Russian Oil Slick heads towards Irish Coast

A huge oil slick (photo above) in the Celtic Sea is heading towards the Irish coast and could reach the shore in about two weeks' time.

Ireland's Department of Transport and the Marine has confirmed that a spill of up to 1000 tonnes of fuel oil is floating just 43 nautical miles south of the Fastnet lighthouse and drifting towards the Irish mainland.

Aerial surveillance of the scene by the Waterford-based Coast Guard helicopter has established that the oil spill covers currently an area of approximately 4.5 km by 5 km, surrounding the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and a refuelling tanker of the Russian Navy (photo below).

Russia's Naval Attaché to Ireland has now confirmed that the Admiral Kuznetsov performed a fuel transfer from a Russian supply tanker at sea when the spill took place.

Meanwhile a spokesman from the Irish Department of Transport and the Marine said: "Several vessels are at the scene in the Celtic Sea at the moment. They include the Russian aircraft carrier, two refuelling tankers, one Russian ocean-going tug, one Russian destroyer, one British destroyer and the Irish Naval vessel L.É. Aisling. It is believed that the Russian Task Group may leave the Celtic Sea tomorrow, having completed their refuelling operations."

The Irish Coast Guard, in co-operation with the British Coastguard, is now carrying out aerial pollution surveillance flights over the area. Samples of the oil have been taken from the scene to be analysed.

As soon as further information is available, I will share it with you here.

The Emerald Islander

Energy Prices may remain unchanged after all

Price increases for the supply with gas and electricity, which had been expected in January, are now unlikely to go ahead. This is - after all the bad and gloomy news of this week - at last a positive turn of events.

Following significant falls in fossil fuel prices on the world markets, the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) and Bord Gáis have said that the price increases they both have sought from the Commission for Energy Regulation "may now not be necessary".

Yesterday the price for oil has reached a three-year low of $ 48.25 a barrel. Which means that crude oil is now trading at levels not seen since May 2005, and it costs almost $ 100 a barrel less than in July, when the price peaked at $ 147.27 per barrel. (A 'barrel', the old-fashioned unit of measurement still used by the US-dominated oil industry, equals 159 litres.)

Because of the global recession, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that world oil demand will rise at its slowest pace for 23 years this year.

The price of natural gas has meanwhile fallen by 60% from the peak it reached earlier this year.

Bord Gáis sought the Energy Regulator's permission to increase its prices by 4.2% only three weeks ago, which would have added about €3 a month to the average household bill. (see my entry of November 4th)
This application for a price rise is still pending with the Regulator, who can accept or reject it. In light of the drastic price reductions on the international energy markets Bord Gáis should now withdraw the application without further delay.

The Emerald Islander

20 Years ago: The Piper Alpha Disaster

Twenty years ago I was still serving in the Navy, at that time as 2ic (second in command, what the Americans call executive officer or XO) of a frigate. On the evening of July 6th, 1988, we were on anti-submarine patrol duty in the North Atlantic. I had the bridge for the First Watch (2000 to midnight) and all seemed to be normal and rather quiet. But then, around 2200 BST, the radio channels were suddenly crammed with unusual traffic. I remember it well, as it is one of those things one never forgets. And I also remember a particular call sign that dominated the unusually active radio traffic: Piper Alpha.

It was the name of an oil production platform (pictured left in operating condition) in the North Sea, acting as the technical hub for the Piper, Claymore and Tartan offshore oil and gas fields, about 120 miles northeast of the Scottish city of Aberdeen.

Owned and operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd., it had been constructed and originally used for oil production. Later it was converted to handle gas, which - as an investigation would establish in 1990 - broke its safety concept, with the result that sensitive areas that should stay well apart were brought together.

On July 6th, 1988, just before 10 p.m., a major gas leak - caused by faulty maintenance work and a lack of communication between key personnel - occurred, followed by fires and a series of explosions on the platform.

The heat ruptured connecting gas pipelines from other platforms and production rigs, causing further massive explosions and a fireball that engulfed Piper Alpha and could be seen 100 km away. It all took just 22 minutes and left 165 of the workers on board and two crewmen from a rescue vessel dead.

Amazingly 61 men survived. Most of them had to jump into the sea through darkness, a desperate leap that killed some of their colleagues.

Several rescue crews flying to the Piper Alpha platform were confronted with the sight of massive flames, heavy damage and complete chaos. When constructing the platform, there was only one control room built and no provision was made for an emergency control station. As the control room had to be abandoned only minutes after the first explosion, there was absolutely no way to control and coordinate further action from the platform itself.

Rescue teams from nearby vessels, another platform, Royal Navy and RAF did what they could under the extreme and unprecedented circumstances. Their heroic work is well remembered, twenty years after the event as much as at the time itself.

Our own vessel was too far away to offer assistance, but we followed the radio traffic the tragedy created in stunned and respectful silence. No-one who, in one way or another, witnessed the event will ever forget it.

Later the legendary Texan firefighter Red Adair was flown in to quell the blazing wells on what remained of Piper Alpha (photo above), and Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was among those who visited the survivors and members of the rescue services.

Twenty years on, Piper Alpha remains the worst disaster in the history of offshore oil and gas production. A wreck buoy, marking the remains of Piper Alpha, sits as a permanent reminder approximately 120 metres from the south-east corner of the replacement Piper Bravo platform.

