You know, the laws of probability says this shouldn't happen. Yet, another oil rig, just west of the previous explosion went up in flames.

All 13 people on the rig survived and it is unclear if the fire is still burning.
But, for all the people that said oil rigs are safe, this gives you some pause.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11014645
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/02/AR2010090202590.html?wpisrc=nl_natlalert

I saw this too. If this exlplosion produces any kind of leak. Look out.

This is not good even if it doesn't leak. Which hopefully it doesn't.

We need more facts before jumping to conclusions.

They are safe. They are safer than cars, and likley safer than airplanes on a statistical basis.

Without knowing the facts of this particular situation we cannot draw reasonable conclusions.

Prescott;469458 wrote:We need more facts before jumping to conclusions.

Agreed. But, we know, it exploded, all are safe.

QuakerOats;469460 wrote:They are safe. They are safer than cars, and likley safer than airplanes on a statistical basis.

Without knowing the facts of this particular situation we cannot draw reasonable conclusions.

Yes, but still the probability that two rigs would explode in the same year? Is it really a statistical anomaly or have the standards of safety become so lax that this is now the norm. Where the oil is safe or not is not the main concern. My main issue is the fact an explosion happened at all. It just gives me a pause that perhaps the safety standards are too lax. We'll have to wait and see though.

ptown_trojans_1;469464 wrote:Agreed. But, we know, it exploded, all are safe.

Yes, but still the probability that two rigs would explode in the same year? Is it really a statistical anomaly or have the standards of safety become so lax that this is now the norm. Where the oil is safe or not is not the main concern. My main issue is the fact an explosion happened at all. It just gives me a pause that perhaps the safety standards are too lax. We'll have to wait and see though.

35,000 rigs operating for decades; 2 exploded. Not even factoring in time, the ratio is .00005. The rigs are safe.

I'm sure to Obama blame game will be ramping up on this on also. Where are the Obama Inspectors, safety regulation and up scale program designed to over seeing drilling operation via the Obama Administration? .......... ANOTHER FAILURE

Side note: Drilling is safe if the government and Liberals don’t get involved. Has the idea of drilling on land ever crossed anyone mind in this Administration?

QuakerOats;469471 wrote:35,000 rigs operating for decades; 2 exploded. Not even factoring in time, the ratio is .00005. The rigs are safe.

True. But, from a policy standpoint, one cannot simply say, ah it's no problem the rigs are still safe. More research and investigation into safety standards is at least warranted. Maybe all the rigs are up to code, but maybe a top down review of safety standards can provide additional measures to guard against future events.

I'm not against drilling off the coasts, but this at the very least makes me question recent safety standards (last 10 years).

QuakerOats;469471 wrote:35,000 rigs operating for decades; 2 exploded. Not even factoring in time, the ratio is .00005. The rigs are safe.

Anyone else find it ironic, just a little bit, that these rigs have been operating safely for years, now all of a sudden, when the Prez and a Dem-controlled Congress have been itching for energy reform, cap-and-trade, or whatever, 2 explode within 5 months of each other, in practically the same region of the Gulf?

Call me crazy, but that's really really coincidental. I'm just saying . . .

jhay78;469478 wrote:Anyone else find it ironic, just a little bit, that these rigs have been operating safely for years, now all of a sudden, when the Prez and a Dem-controlled Congress have been itching for energy reform, cap-and-trade, or whatever, 2 explode within 5 months of each other, in practically the same region of the Gulf?

Call me crazy, but that's really really coincidental. I'm just saying . . .

Or, the lack of safety standards the past 20 years is catching up?
I'd say it at least warrants some investigating.

Belly35;469473 wrote:I'm sure to Obama blame game will be ramping up on this on also. Where are the Obama Inspectors, safety regulation and up scale program designed to over seeing drilling operation via the Obama Administration? .......... ANOTHER FAILURE

Side note: Drilling is safe if the government and Liberals don’t get involved. Has the idea of drilling on land ever crossed anyone mind in this Administration?

as i recall some one tried to put a moratorium on offhsore drilling. but a judge over turned that decision. good call Judge Martin Feldman

ptown_trojans_1;469485 wrote:Or, the lack of safety standards the past 20 years is catching up?
I'd say it at least warrants some investigating.

Absolutely. But keep drilling in the meantime.

Side note...this rig was not a producer, so little/no risk of spillage apparently.

