Zabava s nesanicom blog

15. rujan 2010
Zadnja izmjena u 16:16 ET

SAD je postavljen da zahtijeva naftne tvrtke da se spojite 3.500 non-proizvodnju u Meksičkom zaljevu naftne bušotine u nastojanju da spriječi buduće propuštanje, dužnosnici kažu.

Unutrašnjost otići ment će također zahtijevati tvrtke demontirati 650 neiskorištenih nafte i plina platforme.

Neki instalacije su sjedili u stanju mirovanja desetljećima bez inspekcije za curenje.

O rder dolazi pet mjeseci nakon eksplozije na bušotini BP ulja eksplozije u zaljevu Meksiko zbog jednog od najgorih ekoloških katastrofa u povijesti SAD-a.

U o rder izdana u srijedu, u unutrašnjosti odjel rekao bunara koja nije u sed u posljednjih pet godina za istraživanje i proizvodnja nafte mora biti uključen i svoje cjevovode i rig strukture skinut.

Opasnosti 'smanjena'

"Kao što je infrastruktura i dalje dobi, rizik od oštećenja povećava ", kaže Michael Bromwich, direktor zavoda za Ocean Energy Management, Regulati na i provedbu, u priopćenju.

On je rekao da nove zahtjeve, na rasporedu t AKE na snagu u listopadu, će "značajno smanjiti takve opasnosti".

U međuvremenu, visoki američki vlade offici al nadgledanje izlijevanja ulja BP odgovor, rekao puhano-out dobro je da se Perman ently zapečaćena do nedjelje.

"Mi smo u roku od 96-satnog prozor ubijanja dobro", umirovljeni Obalne straže Thad Adm llen novinarima.

BP Deepwater Horizon naftnoj platformi eksplozije eksplodirala u travnju, ubivši 11 PE ljudi u. Procjenjuje se 4.9m barela nafte potom procurila u zaljev.

WASHINGTON - ( Dow Jones ) - Američka vlada izjavio je u srijedu da su nafta i ga S tvrtkama trajno mora priključiti u Meksičkom zaljevu bunara koji su sjedili u stanju mirovanja za internet pet godina ili više, mandat, koji će prisiliti tvrtke da se na neaktivne pro jects ali da bi mogao stvoriti radna mjesta za radnike rig izbačen iz rada de epwater bušenje moratorij.

SAD unutarnjih poslova Odjela i offshore-DR illing nadzora agencija je rekao da tvrtke moraju instalirati cementa utikači i druge opreme na 3.500 bunara koji se ne proizvode naftu ili plin. Još 650 nafte i plina platforme m Ust rastaviti ako su više ne koriste za istraživanje i proizvodnju , Navela je vlada. Propis uglavnom utječe operacije će ow vode, gdje se najviše zrele nafte i plina nalaze.

Nafta i plin poduzeća obično ne vole da se učvrsti miruje bunara jer se čini gotovo nemoguće r estart proizvodnje, ako se tehnološki napredak ili diže cijene čine obnovljene aktivnosti ty moguće. No, unutarnjih poslova Odjela je rekao da miruje bunara i platforme coul D prijete okolišu i predstavljaju financijsku obvezu, ako uništeni ili oštećenja D za događaj kao što je uragan.

"Kao što je infrastruktura i dalje dobi, rizik od oštećenja povećava", zavod za Ocean Energy Management Redatelj Michael Bromwich navodi se u priopćenju. "Ova inicijativa je proizvod pažljivog razmišljanja i analize te zahtijeva da t hese bunara, platforme i cjevovodi su priključeni i demontiran pravilno i pravodobno znatno smanjiti takve opasnosti. "

Najveći hit vjerojatno se osjeća manjim proizvođača nafte koji specijalizirati u bunare koje proizvode granične iznose nafte i plina. To je zato što propisi učinkovito zatvoriti što neki ljudi percipiraju kao pokušaj da se igra sustav za proizvodnju ulja ili plina na jednoj dobro na najam kako bi se izbjeglo plugging desecima drugih nezaposlen bušotina na SA mi najma. Uz čak i jedna i dalje proizvoditi, koje su dopustile za najam će se e xtended izvan izvorna pet do 10 godina.

