India battles oil spill after ships collide off Mumbai

MUMBAI: Indian coastguards on Monday battled choppy seas, monsoon rain and strong winds to contain oil from a badly listing container ship that collided with another vessel off the city of Mumbai.

The Panamanian-registered MSC Chitra has been leaking fuel into the sea off India”s financial capital since the collision on Saturday, raising environmental fears about its impact on the coastline.

The ship was lying at a sharp 60-degree angle to its port side about five nautical miles off shore, with containers and other cargo falling into the murky water.

Oil had spread around the ship and was drifting towards the shore.

Defence ministry spokesman Captain M. Nambiar told AFP that the vessel”s position was “precarious”, adding: “It”s difficult to get on board to locate the point of leakage.”

Broken patches of oil have already been cleared around Elephanta Island, a World Heritage Site and tourist attraction in Mumbai Harbour, the defence ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

But environmental emergency teams put on alert since the collision said on Monday that oil had been discovered on beaches on the mainland across the Arabian Sea from the landmark Gateway of India monument.

Deepak Apte, a senior scientist at the Bombay Natural History Society, said some oil patches were up to 15 centimetres (six inches) in length.

“We are taking samples for analysis,” he was quoted as saying by the domestic Press Trust of India news agency. “This may be only a beginning of finding the on-shore oil spill.”

Locals, however, said that tar balls from oil rigs and refineries located in the stretch of water approaching Mumbai”s port were often found on beaches during the annual monsoon rains.

Six coastguard ships were working to minimise the impact of the spill from the MSC Chitra, while a coastguard helicopter dropped oil-dispersal spray on the slick.

Hundreds of containers have fallen from the ship and are being collected.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for a report from the shipping ministry into the spill, while environment minister Jairam Ramesh told parliament that legal action had been launched against the owners of the two cargo ships.

The announcements came as opposition lawmakers in parliament demanded that any fishermen suffering loss of income from the oil spill be compensated.

The MSC Chitra was leaving Mumbai when it was in a collision with the MV Khalijia-III, another Panamanian-registered ship, which was manoeuvring into port.

Both ships developed cracks following the collision and 33 crew members were rescued. But police said one of its officers drowned after he fell off a four-man speedboat patrolling the area around the stricken ship.

“The other three constables also could not rescue him as none of them, including the victim, knew swimming,” a police spokesman said.

Oil hovers at $76 after China trade data

TOKYO/SINGAPORE: U.S. crude oil futures hovered at around $76 a barrel on Monday as China”s bigger-than-expected trade surplus in June eased worries about a slowdown for the global economic recovery and oil demand.

Chinese exports in June rose 43.9 percent from a year earlier, while crude imports in the world”s second-largest energy user rose by a quarter to hit a record high above 22million tonnes.

Crude for August delivery was trading down 13 cents at $75.96 a barrel by 0445 GMT, after closing last week with again of more than 5 percent — its biggest jump since the week to May 28.

Crude hit an intraday high of $76.48 on Friday, the highest since June 30.

“Because oil closed higher than expected last week, we are seeing some short-covering in Asia,” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives sales manager at broker Newedge in Tokyo.

“Amid a lack of major news in particular, I have to attribute the rise to China data.”

U.S. crude remains below a 19-month peak above $87 reached in early May, having rebounded sharply from a trough below $65on May 20.

London Brent crude was trading 17 cents lower at $75.25 a barrel.

Stock markets in Asia edged higher, after the best week in a year for U.S. equities. The driver this week will be quarterly earnings, which kick off on Monday with the results of aluminum producer Alcoa.

U.S. June retail sales data due on Wednesday will be pivotal to gauge the country”s economic recovery, Stephen Schork, president of energy advisory firm the Schork Group, said in a note.

“If we are to see serious gains from the bulls this week, we will need to see strength in equities, strong retail sales figures and a weaker dollar would not hurt,” he said.

The yen eased on Monday after election results showed political uncertainty lay ahead for Japan after a poor showing for the ruling party in upper house elections.

Weather forecasters reported no new signs of foul weather brewing that could hit the Gulf of Mexico, after Tropical Depression No.2 hit Mexico”s coast near the border with Texas on Thursday, missing energy production platforms.

BP puts oil leak bill at 3.5 billion dollars

LONDON: The continuing oil leak caused by the April explosion of a Gulf of Mexico oil rig has cost BP 3.5 billion dollars (2.78 billion euro), the British petrol giant said Monday.

