June 15th, 2010
02:04 PM ET

Exxon blogs: BP spill a 'dramatic departure' from industry norm

Exxon started a blog called "ExxonMobil's Perspectives" and wrote in it that the disaster in the Gulf is "far from the industry norm."

On the eve of oil executives appearing at a congressional hearing on disaster planning, ExxonMobil launched a blog with a post calling the Gulf oil disaster “a dramatic departure from the industry norm in deepwater drilling.”

"This devastating chain of events is far from the industry norm," wrote Exxon’s chief blogger Ken Cohen, who's also the oil giant's vice president of public and government affairs.

He wrote that what occurred in the Gulf did not “occur on the 14,000 other deepwater wells that have been successfully drilled around the world."

Exxon’s spokesman Karen Matusic told CNN.com that the idea of the blog was conceived before the Deepwater Horizon disaster and that the company hopes it will create a dialogue about the “biggest issues” in the energy industry.

“It would be strange to start a blog and not mention about the rig,” she said.

Writing in his blog, Cohen said: “Understandably, people have questions, comments and concerns about the tragic events unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. So do we. That’s why we’re making this our primary focus as we start this discussion.” He added that the BP oil disaster will remain a dominant theme.

ExxonMobil isn’t the only company defending its stance on deepwater drilling.

Chevron also spoke out this week.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Monday, Chevron chairman and CEO John Watson said he accepts the need for tighter drilling regulations in the wake of the spill, but called the six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling imposed by the Obama administration unnecessary.

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Filed under: BP • Gulf Coast Oil Spill
soundoff (10 Responses)
  1. Grudge

    This is very nice of Exxon, but I still to this day will not buy their gas.

    June 15, 2010 at 2:11 pm | Report abuse |
    • Garry Denke, Geologist

      T-Rex, ExxonMobil, Ken Cohen,

      M-I Swaco mud engineers discussed this in April, and May. Papa Bear said, the more they circulated, the worse the mud got. The defoamers ("pills") had quit working. What they are hiding is that fact. M-I Swaco engineers (Papa Bear, et al) and BP engineers (Exxon link, et al) wanted to chuck the mud, days before the blowout. When mud goes bad, restoring the five (5) colloid forces, regardless of circulation time, bottoms-up or not, is impossible. Bad mud just gets worse, and once bad, gas permeates through it like water. That's why they reduced the circulating time. That's what they are hiding. And that's why gas raced up the annulus to the pack-off.

      They did test the mud. And the mud was bad. They did try to fix it. But they could not. That's why nobody discusses the mud, its measurements not released. Amazing, a whole boat (Damon B. Bankston) full of mud samples from the Macondo well, and no measurements other than weight and viscosity published. Why is that T-Rex, ExxonMobil? Are there no engineers in the US qualified to analyze the evidence? So in short, the "well design", the "centralizers", the "bond log", the "lockdown sleeve", the "blowout preventer", etc, none of them caused Macondo's blowout. Solely, it was the bad mud. Macondo's frothy gas-cut mud settles every lawsuit.

      ExxonMobil, Perspectives.

      June 15, 2010 at 3:55 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Carlos

    http://www.englishtips-self-taught.blogspot.com What's the real situation? Does the gas already get out of control? It was a pitty to see the enviroment destroying by human being.

    June 15, 2010 at 2:26 pm | Report abuse |
    • WARNING!!!!!!

      Do NOT click on this link!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It contains a VIRUS!

      June 15, 2010 at 2:31 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Patricia

    Virus?! You are gonna get crazy man.

    June 15, 2010 at 3:10 pm | Report abuse |
  4. rich gunn

    Yea Michelle yea!

    June 15, 2010 at 5:31 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Francisco Marenco

    The source for this accident, were the bad emergency design to handle, a big source of natural gases, from this well,
    so must be revised this facilities, on board every oil platform, to prevent others catastrophes like this.

    June 15, 2010 at 10:23 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Francisco Marenco

    The emegency valve, did not work properly in this emergency.A aditional manualy valve, could be usefull to stop the spill.
    Please dont left everything, to the automation.

    June 15, 2010 at 10:28 pm | Report abuse |
  7. greg pcb fla

    about the prez speech i would have been impressed if he movedacouple of battalions of navy,coast gaurd to the gulf,iwould have been more impressed if he done it day 1 or 2

    June 16, 2010 at 11:42 am | Report abuse |
  8. greg pcb fla

    i live a stones throw from the gulf although THE OIL HAS NOT reached us yet there are 5,6 places to apply 4 cleanup no one is working even after hazmat training, if ur waiting 4 bp to pay wake up! ur dreaming. its time to do it our selves BP; orWASHINGTON R STALLING because they are more interested in there interests than the GULF

    June 16, 2010 at 12:07 pm | Report abuse |
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