Budući da miruje bunara i Plat oblici bi trebala biti kolapsom čak i na aktivnu najam u skladu s novim propisima , Tvrtke ne bi više biti u mogućnosti koristiti taktiku. BOEM Glasnogovornica decli Ned komentirati pritužbi zakonodavaca da postojeća pravila ne provode.

Označi Kais ER, direktor za istraživanje i razvoj u Centru za energiju studije u Lou isiana State University, procjenjuje se da trošak za priključak i napustiti mirovanja bunara više od pet godina i ukloniti miruje strukture mogao u rasponu od 1,4 dolara billio n 3,5 milijarde dolara. No, on procjenjuje da tvrtke će biti odustajanja 6 milijarda dolara na 18 milijarde dolara u izgubio prihoda od buduće proizvodnje.

"Ovo je korist opremiti radnike", rekao je, "jer im ri GS će se koristiti u kratkom roku češće. "

American Petroleum Institute SA ID je imao očekuje nova pravila. Za većinu operatora, "usklađenost neće biti problem", rekao je glasnogovornica Ca tvoje Landry, jer začepljenje do bunara je normalne poslovne postupak. No, AP Ja i Nacionalnog Ocean Industries Association je rekao da je vlada potrebna raditi svoj dijelova i izdaje dozvole potrebne za stavljanje izvan pogona.

"To nije dovoljno samo razjasniti zahtjev čišćenje i uklanjanje građevina, uprave tion također mora pomoći u kliring put tako da takva operacija se može obaviti quickl y, glatko i na ekološki prihvatljiv način ", rekao je Randall Luthi, Noia predsjednika.

Ulagači gleda propis kao blagodat za tvrtke kao što su Hercules Offs hore Inc ( HERO ), koja je jedinica koja se fokusira na oplate miruje nafte i plina o perations. Hercules dionice je porasla za gotovo 9%, nakon unutarnjih poslova Odjela annou nced zahtjev.

Mandat stupa na snagu 15. listopada.

Postojeći r egulations već zahtijevaju bunara biti priključen i platforme za rastaviti wi tanka godinu dana nakon zakup prestaje. No, neki zakonodavci žale da pravilu nije provedena. Prema novim propisima, tvrtke moraju decommission neiskorišteni opremanje ment, čak i ako povezane najmova su još uvijek aktivni.

Unutarnjih poslova Odjel djelovali zbog pritiska iz Kongresa. Prošli mjesec, Rep Raul Grijalva (D, Arizona) wro TE unutarnjih tajnik Ken Salazar da uklanjanje napuštenih oprema ponuda priliku da "stvaranje radnih mjesta i otvaranje buduće ekonomske prilike kroz regije Zaljeva."

Governm ENT uspjeh u nadgledanje uključivanjem napuštene bušotine može ovisiti o financiranju. Inter IOR Odjel od Kongresa zatražio novac za najam šest radnika da nadgleda P vuče i prestanka procesa. Nije jasno hoće li još Kongres će odobriti fond Ing.

Tvrtke će morati 120 dana dostaviti planove decommission proizvodnje objekata i bunara. Prema Uredbi, bilo dobro da nije korišten duri ng posljednjih pet godina za istraživanje i proizvodnju mora biti uključen. Proizvodnja platforme i cjevovodi moraju biti povučen ako više nije u uporabi.

Autorsko pravo © 2010 Dow Jones Newswires

Grand Isle, La

Na ujutro šetati niz spokojan plažama Grand Isl e State Park, posjetitelj može gledati kako valovi tiho krug obale, ptice jedro Ove rhead, morsko prase ismijava iznad vode.

Preskoči na sljedeću stavku

Ipak, to traje samo nekoliko minuta kopanja u pijesak otkriti opasnost koja stručnjaci kažu da stalno prijeti ovom slikovitom krajoliku: bazeni sirove Oi l vreba manje od stopala ispod površine.

