compensation. That's according to numbers released by Feinberg to U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier on Wednesday.

The data suggest that Feinberg may not achieve his stated goal of settling 90 percent of all legitimate claims out of court. At the same time, the numbers -- a rough barometer of the size and strength of the plaintiffs' army -- could have a significant impact on tense settlement talks among an army of lawyers who have descended on New Orleans.

Plug the hole

I wouldn't go so far as to call it "America's Toilet Bowl" just yet but, in its own way, the neighborhood exhibits certain commonalities with the Gulf of Mexico from time to time. For example, a few years back we had a harrowing experience with a seemingly unstoppable gusher. And this summer, we've discovered a rapidly deteriorating hole in the ground that just gets scarier every time we look at it.

July 19


July 22


July 25


So far none of these episodes has caused any insensitive whining from beneath anyone's million dollar golden parachute* but we'll keep an eye out.

*Tony Hayward's £600,000 pension works out to $934,867.15 right now. Not quite a million bucks but you always have to account for those famous BP understated figures.

Sources: Tony Hayward demanding a trade

Says BP doesn't want to win now.

BP Glee

It's been a busy week and I've been in an especially foul mood as of late which results in thankfully slow going here in Yellow Blog land. So instead of afflicting you with the collection of links and rants about this week in Obama vs BP vs Louisiana I had been fouling around with I'll just share the two most grating items from this week in order to convey some sense of my personal state of mind. After which I can retreat to my corner for the rest of the day or until I shrug it off.

I'm pretty pissed at Joe Barton. Yeah, like a lot of people I'm offended at the perverted priorities revealed in his apology to BP CEO Tony Hayward for what he termed President Obama's "shakedown" of the company to establish a $20 billion escrow fund to benefit victims of the oil disaster. I'm particularly upset over it because I understand that Barton's comment and subsequent apology for it wasn't just some stupid gaffe and retraction. It was a well-developed reactionary talking point repeated by numerous commentators and politicians throughout the week and one that isn't going away any time soon. I have no doubt that Barton floated it that morning with the intent of getting it to lead the evening news. Barton subsequently apologized to us for our "misconstruing" his remarks. Not only is the non-apology wormy on its face but it's also more an affirmation than an apology. At the end of the day, Barton's message made the paper. In the long run, the clever way it was presented will give it legs. The stage direction conveys to us that Barton spoke his mind, it shocked sensitive people, and he was forced to retract it but all the decent hard working folk in the target audience will eventually agree he was kind of right. Americans love to hate victims and poor people who appear to be getting away with something. Watch what happens.

But all of that is pretty standard American politics. It's annoying but it isn't the aspect of the Barton comment that left me feeling as suicidal as I am at the end of this week. What's really gotten under my skin is that Barton's remark left this song in my head for three days.



Today is Father's Day. Mostly what this means is that I sacrificed a shockingly large chunk of my afternoon yesterday to the pursuit of one non-cheesy greeting card. At one point in my life, people made generic cards with perhaps a picture on them but no stupid canned sappy or "humorous" message. This is no longer the case. In fact it's getting more and more difficult to find one that doesn't present the cheesy stupid message in audio form. I don't know why we go to such great technological lengths to say to one another, "Smile, infant. Here is some insincere pablum I purchased." Anyway I was hoping to find something as far away from that as could be hoped for which took waay longer than I had hoped for. My mood went from mild annoyance to all-out panic when the opening strains of Styx's "Come Sail Away" wafted out over the Walgreens sound system. I grabbed a card with a random enough photo of a big fish on it and made for the check-out counter. Unfortunately the Walgreens exit procedure is nearly as complicated as figuring out a World Cup standings tie-break. I had to stand there and listen to the whole damn song in line.

And all of that is pretty bad but the part of this story that ruined my mood and makes me want to wade into the oil seas off of Grand Isle and drown myself, is that the moment I got out to the car and flipped on the radio, here's what was being discussed.

BP Chief Yachts While Gulf Oil Spill Burns


Once again, it's not the fact of the predictable arrogance of the empowered abusers that has me out of sorts. It's the freaking soundtrack.

You cannot, sir, take from me anything that I will more willingly part withal except my life

Tony Hayward takes his leave... and his life back, I guess.

Tony Hayward gets his life back

Guardian:

BP is to hive off its Gulf of Mexico oil spill operation to a separate in-house business to be run by an American in a bid to isolate the "toxic" side of the company and dilute some of the anti-British feeling aimed at chief executive Tony Hayward, the company said today.

The surprise announcement was made during a teleconference with City and Wall Street analysts in which Hayward attempted to shrug off the personal criticism saying words "could not break his bones".

Nevermind that last comment for now. Suffice to say there are sticks and stones in adequate supply in Louisiana should they have become necessary. What's amazing about this story is that BP is yet again moving to protect its "brand" first and the Gulf coast maybe never. Yesterday, the comic genius behind the fake BPGlobalPR Twitter account wrote about BP's insane marketing obsession in this Huffington Post article.

I've read a bunch of articles and blogs about this whole situation by publicists and marketing folk wondering what BP should do to save their brand from @BPGlobalPR. First of all, who cares? Second of all, what kind of business are you in? I'm trashing a company that is literally trashing the ocean, and these idiots are trying to figure out how to protect that company? One pickledick actually suggested that BP approach me and try to incorporate me into their actual PR outreach. That has got to be the dumbest, most head-up-the-ass solution anyone could possibly offer.