Another lasting effect of the disaster was the establishment of Britain's first "post-Thatcher" trade union, the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee (OILC).

Meanwhile a memorial sculpture (right), created by the artist Sue Jane Taylor and showing three oil workers, was erected in the Rose Garden of Hazlehead Park in Aberdeen.

Only Occidental Petroleum, the company that owned and operated Piper Alpha, seems to have forgotten all about it. There was no corporate commemoration of the date, and their website contains no reference to the Piper Alpha disaster.

The Emerald Islander

Oil Price rises to another Record High

The steadily rising price of oil has reached a new all-time record, with London Brent crude rising above $ 146 per barrel for the first time.

Brent rose by $ 2.43 to a top mark of $ 146.69, before falling back later in the day to $ 144.48. A barrel of Brent crude has thus risen by almost $ 4 since the beginning of the week.

US light sweet crude rose by 80 cents to $ 144.37, having reached already $145.85 earlier this week.

Oil prices, on the rise ever since the USA began their illegal war against Iraq in 2003, have jumped significantly again after the US government announced yesterday that its crude oil stockpiles had fallen by more than expected.

The Automobile Association (AA) has called the rate of increases "eye watering".
"The market can absorb a little increase on the forecourts, but nothing like this," their spokesman Paul Watters said.

But we have not seen the end yet, and oil prices are expected to rise even further.

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev, speaking ahead of next week's G 8 meeting of leading industrialised nations, predicted that prices would climb easily to $ 150 a barrel.
"Unfortunately, rising oil prices create problems for the world's economy," he said.

Many companies across the world are suffering under the strain.

Air New Zealand has become the latest airline to say it "cannot continue to absorb the rising cost of jet fuel", which is now more than $ 170 a barrel. So the prices for domestic flights in New Zealand will rise by 3%, and international fares by 5%.

The Hong-Kong based airline Cathay Pacific issued a profit warning yesterday.

Dr. Chakib Khelil, president of the Organisation of oil-producing Countries (OPEC) blames the weakening of the US Dollar, which makes oil a more attractive investment.

Overnight the US Dollar traded at its lowest level against the Euro for more than two months, falling to $ 1.5891 per Euro.

The Emerald Islander

Gold Price at all-time High as Dollar falls further

The price of gold reached an all-time record high, trading at $ 1000 per ounce for the first time.
This follows a constant rise of the gold price for months, pushed ever higher by a weak US Dollar and fears about the decline of the US economy.

Concerns about a possible US recession lead investors to buy up commodities such as gold as an alternative to company shares and the US Dollar itself. Since the beginning of the year the value of gold has increased by about 20%, after it rose 32% in 2007.

After reaching the $ 1000 mark, the gold price eventually settled for the day at $ 993.80, up $ 13.30 an ounce.

Gold is measured and sold in troy ounces. One troy ounce equals 31.1035 grams or 480 grains. One troy ounce is also equal to 1.09711 avoirdupois ounce - widely used to measure weights in the US and UK.

Analysts say that gold will stay high as long as dollar and growth fears remain.

Meanwhile the US Dollar fell further in value yesterday against key currencies, including the Euro and Japanese Yen. At one point, it was worth less than 100 Yen for the first time since 1995, while it reached new depths against the Euro at $ 1.5645.

Analysts are predicting that it could fall even further as more details emerge of the losses suffered by banks and hedge funds due to investments centred on the troubled US housing market. Already many companies have unveiled billions of dollars of losses which has caused credit markets to freeze and has created an environment where there is less money available for consumers and businesses to borrow.

At the same time, there are increasing signs that the USA is on the brink of recession, and some analyst believe that the United States are actually in recession already. Official data out on Wednesday showed disappointing retail sales in February. This has added to a recent drum beat of bad news, including a shrinking of the service sector in January and February, and unemployment rates at the highest level for five years.

Despite aggressive interest rate cuts and White House measures to stimulate consumer spending, it is expected that US interest rates - currently at 3% - will have to come down further.

Analysts say that this will weaken the dollar even further and accelerate inflation.

The oil price surged to a new high above $ 110 a barrel as well, while agricultural commodities, including cocoa and coffee, also rose further.

Oil Price at record High while Dollar weakens

Today the price for crude oil has reached an all-time high for the fifth time in six trading sessions. In New York sweet crude added $ 1.85, to touch a record $ 107 per barrel, before falling back to trade at $ 106.6.

This artificially high oil price makes petrol and energy costs more expensive around the world and puts further financial pressure on businesses and household budgets.

Analysts believe that many traders are buying oil, priced in dollars, to protect the value of their money against the sliding currency.
The US Dollar has been ticking off new lows against the Euro and other key currencies since last summer, and was hit again last Friday by the US employment report showing the American labour market at its weakest in five years.

This has prompted traders to seek refuge in commodities, including oil and gold, which are more likely to sustain their value than the greenback. The oil price is also influenced by last week's decision by the producers' cartel OPEC not to raise supply, despite rising demand in China.

In Europe Brent crude gained 69 cents to trade at $ 103.07 a barrel, also a new record.

A barrel - the old-fashioned unit of measurement still used by the oil industry - is equal to 159 litres.