20. travnja eksplozija ulja r IG eksplozije u Meksičkom zaljevu objavljena procjenjuje se 205 milijuna galona ulja u ovim vodama. Ostaje nejasno koliko nafte stvarno oporavila, h ow još mnogo toga, i - najvažnije za krhke obalne ekosustave - W Ovdje je završio.

Izvješće objavljeno u kolovozu National Oceanic and Atmos pheric (NOAA) zaključili su da 74 posto nafte je recov obuhvaćene, isparila, ili prirodno raspršeno, ostavljajući preostali 26 posto â € œon ili tik ispod površine ", vode ili u pijesku. No, mnogi znanstvenici dovode u pitanje valjanost tog izvještaja, rekavši da, s obzirom na opseg bez SPI ćete i rekord volumen disperzanata se koriste za ublažavanje njegov utjecaj, to je previše je oon da bi bilo određivanje o tome gdje i kada ulje sletio.

Nedavno, NOAA Sam je naznačeno da je izvješće u tijeku.

Ron Kendall, izravno ili Instituta za okoliš i ljudsko zdravlje na Texas Tech University i n Lubbock i član tima za procjenu za prosuti Exxon Valdez u 1989 , Kaže da će "veliko okoliša uzorkovanja" tijekom razdoblja od godinu dana e kako bi se utvrdilo koliko ulja je ugrađen u priobalne staništa, i gdje.

Ulje th na dalje zarobljeni pod močvarna ili zakopana pod plaža je posebno threa tening zbog nedostatka kisika neće spriječiti bakterije iz razbije o il, što znači € œit će biti tu za sva vremena ", kaže Nancy Kinner, codirector o f priobalje odgovor Research Center na Sveučilištu New Hampshire u Dur pršut. Dvadeset i jednu godinu nakon Valdez izlijevanja, ulje ostaje uronjen u plaži es Prince William Sound na Aljaski.

Isto vrijedi u Massachusettsu "Buzza RDS zaljev, gdje je 1969 prosuti izdao 175.000 litara dizelskog goriva 41 godina kasnije, sampl ing. pokazuje ulje tri do osam inča ispod površine zemlje.

Kada se ulje dobiva bu Ried koji duboko , kaže gospođa Kinner, stvara "trade-off" za ublažavanje, espec ially kada se uključuje krhko stanište, poput obalnih močvara, čija survi Val je već ugrožena.

"Je li bolje da ga ostavite tamo, nego da iskopaju cijela močvara? Jer kada se iskopaju cijele močvara, vi ogroman iznos oštećenja. Vi nikada nećete dobiti natrag močvara ", kaže ona.

Rizika da ulje skrivene tako duboko ispod površine su brojni. Među njima: Pitka voda je degradirane hranidbenog lanca utječe, jer organizmi poput školjki i rakova su t hreatened i životinje, kao što su morske kornjače nemaju mjesto za zakopati svoja jaja.

Ulje koje čine e svoj dom ispod pijeska je također ranjiva na sezonske oluje, što znači da je p otentially mobilne i mogu predstavljati "novo izdanje nafte u okoliš "Kad se vraća na slatkovodne stol, Kinner kaže.

Frank Galgano, stolica o f geografije i okoliša odjela na Sveučilištu Villanova blizini Philadel phia, kaže ulja ugrađen u oceana je puno više stacionarna zbog th e obična dubine i niske temperature, ali obalnom ulje "je jednostavno ne ide sjediti tamo. "hidraulika posebno za svaki obalni sustav može potentiall y pomak nafte u dublje slojeve u sedimentu. "To je najpodmuklije dio tog ulja koje je zarobljen. Na kraju, tijekom mnogih godina, to će curiti Lo wer, a niže u sustav, â € kaže on.