“The cost of the response to date amounts to approximately 3.5 billion dollars, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs,” it said in a statement.

Protesting victims move towards native areas

HUNZA: Land sliding continued in nearby areas of the Hunza lake and the protesting victims of the artificial lake went to their native areas

They were protesting against the meager government compensation package.

They demanded to meet Chief Minister Gilgit Baltistan or Governor Gilgit Baltistan failing in which they moved to their areas. They were protesting near the spill way for the last four days.

They crossed the spillway over ropes to express their anger.

2.35 billion dollars spent on oil spill: BP

LONDON: BP has spent 2.35 billion dollars (1.9 billion euros) in its response to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said Friday.

The figure included the cost of “the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs,” it said in a statement.

The company, which after White House arm-twisting agreed a 20 billion fund to pay claims, said it was “too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities associated with the incident.” BP on Monday said it had spent two billion dollars on the Gulf of oil spill.

U.S. Gulf Coast residents brace for more oil

WASHINGTON: Residents of the U.S. Gulf Coast braced for more oil from a ruptured BP Plc well to hit their beaches on Sunday as oil washed ashore at Panama City, a popular Florida tourist destination.

The city”s beaches remained open after clean-up crews removed the tar balls from shore, authorities said. Even so, the sight is a worry for a state with an annual tourism industry worth $60 billion.

“The vast majority (of tar balls) disappeared with the tide. Our beaches are open and clean,” said Valerie Lovett, spokeswoman for Florida”s Bay County.

The largest spill in U.S. history threatens the coastal economies of four states including hard-hit Louisiana. It has also severely dented the British energy giant”s finances and reputation and tarnished President Barack Obama”s popularity.

The White House criticized BP CEO Tony Hayward for taking time off from dealing with the leak”s consequences to watch a yacht race on Saturday off the south coast of Britain. BP said he was taking some much needed downtime.

To minimize the leak”s environmental impact, BP is capturing as much as 24,000 barrels (1.008 million gallons/3.81 million liters) a day of crude using two containment systems but that is a fraction of the 35,000-60,000 barrels the U.S. Coast Guard says is pouring from the well.

BP restarted its containment effort on Saturday after one system was shut down for 10 hours to fix a technical issue and to let a storm pass. It was the latest in a series of problems to bedevil attempts to halt the oil flow now in its 62nd day.

A second system remained running. BP”s long-term solution is to drill a relief well that will relieve pressure on the leak, thus stopping its flow, but that is not due for completion until August.

Under pressure from the White House, BP has set up a $20 billion damages fund but that figure could be increased if it proves insufficient, said Kenneth Feinberg, the fund”s federal administrator.

After falling 6.8 percent in a volatile week driven by Washington politics, BP”s shares are down 26 percent so far in June, their worst month since the October 1987 market crash.

And in a further complication, Anadarko Petroleum Corp, part owner of the well, accused BP of “reckless” conduct leading up to the accident.

BP said it “strongly disagrees” with the accusation of gross negligence but would keep focusing on cleaning up the spill, which has triggered a huge response from federal, state and local authorities to try to protect the Gulf coastline.

Hayward was conspicuously absent from a gathering of global oil industry leaders on Saturday in St Petersburg, Russia, where his company”s woes were a constant topic of discussion.

In fact, he was spending time with his teenage son watching a yacht race around the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of Britain, after almost two months away from home and family, according to BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams.

So far, Louisiana”s wetlands and its fishing industry have suffered the worst damage from the spill and downcast fishermen say times are harder than in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which battered the Gulf Coast in 2005.

BP agrees to $20 bln spill fund, cuts dividend

WASHINGTON: Under intense pressure from U.S. President Barack Obama, BP Plc (BP.L)(BP.N) said on Wednesday it will set up a $20 billion fund for damage claims from its huge Gulf of Mexico oil spill, sell assets and suspend dividend payments to shareholders.

The deal gave Obama his most tangible success since the crisis began 58 days ago, with criticism over his handling of the worst oil spill in U.S. history hurting the president in opinion polls as his fellow Democrats gear up for tough congressional elections in November.

The fund, which BP will finance partly by selling $10 billion in assets, also eased pressure on the British energy giant, whose share price has withered amid uncertainty over the ultimate cost of cleanup, claims and fines.

Obama announced the agreement after White House officials held four hours of talks with BP executives, who emerged to offer an apology to the American people.

