WSJ: White House Aims to Crack the Whip on BP Spill / New Move by BP may be worse by 20%

[1776Forever]

White House Aims to Crack the Whip
As Plugging Effort Fails and Political Liability Grows, Administration Distances Itself From BP
Wall Street Journal
By NEIL KING JR. And STEPHEN POWER
JUNE 1, 2010

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703406604575278880211951298.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

The Obama administration is taking new steps to demonstrate it is in control of efforts to stem the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, amid dimming prospects for plugging the leak soon.

President Barack Obama and other administration officials are impatient with BP PLC's failure to cap the gushing well, which has become a growing political liability for them.

Officials challenged BP statements over the weekend that the company's next attempt to capture the oil—by cutting off the bent riser pipe and trying to attach it to a pipe lowered from the surface—posed little risk. They said the maneuver could actually increase the spill's volume by as much as 20%, at least temporarily.

Seeking to distance itself from BP, the White House now plans to make Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen the administration's de facto oil-spill czar and the daily face of its disaster-control operation. Starting Tuesday, the admiral will give daily televised briefings—without BP's participation.

Officials hope that will drive home the point that the government, and not BP, is in charge of the disaster response.

(More at Link)

..................

Check out the entire article.

[Pirate Smile]

1. This link has the entire article. The one in the OP took me to the 1st couple of paragraphs plus

please subscribe.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703406604575278880211951298.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

edit - Well - it is the exact same link so - if you get the subscribe link, just google the headline and it will give you a link that takes you to the full article.

"U.S. officials say that BP could face a potential loss of its $2.2 billion in fuel contracts to the Pentagon, and even its hold over some Gulf of Mexico leases if Justice lawyers decide to press criminal charges.

BP's rivals are also suffering from the backlash. The Interior Department Sunday issued a directive to all oil and gas companies operating on the outer continental shelf notifying them of new requirements under a six-month deepwater drilling moratorium.

Industry representatives said they were surpised to find that the directive requires a six-month timeout even for those drilling operations that are already underway. Ongoing production platforms wouldn't be affected.

Lee Hunt, president of the International Association of Drilling Contractors, said the restrictions were overly broad and would cause energy companies to shift rigs —and thousands of jobs—abroad.
"We're absolutely stunned by what we consider to be an unnecessary and draconian reaction," Mr. Hunt said."

They're "stunned"? Really?

[lpbk2713]

2. I have no confidence in anything out of the Wall Street Journal.

Not since it became a member of the Murdoch Propaganda Family.

[1776Forever]

3. I think this may be true - it is the same "message" given by WH SP Browner on Meet the Press Sunday:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/05/30/carol_browner_bps_dudley_rep_gutierrez_jd_hayworth_on_meet_the_press_105795.html

May 30, 2010
Carol Browner, BP's Dudley; Rep. Gutierrez, J.D. Hayworth on "Meet the Press"
By Meet the Press

...MR. GREGORY: The president says the buck stops with him. He was down in the Gulf Coast on Friday saying that. What specifically, though--I mean, the government is now trying to make a big show, frankly, of the fact that it's in control and it's ordering BP to do things. Give me an example of something that it ordered BP to do that it didn't want to do.

MS. BROWNER: Well, the government's been in control from the beginning. The example--one example would be they said--BP said, "We're going to drill one relief well." These are expensive wells for them to drill. We said, "That's not good enough. You're going to drill a second one." Yesterday, Steven Chu and his team said, "You cannot continue to put downward pressure on that well. It will not work." You know, BP has technology, the industry has technology, they know how to work the robots. We need them for that. But don't make any mistake here, the government is in charge.

[Divine Discontent]

4. 'the admiral will give daily televised briefings--without BP's participation' - it is nice to see

them listen after weeks of many people saying - 'why isn't the gov't giving detailed briefings?'

K&R #5 for hopeful news!