Jedan od načina da se razvija brzo de razreda zarobljeni ulje biomediation, u kojoj je kisik ubrizgava u pijesak thr ough rovova ili prskanjem. Michel Boufadel, predsjednik odjela za građanske i Zaštita okoliša na Sveučilištu Temple u Philadelphiji, je rad s NOAA za provedbu tehnika. On kaže da posljednjih čišćenje napore "pogledao plaža poput box "i ignorirao činjenicu da je stalno kreće organis m koji treba tretirati u skladu sa svojim određenim karakteristikama.

Do sada, NOAA smjernice za Gulf Coast plaži čišćenje kozmetički uključuju pranje Su rface onečišćenja, prikupljanje katran lopte, i uklanjanje gornjih slojeva certai n područja u kojima je koncentrirana ulja.

Ivan Tarpley, glavni znanstvena potpora koordinacije nator za NOAA, kaže agencija je cilj čistim plažama, tako da su "P 1 ercent nafte ili manje. "vrlo trgovane kupališta su prioritet, on AD DS. Međutim, ekolozi upozoravaju da odlazak čišćenje posade neće znači plaže imaju čistu račun zdravlja.

€ œThey nikada neće očistiti sve u p,''kaže Doug Inkley, viši znanstvenik za National Wildlife Federati na. "To je nemoguće ukloniti sve ulje iz okoliša. To se ne može biti učinjeno. "

Tom Hals

NEW ORLEANS, (Reuters) - Rezultati odvjetnika willjam savezne sudnicu čet rsday raspravljati za almostimmediate pristup e-pošte i druge dokumente iz BP Dd i njegovih poslovnih partnera kao pravna borba overthe Meksičkog zaljeva nafte spil l zagrijava.

Saslušanje je prvi veliki skup attorneysinvolved u og e izvaljen prosuti se odnose na parnicama sincehundreds civilnog tužbe COMBIN Ed pred sucem u NewOrleans saveznom sudu prošlog mjeseca.

Tužbe, donio po shrimpers, ozlijeđeno rig radnika, vlasnika i drugih, dobit će inicijalno al ventilacija na thehearing s očekivanim bore tempo slučaju.

S ima su ogromne. Neki pravni savjetnici su estimatedthe ukupni trošak za BP i S suoptuženika iz najvećih oilspill u povijesti SAD-BP bi mogao izvoditi na 10 dolara 0000000000 ifmaximum kazne i kaznene štete procjenjuju se.

BP je uzeti jedan Vrijeme naplatiti oko 32 milijarde dolara toreflect procijenjene troškove tužbe, CLA IMS i novčane kazne fromthe prosuti.

Tužbe protiv BP, kao i Transocean Ltd i Halliburton Co, očekuje se da vuku za years.The optuženika expecte d raspravljati u četvrtak saslušanje thatmost pojedincima i tvrtkama koji tuže nemaju pravilno se u sudu, na temelju gaćice su podnijeli.

Optuženici će arg NG da oni ne bi trebali okrenuti overlarge količine potencijalnih dokaza do sljedećeg Godinu dana nakon thecourt određuje tko može tužiti.

Ako sudac, Carl Barbier, odlučuje za r acceleratedschedule, to bi omogućilo tužitelja odvjetnika brzo buildtheir slučaju befo Re svojim klijentima osjećam pritisnuta riješiti.

Za obranu, sporije će gi ve vremena za potraživanja dio odjeće isplaćena iz 20 milijarde dolara fond postaviti BP, koji je bein goverseen od Obamine administracije bivši izvršni payczar, Kenneth Feinberg .

Svaki pojedi dinačnim ili poslovne koja prihvaća konačnu isplatu potraživanja ontheir odustaje pravo tužiti BP, a vjerojatno thestrongest pravnih slučajeva će otpasti kao plaćanje S toka.

"Optuženici žele odgoditi značajan napredak za šest mjeseci toeight, vidjeti što je o ccurred u objektu BP zahtjeve, a onda, možda, započeti parnica ", rekao je plaintiffs'attorneys wrot e na sudu podnošenja.

Ako sudac prihvati prijedlog tužitelja raspored, yexpect do ožujka da se popis predmeta probati. Defendantspreferred da se up the issue of the “appropriateness” of testtrials next year, without offering a time frame.

