Brazil reviews its regulations for offshore drilling because of Gulf of Mexico oil spill

Brazil reviews its regulations for offshore drilling because of Gulf of Mexico oil spill

www.bbc.co.uk

The brazilian government decided to review its regulations for oil spill emergency plans. Created in 2001 and reviewed for the last time in 2007, oil companies are obligated to follow the emergency plans, but its up to the government to define the directives and give the final approval.

(visit the link for the full news article)

To the MODS: Since the source of this news is in potuguese, I had to translate the title. Hope that´s ok.

Since most of you probably can't read in portuguese, I will translate the important parts of the article and quote it below:

The brazilian legislation demands each oil platform in the country to have its own emergency plan, which must be approved by government.

According to Robson Calixt, oceanographer and analyst for the Ministry of Environment, the last version of the regulations covers many grounds, but lacks some components in light to what's happening at the Gulf of Mexico.

He says that thsoe corrections are already being made.

One of the key points is to change the concept of probability. In the new version of the document, accidents of huge scale, like the BP oil spill, are now understood as having a greated chance to occur than in the previous version of the document.

"The chances of happening are small. But it could happen, so we must be prepared,", says Calixto.

FLAWS

The BP incident has raised concerns about the safety of deepwater and ultra-deepwater drilling, as well as the role of the government in the whole process.

While Petrobras is preparing to drill on depths beyond the one at Deepwater Horizon, specialists point out a few "flaws" in what's considered to be the responsibilities of the brazilian government.

The main one is the non-existence of a National Contingency Plan for Oil Spills(NCP), which, according to the current legislation, should've been created 10 years ago.

Although each platform has its own emergency plan, the NCP is a national document, that would consolidate and especify the responsibilities of the Oil Companies and of the government in case of an accident, especially in the most serious ones, involving several cities and states.

According to specialists, the NCP is fundamental to any country with a vast oil drilling, because it directs the actions of the public power in case of big emergencies.

"It makes no sense to review our emergency regulations if we still don't have an NCP. We should create the NCP now!", says Alessandra Magrini, a professor fom the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

According to Calixto, the Ministry of Environment and the Navy have been meeting more frequently ever since the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and they expect to have the NCP ready by August.

FUNDS

The UFRJ professor also questions the fact that Brazil is not a member in international fund for compensations and responsibilities regarding crimes for oil spilling.

According to Magrini, Brazil shows interest and participates in the conventions about polutions, but fails when it comes to being part of any funds, which serve as financial backup in case of accidents in large proportions.

"If in the U.S., which has better and more solid regulations than we have, with better mechanisms to evaluate damage and compensation, the BP oil spill has causes such an alarming situation, imagine would happen in Brazil.", says the professor.

The brazilian legislation, much like in the US, determines that the responsibility for the environmental damage is on the pollutor: meaning that the company should pay for the oil spill, including all fines and costs to clean the polutions.

On the other hand, the reality is that, when such accidents happen, governments will also have to spend money, since it has its own responsibilities with its people. And in case of a huge scale accident, the oil company could not afford to solve everything without help.

It's because of those contingencies that big oil explores, like Canada, have entered the internal funds.

According to Calixto, Brazil needs to open the discussion about the necessity of being part of those international funds and the BP incident created the perfect situation to start this debate.

"There is still doubts about entering an international fund or creating a national fund. But what can't happen is to continue without having any funds as a backup."

There you go, folks. I really hope the brazilian government learns from the BP incident and take all the necessary precautions so we could be ready in the future. Specially since 65% of our oil is drilled in deepwaters and ultra-deepwaters.

www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

BP will boost its presence in Brazil soon....

See this press release from BP....

Maybe you already have read it, but just for the sake of spreading info.

BP ENTERS DEEPWATER BRAZIL AND STRENGTHENS CORE PORTFOLIO

Release date: 03 November 2010

BP today announced a transaction that will deliver a material exploration position in the deepwater offshore Brazil and significantly enhance its position in core strategic areas.

In a broad-ranging deal, BP will pay Devon Energy $7.0 billion in cash for assets in Brazil, Azerbaijan and the US deepwater Gulf of Mexico. These include interests in ten exploration blocks in Brazil, including seven in the prolific Campos basin; a major portfolio of deepwater exploration acreage and prospects in the US Gulf of Mexico; and an interest in the BP-operated Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) development in the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan.

(...)

The deal will give BP a diverse and broad deepwater exploration acreage position offshore Brazil with interests in eight licence blocks in the Campos and Camamu-Almada basins, in water depths ranging from 330 to 9,100 feet (100-2,780 metres), as well as two onshore licences in the Parnaiba basin. The Campos basin blocks include three discoveries – Xerelete, pre-salt Wahoo and Itaipu – and the producing Polvo field.

I'm glad that Brazil at least has a plan in the event of a disaster. They may just need to use it. Why didn't the US have a plan? Don't place your bets on domestic oil production anytime soon. It will soon be just another dead industry in this country.

Soros has plenty of money tied up in Brazil as does Obama and our govt. to the tune of $2billion.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by jjjtir
BP will boost its presence in Brazil soon....

See this press release from BP....

Maybe you already have read it, but just for the sake of spreading info.

BP ENTERS DEEPWATER BRAZIL AND STRENGTHENS CORE PORTFOLIO

Release date: 03 November 2010

BP today announced a transaction that will deliver a material exploration position in the deepwater offshore Brazil and significantly enhance its position in core strategic areas.

In a broad-ranging deal, BP will pay Devon Energy $7.0 billion in cash for assets in Brazil, Azerbaijan and the US deepwater Gulf of Mexico. These include interests in ten exploration blocks in Brazil, including seven in the prolific Campos basin; a major portfolio of deepwater exploration acreage and prospects in the US Gulf of Mexico; and an interest in the BP-operated Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) development in the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan.

(...)

The deal will give BP a diverse and broad deepwater exploration acreage position offshore Brazil with interests in eight licence blocks in the Campos and Camamu-Almada basins, in water depths ranging from 330 to 9,100 feet (100-2,780 metres), as well as two onshore licences in the Parnaiba basin. The Campos basin blocks include three discoveries – Xerelete, pre-salt Wahoo and Itaipu – and the producing Polvo field.

Actually, that is actually being reviewed by our government. Some government officials are going to US next week to have a meeting with BP, after which they will make their decisions.

I wouldn't be surprised if, at the meeting, our officials play some hard ball, just get the right price to come back to Brazil with BP approved.