Blowout

Tony Hayward, who resigned as BP plc Group CEO following the turbulence that followed the the Macondo well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico’s deepwater, has taken over as chairman of CompactGTL, which has pioneered a modular gas-to-liquids (GTL) system for flared natural gas.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said Wednesday he will continue to take legal action against cities and counties that insist on passing bans on the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Transocean Ltd.’s agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to pay $1 billion in civil penalties related to the 2010 Macondo well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico has been approved by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans. Transocean had employed nine of the 11 men who were killed when the company’s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform was destroyed. The company already has pleaded guilty to a criminal misdemeanor and agreed to pay a separate $400 million fine to DOJ (see Daily GPI, Feb. 15; Jan. 4).

Boosted by exceptional performance from horizontal drilling programs in the U.S. onshore, and in particular the Wattenberg Field in Colorado, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. broke records for liquids sales volumes in the third quarter. The Wattenberg’s production profile is “essentially straight up,” said an executive.

A trial to determine various parties’ liability for BP plc’s Macondo well blowout in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, which destroyed Transocean Ltd.’s Deepwater Horizon rig and killed 11 men, has been delayed until Feb. 25 from Jan. 14 in New Orleans. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier cited tourist events — the NFL Super Bowl and the Mardi Gras festival — that would keep New Orleans’ hotels booked. However, Barbier declined to delay a Nov. 8 hearing on a settlement BP reached with the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee, which is composed of private parties (see Daily GPI, March 6). The tentative settlement for $7.8 billion would resolve a “substantial majority of legitimate economic loss and medical claims,” BP said.

Researchers have discovered that in the five months following the devastating April 2010 Macondo well blowout, naturally occurring bacteria that exist in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) consumed and removed at least 200,000 tons of oil and natural gas that spewed into the deepwater from the ruptured wellhead.

BP plc, still coming to terms with the devastating Macondo well blowout two years ago, said Tuesday it is selling one Gulf of Mexico (GOM) field and stakes in four others.

The $45 million cost of a proposed study of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to be performed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) should be paid by the oil and gas industry, according to Sen. Al Franken (D-MN).

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will conduct the first oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) since the Macondo well blowout in April 2010.