LOST PIZZA S ALES

The hearing will attract some of the Gulf region'sbest-known plaintiff's firms and lawyers who have ra cked upbillions in settlements with drug companies and tobacco firms.

Lawsuits have been filed by heavyweights of the plaintiffs'bar, including Texas attorney Mark Lanier an d ElizabethCabraser, a California lawyer.

The cases have ranged from commercial fisherman who lost anentire season of catches to Post Corner Pizza in farawayCl earwater, Florida, which said sales were “eviscerated” by thespill. The local tourism board says the city wa s unaffected.

Many restaurants such as the famed Bayona in New Orleansargued th ey were indirectly harmed by the lack of fresh seafoodfrom the Gulf. Feinberg wi ll have determine who gets a payout.

“How far down the chain do you go? That's the toughest ofthe tough iss ues here,” said Scott Giordano, the corporatetechnology counsel for Mitratech Inc, which provi des legalconsulting and technology.

Alleged victims have three years to submit a claim toFeinberg, and BP and its defendants said this week only thosewho have had a claim rejected by Feinberg's fund have a rightto sue.

The more claims Feinberg settles, the fewer lawsuits thatare brought, and less likely that the defendants are hit withpunitive damages, which are trickier and more time-consuming toprove but wo uld open the door to massive payouts.

“I doubt (claimants) would hold out for punitive damage s.That's the ace in the hole that Feinberg has,” said Ed Sherman,a law professor with Tulane University Law School in NewOrleans.

James Roy, a Louisiana attorney who is co-liaison counse lfor the plaintiffs, said he doubts BP will be able to cover allthe claims with its Feinberg fund, but doesn't expect it to runas high as $100 billion.

“It will be expensive to litigate a nd time-consuming,” hesaid. “Will it take as long as the Exxon Valdez (spill case)?No. Will it last 10 years ? No. Will it be in the three- tofive-year time frame? I hope so.”

The case is In re Oil Spil l by the oil rig explosion “DeepwaterHorizon” in the Gulf of Mexico April 20, 2010, US DistrictCourt, East ern District of Louisiana, No. 10-MDL-2179. (Reporting by Tom Hals. Editing by R obert MacMillan)

The US government's point person on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill said the well that blew out is expected to be permanently sealed and declared dead by Sunday, nearly fiv e months after a rig explosion set off the disaster.

National Incident Commander Thad Allen told reporters gathered at a seafood distributor in Kenner, La., on Wednesday that a relief we ll is expected to intersect with the blown out well within 24 hours. He said mud and cement will then be pumped in, which is expected to seal the blown-out well by Sunday.

“Four days from now it could be all done,” Allen said.

Meanwhile, the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said monitoring of oil that remains in the Gulf continues.

The April 20 explosion killed 11 workers and led to 206 million gallons of oil spewing from BP's undersea well.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Scores of attorneys will jam a federal courtroom on Thursday to argue for almost immediate access to emails and other documents fro m BP Plc (BP.L) (BP.N) and its business partners as the legal fight over the Gul f of Mexico oil spill heats up.

The hearing is the first major gathering of att orneys involved in the sprawling spill-related litigation since hundreds of civi l lawsuits were combined before a judge in New Orleans federal court last month.

The lawsuits, brought by shrimpers, injured rig workers, property owners and o thers, will get an initial airing at the hearing with an expected fight over the pace of the case.

The stakes are huge. Some legal consultants have estimated t he total cost to BP and its co-defendants from the biggest oil spill in U.S. his tory to BP could run to $100 billion if maximum fines and punitive damages are a ssessed.

BP has taken a one-time charge of about $32 billion to reflect the est imated costs of lawsuits, claims and fines from the spill.

The lawsuits against BP, as well as Transocean Ltd (RIG.N) and Halliburton Co (HAL.N), are expected to drag on for years. The defendants are expected to argue at Thursday's hearing that most ind ividuals and businesses who are suing do not have a right to be in court, based on the briefs they filed.

