Libya going ahead with BP drilling deal

You have got to be kidding me.

What an audacious move this is. I am in absolute disbelief that they would even consider a new drilling plan.

Well, now we know why the response to the oil gush in the Gulf has been minimal.
They have been busy in the works of a new drilling site.....


Link to article:
www.forbes.com...

TRIPOLI, Libya -- Libya will allow BP to begin drilling in its offshore deepwater region next month, despite the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the head of Libya's National Oil Co. said Sunday. Shokri Ghanem, who serves as Libya's de facto oil minister, said the April explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig, and the subsequent spill, were "tragic," but the oil industry is also moving into "new frontiers." "An accident will not stop us from digging in this new frontier," Ghanem said. "Life must go on, but we will learn a lot of lessons." Ghanem's comments are the latest confirmation by the OPEC nation that it was planning to honor the contract it signed with BP ( BP - news - people ) in 2007 to drill in the Libyan deepwater region of the Mediterranean Sea. BP has been battling sharp criticism over the incident which left 11 workers dead and millions of gallons of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. The company has been struggling to contain the spill, but measures implemented so far have failed to completely staunch the flow of oil that has been washing ashore across the U.S. Gulf Coast and creating an environmental nightmare in the region. Ghanem said that drilling at such a depth makes it difficult to know exactly what is happening. "Accidents happen all the time. If an air crash takes place, we don't stop air traffic," said Ghanem. "So we have to continue but we take this step to learn more lessons," he said. Libya's proven oil reserves are the ninth-largest in the world, but vast areas remain unexplored. The country has been working to bring in foreign oil companies and investors after U.S. and U.N. sanctions were lifted several years ago. Amid mounting concerns that companies were ill-equipped to deal with the risks of deepwater drilling, President Barack Obama imposed a six month moratorium on deepwater drilling. But the step was struck down by a U.S. federal judge last week. Oil companies have increasingly been shifting to deepwater drilling as reserves more easily tapped are becoming increasingly hard to find. Ghanem said he met recently with Tony Hayward, BP's former chief executive officer who was replaced earlier this week because of the spill, and was assured that the company was doing its best. "I think that BP is a great company, with good experience," Ghanem said. "I told him we are honoring our commitment and we can start drilling next month."

Originally posted by KillenfizzenHumboflorator
Shokri Ghanem, who serves as Libya's de facto oil minister, said the April explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig, and the subsequent spill, were "tragic," but the oil industry is also moving into "new frontiers." "An accident will not stop us from digging in this new frontier," Ghanem said. "Life must go on, but we will learn a lot of lessons."

So, they have no plans to stop any really deep water drilling and this one sounds like by the tone, that it will be a bigger well?

I hope this blows up in Libya's face. They have guns there don't they? Perhaps they will give BP what for.

Is this really a surprise to anyone.Any damage to BP's reputation will be mitigated with a name change at most.Weather it's carbon trading overthrowing regimes or funding politicians BP is the establishment.Libya has debts to pay for being allowed back into the international community and getting Al-Megrahi back.Now it's time to pay up with foreign internationals exploiting it's oil.

Instead of making a new thread I decided to try searching "BP Libya" as I heard on the radio on the way into work this morning that believe it or not...this whole BP disaster might also be linked to the Libyan national responsible for the Lockerbie Pam Am flight bombing back in the early 80's (for those of us that remember or was around back then.

Here is what I pulled up real quick:

" July 13, 2010, 6:07 pm
Senator Wants to Know if BP Lobbied for Release of Lockerbie Convict
By ROBERT MACKEY

On Monday, Senator Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, called on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations “to investigate the role that BP may have played in securing the early release” of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence officer who was convicted of murder for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland."


Full article:

thelede.blogs.nytimes.com...

Man you have got to be kidding me!! Like how far down the rabbit hole does this sh!t go?!?!