Recovery Effort in Gulf Expected to Continue Despite Storm

By JOSEPH BERGER

A tropical storm moving across the western Gulf of Mexico that is likely to strengthen into a hurricane is not expected to seriously disrupt efforts to capture oil gushing from the stricken BP well, officials of the Coast Guard and BP said Monday.

Adm. Thad W. Allen, of the Coast Guard, who is commanding the federal response to the disaster, said at an afternoon press conference that high seas produced by Tropical Storm Alex should not force the evacuation of rigs and other equipment from the blowout site, which is 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. Should an evacuation take place, he said, it could halt the work of collecting oil and drill relief wells for about 14 days.

“As it stands right now, absent the intervention of a hurricane, we’re still looking at mid-August," to have relief wells shut off the gusher entirely, Admiral Allen said.

However, BP officials said that what could be delayed, even by current wave heights, is an effort to prepare what is known as a “floating riser system” that will help raise the daily total of collected oil from, about 25,000 barrels to as much as 50,000 barrels. At a briefing Monday morning, Kent Wells, a senior vice president of BP who is overseeing BP’s efforts, said the storm is expected to follow a track that will take it well west of the blowout site, but it may produce waves of 10 to 12 feet, which Mr. Wells said was too high for the “very precise work” on the surface needed to prepare the floating riser system.

Mr. Wells said the containment cap and a second system that are collecting 25,000 barrels of oil a day would not need to be disconnected and the drilling of two relief wells should continue on schedule. The first relief well is supposed to pump in heavy mud and shut off the gusher sometime in August.

Tropical Storm Alex is on a course heading for northeastern Mexico and a stretch of Texas. Meteorologists at Accuweather.com said they are anticipating a landfall between Tampico, Mexico and Brownsville, Tex. Wednesday night or early Thursday.

Meanwhile Associated Press reported that BP had filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission that indicate the cost of capping and cleaning the spill have reached $2.65 billion. BP has lost more than $100 billion in market value since the drilling platform the company was operating blew up April 20. The costs include spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs, but not a $20 billion fund for damages the company created this month.

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Alex may effect Gulf oil production ..

HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Tropical Storm Alex, expected to become a hurricane Tuesday, seems to be headed on a path away from the bulk of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico's oil and gas production and refining infrastructure. But some production impact will be felt as one of the largest energy producers in the Gulf said Monday it was shutting down several platforms as a precaution.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) said it had pulled 700 workers from its Gulf operations, and some 835 workers remained offshore. The company is shutting in production from its Western and Central Gulf of Mexico assets to prepare for the potential full evacuation of personnel Tuesday. The company started pulling workers from the Gulf over the weekend. The company didn't specify how much production would be shut or how many platforms were being evacuated.

At 11 a.m. EDT, Alex was located about 85 miles west-northwest of Campeche, Mexico, in the western Gulf of Mexico, and was heading towards southern Texas and northern Mexico. Most U.S. offshore oil and gas platforms are located in the eastern part of the Gulf, far from Alex's forecast path.

Alex "is not likely to have a major impact on production or refining in the U.S.," Doug MacIntyre, senior analyst at the Energy Information Administration, told Dow Jones Newswires Monday. "Alex's current path appears to avoid most of the oil and gas production platforms and any of the major refining centers."

Energy markets Monday seemed to take the storm in stride. Light, sweet crude for August delivery ended 61 cents lower at $78.25 a barrel a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Natural gas for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled 2.96% lower at $4.717 million British thermal units.

Gulf producers Apache Corp. (APA), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) also said Monday they have started evacuating non-essential workers from the offshore facilities expected to be in the path of the storm but none have so far reported any impact to their production.

BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) said Monday it pulled non-essential personnel from three offshore facilities in the the Gulf, and that production was not affected. The company evacuated workers from Atlantis, Mad Dog and Holstein platforms.

Alex may delay BP PLC's plans to increase the amount of oil collected from a leaking well in the Gulf by a week, a company official said Monday.

While the storm's winds are expected to stay far to the west of the Deepwater Horizon spill, high seas are likely to become an issue this week, said Kent Wells, a senior vice president with BP, in a press briefing. Waves up to between 10 feet and 12 feet would prevent BP from hooking a third rig up to an underwater containment system, a process that needs three days of good weather, Wells said.

Two rigs, the Discoverer Enterprise and Q4000, are already collecting between 20,000 and 25,000 barrels of oil a day from the well, which has gushed ever since a rig working at the site caught fire and sank in April.

Chevron Corp. (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP) said that they have not evacuated workers, but that they are closely monitoring the forecast for Alex.

A hurricane watch was issued for parts of the south Texas Gulf coastline area and parts of northern Mexico, the National Hurricane Center reported Monday on its website.

The NHC, in its advisory, also said Alex likely will become a hurricane Tuesday and has increased in strength, now with winds of 60 miles per hour.

The watch area for the U.S. extends from south of Baffin Bay to the mouth of the Rio Grande in Texas, with Mexico issuing a hurricane watch from the Rio Grande to La Cruz.


-By Isabel Ordonez, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9207; isabel.ordonez@dowjones.com

(Brian Baskin and Angel Gonzalez contributed to this article

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Friendswood part-goers charged

by Chris Paschenko / The Daily News
khou.com
Posted on June 13, 2010 at 12:47 PM
FRIENDSWOOD, Texas — Disturbances related to a house party resulted in the arrest of four people in connection with an early Saturday shooting and burglary, authorities said.

Friendswood police were called to a complaint about a loud party in the 500 block of Regency Court about 11:05 p.m. Friday. Officers disbursed the party but returned at 2:41 a.m. Saturday when the party resumed, authorities said.