The defendants will argue that they should not turn o ver large volumes of potential evidence until next year after the court determin es who can sue.

If the judge, Carl Barbier, opts for an accelerated schedule, i t would allow plaintiffs' attorneys to quickly build their case before their clients feel pres sed to settle.

For the defense, a slower pace will give time for claims to be p aid from a $20 billion fund set up by BP, which is being overseen by the Obama a dministration's former executive pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg.

Each individual or business who accepts a final payment on their claim gives up the right to sue BP, and presuma bly the strongest legal cases will fall away as the payments flow.

“Defendants want to delay substantive progress for six to eight months, see what has occurred in the BP Cl aims Facility, and then, perhaps, commence the litigation,” the plaintiffs' attorneys wrote in a court filin g.

If the judge accepts the plaintiffs proposed schedule, they expect by March to have a list of cases to try. The defendants preferred to take up the issue of the “appropriateness” of test trials next year, without offering a time frame.

LOST PIZZA SALES

The heari ng will attract some of the Gulf region's best-known plaintiff's firms and lawyers who have racked up billio ns in settlements with drug companies and tobacco firms.

Lawsuits have been fil ed by heavyweights of the plaintiffs' bar, including Texas attorney Mark Lanier and Elizabeth Cabraser, a California lawyer.

The cases have ranged from commercial fisherman who lost an entire season of catches to Post Corner Pizza in faraway Clearwater, Florida, which said sales were “eviscerated” by the spill. The local tourism board says the city was unaffe cted.

Many restaurants such as the famed Bayona in New Orleans argued they were indirectly harmed by the lack of fresh seafood from the Gulf. Feinberg will hav e determine who gets a payout.

“How far down the chain do you go? That's the toughest of the tough issues h ere,” said Scott Giordano, the corporate technology counsel for Mitratech Inc, which provides legal consulting and technology.

Alleged victims have three years to submit ac laim to Feinberg, and BP and its defendants said this week only those who have h ad a claim rejected by Feinberg's fund have a right to sue.

The more claims Feinberg settles, the fewer lawsuits that are brought, and less likely that the defendants are hi t with punitive damages, which are trickier and more time-consuming to prove but would open the door to massive payouts.

“I doubt (claimants) would hold out for punitive dam ages. That's the ace in the hole that Feinberg has,” said Ed Sherman, a law professor with Tulane University Law School in New Orleans.

James Roy, a Louisiana attorney who is co-liaison c ounsel for the plaintiffs, said he doubts BP will be able to cover all the claim s with its Feinberg fund, but doesn't expect it to run as high as $100 billion.

“It will be expensive to li tigate and time-consuming,” he said. “Will it take as long as the Exxon Valdez (spill case)? No. Will it las tಊ years? No. Will it be in the three- to five-year time frame? I hope so.”

The case is In re Oil Spill by the oil rig explosion “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico April 20, 2010, US Distric t Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 10-MDL-21ȯ.

(Reporting by Tom Hals . Editing by Robert MacMillan)

KENNER, La. — The US government's point person on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill says the well that blew out is expected to be permanently sealed and declared dead by Sunday, nearly fiv e months after a rig explosion set off the disaster.

National Incident Commande r Thad Allen told reporters gathered at a seafood distributor in Kenner, La., on Wednesday that a relief well is expected to intersect with the blown out well w ithin 24 hours. He said mud and cement will then be pumped in, which is expected to seal the blown-out well within four days.

Meanwhile, the head of the Nation al Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says monitoring of oil that remains in the Gulf continues.

The April 20 explosion killed 11 workers and led to 206 mi llion gallons of oil spewing from BP's undersea well.

BP Plc lacked a clear chain of command for dealing with a loss of well contro l on a North Sea oil rig explosion, safety regulators found three months before a blow-out in the Gulf of Mexico caused America's worst ever oil spill. Skip related content

H ealth and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors visiting the Magnus platform 160km n ortheast of the Shetland Islands in late January discovered there was confusion about who would order a well shut-off in the event of a blow-out, according to d ocuments published on the HSE website on Wednesday.