Any Al Qaeda boats/subs in the Gulf?

QuakerOats;469565 wrote:Any Al Qaeda boats/subs in the Gulf?

Or greenpeace?

fish82;469555 wrote:Absolutely. But keep drilling in the meantime.

Side note...this rig was not a producer, so little/no risk of spillage apparently.

Strike that. Looks now like it is a producer, and there's some sheen spreading.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_rig_explosion;_ylt=Ag0BTLcOpUXDFghL22Lcc36s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNsM2l2M2E2BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwOTAyL3VzX2d1bGZfcmlnX2V4cGxvc2lvbgRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzIEcG9zAzgEcHQDaG9tZV9jb2tlBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA29pbHNoZWVuc3ByZQ--

my folks (obviously not being reported or you'd have all heard it by now) are saying that it was SI for repairs, so whatever leak/sheen comes of this should be just what was on the platform when it went up. Also means it should be extinguished with relative ease. Sounds like someone didn't follow proper LOTO procedures, but it's WAAAAAAAAAY too early to say that now.

I don't think platforms are unsafe (I wouldn't work on them if I did) but I can tell you that depending on the operator you will come away with a different level of confidence in how safe they are. You can't just put a blanket "THEY'RE NOT SAFE!!" statement out there unless you can back it up. Since I'm the only one (I think) that can back it up, I'll say, yeah some are safer than others, but none are in general unsafe.

Actually, statistically speaking, random occurances or chaotic sequences, etc where completely random occurances happen, would actually predict such a thing.

We, as humans, think random happenings occur over a space of time, like if it rains only 5 times a year on average in an area, that if it rains twice in 2 days that's an "anomoly" because it should only rain once every 2 months or so.

However, what we are thinking to be random is really averaged out over time. Random occurances actually are typically "bunched" together then with LONG breaks between them (ever heard of 'things happen in threes'?).


This is as random as it gets, rain hitting a flat surface, and you notice big open areas and other areas where rain drops are clumped together.


However, if you have a person draw what they think to be random dots on a page (similar to rain drops hitting a square piece), you will get very well spaced/organized dots. As humans our brain thinks "random" is well spaced.

An easy test can prove this, in a room of people, ask them all to stand up and randomly distribute themselves around the room. Undoubtedly they will evenly space themselves.

Now, blind fold them and have them walk around and randomly space themselves, this time you would probably see some "clusters" of people and some big open gaps.

ptown_trojans_1;469485 wrote:Or, the lack of safety standards the past 20 years is catching up?
I'd say it at least warrants some investigating.

For sure it needs investigating- and safety standards need enforced/updated. But it still seems kinda coincidental.

Mr. Wizard!

It's really hard to explain to most folks how random stuff like this can be, and that having two happen within a certain period of time (or area) is probably meaningless.

It's much like cancer incidence. If you have an incidence rate of say 100 per 100,000 in Ohio, there's a chance, slim as it might be, that two of those cases could end up on the same street or even in the same family. Does it mean those folks were exposed to something that caused their cancer? No, it's just how probability works.

Accidents, diseases or whatever don't happen in equidistances from one another. There are going to be groupings that happen.

When that happens, we as humans want to pigenhole it and categorize it somehow OTHER than just saying it was random; unusual, but random. So we look for reasons and explanation when, most likely, there aren't any.

I saw this happen all the time when I worked at the state health department and there were "cancer clusters" reported. People it was happening too wanted to believe there was one single cause so they could focus their fear and anger. But it didn't work that way 99.9 percent of the time.

So hard to explain (just like these explosions) when people are looking for a pattern or culprit. And the worst offenders in this group usually is the media (mostly because they are as or more ignorant as the general public when it comes to how these things work.)

I'm sure this one will be blown out of proportion also!

if you're curious as to how an oil rig and an oil platform are different, please PM me, or go to wikipedia. DO NOT LISTEN TO CNN.

CNN wrote:Thursday's incident took place aboard a production platform, which is built after a well is drilled and remains in place for years. Oil rigs drill the wells. The platforms pump pressure down the hole to keep the well flowing, and sometimes collect the oil or gas, or both.

there are so many things wrong with this statement that it's laughable.

there is no oil sheen earlier reports were wrong so the news got it wrong again.

Sadly, I can imagine some extreme liberals hoping such a thing would happen so as to vindicate their arguments stemming from the last time this happened...