It's so sad. We live in a time when the criminal dishonesty of our institutions which leads directly to widespread death and destruction is viewed first and foremost as an opportunity to build a more effective lie. The problem here is not that BP is too British or that their corporate communications have been ineffective. The problem is that they have been criminally negligent and our coast is dying as a result. What kind of people are we who prioritize the maintenance of our bullshit above the preservation of our lives and the world we live them in?

But in consolation, it gives us cash receipts

Newsweek challenges readers to distinguish between news and satire.

BP is stonewalling the State of Louisiana regarding payment of affected residents and clean-up workers.

DSS and LWC have already made repeated requests, but BP still has failed to share its process for considering claims made by individuals and businesses. In the latest response to the repeated requests, BP Managing Attorney Mark Holstein again denied to provide the material stating in a June 2 letter that while the state's requests are "undoubtedly made in good faith, they risk distracting our team from the very important goal of handling claims."

"I'm concerned about reports from citizens and parish officials that many people have not been paid by BP, or have only received an initial payment of $5,000 or less," said DSS Secretary Kristy Nichols. "More than 40 days into this disaster, people's livelihoods are on indefinite hold, it is becoming harder to support their families and some even face eviction from their homes. Immediate assistance from BP is critical."

Meanwhile, Gulf oil spill: BP to go ahead with $10bn shareholder payout

Tony Hayward, BP's embattled chief executive, will risk incurring further wrath in the US over the Gulf oil spill tomorrow by defying calls from politicians to halt more than $10bn (£6.8bn) worth of payouts due to shareholders this year.

Think of this as a money "hot tap" crazy straw. BP is sucking all the cash out the back door first. Will pass out what's left to victims and workers later. The good news is those among them lucky enough to have been paid so far may be able to double down on some of this action.

Bookmaker Paddy Power is now offering even odds that Hayward will be forced to leave his post by the end of this year, meaning two successive chief executives would have left earlier than originally intended. Hayward's predecessor John Browne departed following the Texas City fire which claimed 15 lives.

Here's another way Hayward can help. Last week, Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser told us he would "like to take (Hayward) offshore, dunk him under the surface of the water, pull him up with that black gooey stuff on him and have him say, 'Our research shows no oil beneath the surface. It's all coming to the top,'" This weekend, in the French Quarter, New Orleanians can partake of the first (and possibly last) New Orleans Oyster Festival If Nungesser wants to bring Hayward into town and set up a Gulf oil dunking booth, I'm sure he'd raise a pretty penny off the attendees in a hurry.

Tony Hayward talking

Link! Somebody tell me what he says. And also what color dress the wife wears as she stands behind him and tries to choke down her fury and embarrassment... oh wait that's a different kind of apology presser, isn't it?

Update: According to the general tweetings, he didn't say much beyond that we won't be able to judge the success or failure of the Cut n' Cap operation for another 12-24 hours. But we've heard that before. Jindal talking now. Probably begging for more drilling.

This is why they keep consulting with Hollywood people

Everything ends up being a kind of movie scene anyway.

James Carville walked into one of his favorite New Orleans eateries, Eleven 79, Tuesday night — and was stunned to find BP CEO Tony Hayward and Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the two men tasked with stopping the Gulf spill, eating dinner together.

Hayward, looking up from his Gulf shrimp and pasta, wasted no time defending his embattled and vilified company — to the rail-thin Democratic operative who has come to embody the growing popular disgust at BP and the federal government.

“You’ve said some harsh things,” Hayward said, according to Carville, who sat with the pair for about 30 minutes — the time it took the Louisiana-born Democratic consultant to polish off a Maker’s Mark.

So far Hayward has not exhibited any signs of "food poisoning" after ingesting the shrimp.

Are we the new Russians?

Guess we'll know when we start nuking all of our problems away.

Yes I know that, while the Soviets used nuclear bombs on oil and gas leaks they couldn't fix, the US is the only country to date that has used them on cities. Please don't ruin my joke while you could be spending your time reading Mark Mosely's Lens column behind the link up there.

This is also more like it

Although not quite there yet

Louisiana Rep. Charlie Melancon (D) on Wednesday called for the firing of BP CEO Tony Hayward in the wake of the massive Gulf oil spill.

Calling for Hayward to be fired is a good start but Billy Nungesser has a better idea.

Nungesser said he can't believe what Hayward is saying about the spill. Despite what scientists from several universities are saying, Hayward on Monday said there's no evidence of large masses of oil under the surface in the Gulf of Mexico, citing oil's natural tendency to rise to the top. "I'd like to (take) him offshore, dunk him under the surface of the water, pull him up with that black gooey stuff on him and have him say, 'Our research shows no oil beneath the surface. It's all coming to the top,'" Nungesser said.

Plumes of unusual size?

Tony Hayward doesn't think they exist

VENICE, La. -- BP PLC CEO Tony Hayward on Sunday disputed claims by scientists that large undersea plumes have been set adrift by the Gulf oil spill and said the cleanup fight has narrowed to surface slicks rolling into Louisiana's coastal marshes.

During a tour of a company staging area for cleanup workers, Hayward said BP's sampling showed "no evidence" that oil was suspended in large masses beneath the surface. He didn't elaborate on how the testing was done.

"The oil is on the surface," Hayward said. "Oil has a specific gravity that's about half that of water. It wants to get to the surface because of the difference in specific gravity."

Scientists from several universities have reported plumes of what appears to be oil suspended in clouds stretching for miles and reaching hundreds of feet beneath the Gulf's surface.

This rodent is still in charge of the disaster response operation.