“Baker Atlas personnel stated that in the event of a well control incident requiring the well to be closed in, that BP wou ld make this decision,” the inspectors said in a letter to BP, referring to a unit of US oil services provider Baker Hughes.

“Odfjell and Aker Qserv personnel, along with the BP well ser vices supervisor expected that Baker Atlas would make this decision,” the HSE added, in the le tter, which was sent to BP one week after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded.

Od fjell and Aker Qserv, owned by Aker Solutions, are Norwegian oil field service p roviders.

The Deepwater Horizon blast followed a loss of well control and surviv ors have told investigators that there was confusion on board the rig about who was in charge following the incident.

BP also failed to provide adequate safety training to North Sea staff and to conduct adequate oil spill response exercises , according to the documents released on Wednesday, following a Freedom of Infor mation Act request by two UK newspapers.

The HSE added in one letter, that on an other BP platform, there was “evidence of a culture among your contractors, Seawell (up to sen ior levels of management), of working outside of procedures, permit or permit co nditions.”

The publication of the criticism comes as BP's outgoing chief executive, Tony Hayward, prepares t o appear before a UK parliamentary committee later on Wednesday to discuss North Sea safety.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said BP had addr essed its training lapses and that training exercises had now been conducted.

“DECC is therefo re satisfied that sufficient provisions are in place but will continue to monito r all operators activities, including BP, as part of an ongoing regulatory compl iance programme.”

BP, whose safety culture has been criticised heavily by politicians in the U nited States following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, responded to the HSE critic ism of the culture on its Clair platform by saying:

“The letter from the HSE last year relates to comments made by a contractor which the safety representatives on the platfo rm strongly felt did not reflect the reality of the platform's safety culture and practices.”

“Following further engagemen t with the HSE the matter was closed,” BP added.

BP's shares traded down 1.8 percent at 408 pence at 2:28 p. m. British time, lagging a 1.0 percent drop in the STOXX Europe罘 Oil and Gas indeksa.

Stavanger-based Seawell's chairman Joergen Rasmussen said he was surprised by the HSE c omments.

“We have not heard about it before. We worked for BP so if they had received a letter like this that mentioned us we would have heard. This only seems strange, I can not understand it,” he said.

In one letter to BP, the HSE criticised BP's procedures for investigating safet y incidents, and from learning from investigations.

BP last week published its o wn probe into the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico and accused its drilling co ntractor, Transocean, of inadequate adherence to procedures.

BP and other oil co mpanies have previously admitted they were not prepared to deal with a blow out in deep water.

When Transocean's North Sea chief appeared before the parliamentary committee l ast week, he was also grilled about leaked criticism from the UK's safety regulator.

(Addition al reporting by Richard Solem in Oslo; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

Bruce Springsteen hasn't played in Cincinnati since 2008,
but various iterat ions of him promise to keep the local concert and
record scene busy this fall.

There are at least three major acts coming to town that —
in the style and su bstance of their material — have been pronouncedly
influenced by The Boss. first, Gaslight Anthem (from Springsteen's
home state of New Jersey), arrives at Bogart's Sept. 22 in support of
its latest album, American Slang .

That’s followed Oct. 2 by The Hold Steady, fronted by
Craig Finn, which plays Newportâ ™s Southgate House on the strength of
its latest album, Heaven Is Anywhere .

An d, on Nov. 1, one of the most successful and
longest-lived of the “next Spring steens,” John Mellencamp, arrives at
Music Hall with his rustic, mono-recorded new record, No Better Than This . It's
the nation's top-selling Americana album and represen ts the 58-year-old
Indiana native's ongoing interest — just like Springsteen 's — in Rock's
origins in populist, humanist, scruffy Folk music.

Meanwhil e, Columbia Records is preparing for the Nov. 16 release of Springsteen’s six- disc (three audio, three video) The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town St ory package, which will inevitably posit that 1978 album as his greatest achieve ment.