“I do thank you for the patience that you have during this difficult time,” BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said. “I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies who don”t care. But that is not the case in BP. We care about the small people.”

Svanberg”s “small people” comment was the latest in a string of gaffes by BP officials over the spill. After the remark was widely covered on U.S. newscasts, the Swedish chairman issued a statement saying he “spoke clumsily.”

Chief Executive Tony Hayward, the public face of BP”s response to the disaster and author of a few gaffes himself, will appear on Thursday at a congressional hearing where he will face heavy scrutiny over events leading up to the spill and BP”s cleanup of the mess.

An April 20 explosion on an offshore rig leased by BP killed 11 workers and ruptured a deep-sea well. The ensuing spill has fouled 120 miles (190 km) of U.S. coastline, imperiled multibillion-dollar fishing and tourism industries and killed birds, sea turtles and dolphins.

Oil closes in on Florida coast

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana: The giant Gulf of Mexico oil slick was Wednesday closing in on the pristine Florida coast, as deep sea robotic submarines worked on BP’s latest bid to contain the spill.

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Oil closes in on Florida coast

GoM oil Spill draws criminal probe

WASHINGTON: The U.S. has launched criminal and civil investigations into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill—the latest move by the Obama administration to show it is taking aggressive action amid bipartisan criticism of its response to the disaster.

“We have what we think is a sufficient basis for us to have begun a criminal investigation,” said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Tuesday after meeting in New Orleans with state attorneys general and federal prosecutors from the region. Mr. Holder noted that 11 people died in the April 20 rig accident that precipitated the spill.

In a press conference, Holder said there is “a wide range of possible violations.” He declined to specify the target of the investigation because he said authorities aren”t “clear on who should ultimately be held liable” and didn”t want to “cast aspersions.”

The move turned up the pressure on BP PLC as the British oil giant”s shares came under pressure over its mounting woes, plunging 13% in trading.

A BP spokesman said Tuesday the company “will cooperate with any inquiries that the Department of Justice undertakes, just as we are doing in response to the other inquiries that are already ongoing.”

Transocean Ltd., the BP contractor that owned the doomed rig, said it in a statement that it is continuing to cooperate with all relevant authorities, adding: “We have not been named in any criminal investigation and we will not speculate on actions the Justice Department may or may not take.”

The Justice Department had been reluctant to send in investigators while the spill continued to gush, according to people familiar with the situation, in part because they feared that efforts to mount a prosecution could hinder BP”s efforts to plug the leak.

But in recent days, administration officials have taken steps to show that they, and not BP, are in command of the disaster response.

For example, the administration and BP no longer are holding joint press briefings on the spill response.

Earlier on Tuesday, President Barack Obama also raised the issue of legal action. “If our laws were broken, leading to this death and destruction, my solemn pledge is that we will bring those responsible to justice on behalf of the victims of this catastrophe and the people of the Gulf region,” Obama said during a White House appearance.

Legal experts said bringing a civil case against BP for violating the federal Clean Water Act could be relatively straight-forward.

But to bring a successful criminal case, the government must generally show the defendant knowingly flouted the law or that the pollution was the result of negligence.

“There”s a big difference between financial accountability and criminal prosecution, said Paul McNulty, a former U.S. deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush and now at the law firm Baker McKenzie LLP.

kristin gore

The Gores, who have been married since May 19, 1970 and are parents to Karenna, Kristin, Sarah LaFon and Albert Gore III, said June 1 that the split was “a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration,” as per an emailed statement obtained by the Associated Press and Politico.

Kalee Kreider, a spokesperson for 62-year-old Al, confirmed the statement but declined to comment further.

As a biographyGore was raised in Washington, D.C., graduated from National Cathedral School in 1995 and from Harvard University in 1999.[2] While at Harvard she was an editor for the Harvard Lampoon: Until her senior year, at Harvard, she was the only woman on the literary board of the Harvard Lampoon. ‘I didn’t know its reputation at all,’ she says. ‘It was just that the funniest people I knew at Harvard were on the Lampoon, so I looked into it and it ended up being one of the best things I did.’
She co-wrote the screenplay for the upcoming 2010 film Nailed and the narration for the 2007 documentary Arctic Tale. She was also a writer for the FOX animated sitcom Futurama and the long-running NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live.
Karenna is the oldest sibling to Kristin, Sarah and Albert Gore III. For Al Gore’s daughter, or any of his kids for that matter, it has got to be a difficult time for them right now. Who knows, maybe they will reconcile.

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