The homeowner was out of town, but a female resident, 19, was charged with violating the city’s open party ordinance and possession of alcohol by a minor, Friendswood police said.

At 3:03 a.m., Friendswood and Webster police were called to a complaint of shots fired at a Valero store, 700 W. Parkwood Ave. Officers found several of the revelers from the party but were unable to find shooting suspects. There were no reports of injuries, authorities said.

While investigating the shooting, police were called to a burglary in progress at the home of the house party, authorities said.

Police found three men, who were present at the earlier party, trying to leave, police said.

Cordelrius Dixon, 21, of Humble, and Robert Harris II, 23, of Houston, were charged with burglary. Dixon remained jailed Saturday on $10,000 bond, and Harris was held without bond, police said.

Police accused Dixon and Harris of possessing two rifles and a handgun that were taken from the residence, police said.

Another man, 19, from Houston, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and released on $414 bond.

The 19-year-old resident was released on $678 bond, police said.

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Rash of car burglaries at League City's Sportsplex

Car burglaries at League City's Sportsplex and around Clear Lake over the weekend has promped a reminder from police to lock up and hide your valuables.

Both of the League City thefts occurred between 6:45 p.m. and 8:10 p.m. Saturday at the Chester L. Davis Sportsplex, 1251 Texas 96.

League City Police Sgt. David Hausam said that in one case somone broke out a window in a 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe to steal a purse and two wallets, that had a combined $1,700 in cash. The wallets were found nearby without the money.

In the other Sportsplex theft, car burglars targeted an unlocked 2009 Toyota Corolla that had a $30 purse and $300 purse stolen.

The Sportsplex is a notorious target of thieves, Hausam said. Last month, a woman napping in her truck in the complex’s parking lot awoke to find a man had opened the truck’s door and sat down inside. He claimed he was checking on her before fleeing.

“There’s lot of vehicles and it’s a big parking lot out there,” Hausam said. “There’s a lot of foot traffic so thieves just aren’t noticed.”

Separately, two Webster youths were arrested in connection with several car burglaries in Friendswood's Heritage Park, Clear Lake City and League City.

Friendswood police reported that around 11:50 p.m. on Friday, an officer noticed two teens walking in the Autumn Creek subdivision. He questioned them and sent them on their way, but a little while later he pulled over a car in the 2400 block of FM 528 and found the same teens inside.

The officer reported he noticed a purse in the back, with its contents strewn around, and several GPS devices and cell phones. Police said the pair admitted to burglarizing cars around the Clear Lake area.

Police said Christopher Hermann, 17, of Webster and a 15-year-old youth from Webster were charged with burglary of a motor vehicle. The teen was released to his parents, and Hermann was released after posting a $3,000 bond.

Hausam said residents need to be diligent about leaving nothing valuable in their cars that thieves might notice.

“These guys don’t have any problem busting a window out to get a purse or computer or something like that,” he said. “If you’ve got something valuable, you need to take it with you or in your trunk. Just putting it on the floorboard is not going to keep your car from getting burglarized. Not locking your vehicle is worse because they just check handles.”

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Texas Gulf Waits & Worries

LAPORTE -- Richard Arnhart spends much of his days monitoring wind trajectories, scientific bulletins and TV newscasts.

Parts of an oily blob three times the size of Rhode Island -- and growing -- are believed by many experts to be lumbering closer to the Texas Gulf, and Arnhart is part of the first line of defense.
As a regional director for the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Program in the Texas General Land Office, Arnhart is paid by the state to fight oil spills, and he's heavily involved in state and federal contingency planning for any possible impact on Texas from the massive oil spill lurking in the Gulf of Mexico.

Communities all along the Texas coast are making similar preparations as they join the rest of the world in tracking daily developments in one of the worst oil spill disasters in history.
No one knows for sure if remnants of the spill, which was about 160 miles east of the Lone Star State late last week, will reach Texas waters. The consensus seems to be that if there is an impact it will be in the form of tar balls or a frothy substance resembling chocolate mousse. Experts don't expect any residue to hit this far west for several weeks.

Beyond that, just what threat the spill poses for a region of the state whose economy and culture is tied to the gulf is difficult to gauge. Environmentalists warn of possibly irreversible damage to the state's fragile ecosystems and endangered wildlife. Others worry about potential losses to fishing and tourism, though local officials say they have yet to see any signs of an economic backlash.
"It's going to have an impact one way or another," said state Rep. Aaron Pena, D-Edinburg, chairman of the state House Select Committee on Emergency Preparedness, which has scheduled a Monday hearing in McAllen to examine Texas preparations for the spill. "We swim in that ocean. We eat the food that comes out of that ocean. It's part of our [committee's] charge to be prepared for emergencies, and this is certainly an emergency that Texas should be prepared for."
'No news is good news'

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, whose office would be in charge of fighting residue from the spill and enforcing the cleanup, took steps late last week to calm fears about the oil slick.

"We're watching and waiting, but it's just not time to go to general quarters," said Patterson, who is scheduled to testify at Monday's hearing. "No news is good news."

Patterson sought to dispel TV reports that tar balls from the spill are already showing up on Texas beaches. Although tar balls occasionally wash ashore along the Texas Gulf, they may be decades old and could come from natural seepage or earlier spills, the land office said. An analysis on tar balls collected from Jamaica Beach on Galveston Island last week proved conclusively that the substance did not come from the oil slick in the gulf, said Cmdr. David Berliner of the Coast Guard.
Nevertheless, an out-of-control underwater gusher dumping more than thousands of barrels of oil into the gulf each day is impossible for Texans to ignore. Houston area residents watching TV last week, for example, might have seen ads aired by attorney Jim Adler offering his service to victims of the spill.

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