All three of the recent records by Gaslight Anthem, The
Hold Steady and Me llencamp are likely to turn up on end-of-the-year
“best of” lists. Gaslight Anthem's American Slang , the
quartet's third album, is a particularly incend iary, passionate mixture
of extroverted, inspiring Rock & Roll energy and poetically
circumspect lyrics.

Like Springsteen, the band has a knack for ruing and
celebrating the p ast simultaneously. In its attention to ringing,
chiming melody and big anthemic moments, the album is definitely
Springsteen-inspired — the group's singer/ lyricist, Brian Fallon, has
even shared the stage with The Boss. But it's also harder and faster
than Springsteen's Rock, owing a lot to The Clash and the p ost-Punk
American Rock bands inspired by The Clash, like Social Distortion,
Gree n Day and Rancid. On the other hand, the song “The Diamond Church
Street Choir ” has that sinewy, finger-popping groove of Springsteen's
€œThe E Street Sh uffle” or “The Fever.”

It isn €™t unusual for Rock & Roll's great originators
to have sp awned countless derivative acts. We're still getting singers
and bands influen ced by Elvis, Ray Charles, The Beatles, Stones, Dylan,
Velvet Underground, Areth a Franklin and the aforementioned Clash.

But Springsteen is different in that he isn't so much an
originator as a derivative act himself. So it's pretty odd album that he's been so
influential since his rise to stardom in the mid-1970 s. In fact, some
consider his original rise a reactionary movement — a Jersey Shore
rejection of the arty glam/glitter music of British artists like Bowie
i Roxy Music and of the confrontationally minimalist, anti-superstar
ethos of Pun k. As you probably know from watching a certain MTV
program, the Jersey Shore ca n be a backward-looking place.

But sometimes there is genius in recombining and
reinterpreting what's come before. And Springsteen did that, coming
along at the exact time € ” his first album, Greetings From Asbury Park NJ , was released in early 1973 — that a hierarchal canon was being formed about Rock's then-20-year history.

nd almost uncannily — as if he was a Rolling Stone critic moonlighting as a Ro ck musician — Springsteen and his band encapsulated all the high points. As th e All Music Guide to Rock
puts it, “critics hailed him as the savior of Rock & Roll, the
singl e artist who brought together all the exuberance of '50s Rock and
the thoughtf ulness of '60s Rock, molded into a '70s style.” He also
communicated a sen se of honesty, whatever that term means in recorded
music, over artifice.

The go -for-broke storytelling ambitions of Springsteen's
early and most Dylanesque-w ordy Rock songs like “It's Hard to Be a
Saint in the City” — along with the Ben E. King-like urban romanticism
of ballads like “4 ^th of July Asbury Par k (Sandy)” — are an
inspiration for the Brooklyn-based Hold Steady. And on i ts new album,
the band might actually have come up with the best Springsteenish uzeti
on Rock-as-redemption ever, “We Can Get Together” (“Heaven is
wheneve r/We can get together/Lock your bedroom door/And listen to your
records”).

Bes ides inspiring other musicians, Springsteen also
inspired a pretty good movie ab out Rock. And it featured one of the
best — but now thoroughly forgotten — S pringsteen-influenced acts, John
Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band.

The film, 1 983's Eddie and the Cruisers, had a
tantalizingly “meta” scenario. It wond ered what fate would have awaited
a Top 40 Rock/Soul band if its leader had the music-making ambitions â ”
but not the record-making freedom — of an Album Roc k-era star like
Springsteen. If that leader wanted to make fun party music and e xplore
life “on the dark side” — to quote the title of the movie's hit s ong,
itself inspired by “Darkness at the Edge of Town” — could he succeed?

In a way, that's still a pertinent question with bands
like Gaslight Anthem a nd The Hold Steady (as well as other
Springsteen-influenced modern rockers from The Arcade Fire to The
Killers). They have the freedom to make the record they w ant, but can
they ever become as big as The Boss or even Mellencamp? It's a qu estion
that only time can answer.