In spite of oil industry claims that offshore drilling technology is safe a reliable, last week saw the fourth attempt to end the Montara drilling platform oil spill, now spewing petroleum for more than two months straight, abandoned. PTTEP Australasia, the company that was supposed to be in charge of an environmentally responsible drilling operation, said it had to delay its efforts to plug the leak, but promised that the repair would go ahead today.
Today, PTTEP came up with more excuses, but no action. The company’s public relations department says that the fix had to be delayed a second time because drilling equipment that was supposed to be used in the repair was malfunctioning. More than two months to prepare, and the oil company’s equipment still isn’t working right.
It seems clear to me that oil drilling companies lack the competent control of their equipment that would be required to keep our seas and shores protected from massive oil spills of the sort now spewing out of control in the Timor Sea.
How does half the oil from the recent oil spill in Port Arthur Texas suddenly evaporate in one day. Obviously a giant Texas lie.