This is extremely strange. Another oil spill in Russia. This is the 10th incident since May 30th

[soothsayer]

Olga Lautman
@olgaNYC1211
This is extremely strange. Another oil spill in Russia. This time in Bryansk. This is the 10th incident since May 30th

Link to tweet

?s=21

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Nothing strange about it-- the Russians just aren't very good at protecting the...

environment.

Probably because they really don't give a shit about the environment.

[Hortensis]

5. Yes, so bad that could be the whole thing. The easy opportunities

provided would of course make them attractive to saboteurs should any be looking for some, though. I read something recently about an oil spill causing problems between two of Putin's most powerful oligarchs and worries about impacts to their investments.

[OnDoutside]

7. In Maddow's Blowout book, she said that the Russians aren't great at the technology for extracting

oil, so that's why they were desperate to do joint ventures with US Big Oil.

[Hortensis]

13. Interesting, and telling, that they haven't set out to master that.

I'd like to read that book.

[OnDoutside]

20. I couldn't recommend it highly enough. Yes, that stood out to me at the time i read it.

Here's an excerpt or two from it

But all of that glorious news paled against the gleaming possibilities that presented themselves in Russia. No other spot on earth could equal the allure of Eurasia’s hydrocarbon honeypot. The actual quantity of oil and gas beneath Russian soil was a closely held state secret, but what was known tantalized oil and gas execs around the world. Russia already produced close to 15 percent of the world’s oil, and that was with the same rusty technologies employed by Soviet-era drillers. There were reliable reports that Russia held more natural gas underground than any other country on earth—as much as a quarter of the entire world supply. But it was hard to know for sure how much oil and gas might be sequestered deep in the tight shale formations of western Siberia, or how much might be just offshore, on the continental shelf—on the edge of the Black Sea to the south, or the Sea of Okhotsk to the east, or most intriguing of all, in the Kara Sea to the north, in the Arctic Ocean.

There were other factors at play, but some Americans apprehended this price hike as an OPEC plot, payback for
putting American boots on the ground in a sovereign state in the Middle East. The announcement that OPEC would cut production by nearly a million barrels a day—made just a few days before Putin’s arrival at the Kwik Farms doughnut counter—seemed to confirm the fear. American gas prices were certain to keep going up, at least as long as OPEC had us on such a short leash. Thank God for Russia. Thank God for the honeypot of known oil reserves in western Siberia, not to mention the vast untapped reserves off Russia’s Arctic shelf. Lukoil had five Arctic-ready, icebreaking oil tankers on order at that very moment—an investment of nearly $200 million. And Vladimir Putin had pronounced himself ready to provide America’s new not–Middle Eastern fuel supply, indefinitely, in exchange for a little help with the muchneeded modernization of the Russian oil sector

I can supply a link to an epub download if you like ? You can then convert it to a pdf.

[Hortensis]

21. Thanks I was wondering what else this might have

brought to mind but didn't want to put that on you. And thanks for offering the link. Yes. I typically need to wait to get books used these days.

[OnDoutside]

23. No problem at all. Link sent.

[moondust]

10. +1

Maybe the result of way too much land for too few people and economy heavily dependent on oil.

[BigmanPigman]

2. When ever Russia or Putin say how bad something is

multiply it by 10 and that is closer to how bad it really is.

[soothsayer]

3. Right. Whistleblowers are risking themselves to share

[Don EB]

15. Distressed countries cut corners

Russian accidents may have a simple and frightening explanation. The russians are in trouble financially, and are cutting corners in operations and maintenance. In a critical industry, given the possibility of dangerous fallout from accidents in several of their industries, this is disturbing.

[Lochloosa]

4. The pipelines are built on permafrost. It's melting.

The support structures are sinking and causing the pipes to crack.

[soothsayer]

6. That makes good sense. Not so perma after all.

I was wondering whether anyone would leak their own oil to prop up the prices.

But this does remind me of when you see a spate of water main breaks when it’s been quite hot and dry.

[ashredux]

8. Ahhh....good post

[GoCubsGo]

12. And, they were probably very poorly-built in the first place.

The Trailer Park With Nukes isn't exactly known for its quality construction.

[Hortensis]

16. :) I hadn't heard that one. As you say. Apparently

there are a lot of causes for what's going on. The mismanagers are blaming permafrost thawing, and we know that's happening a lot faster than expected, but it's hurrying up inevitable failures from what I've read are widespread bad design, cheap construction, and lack of critical maintenance. Trashy trailer parks instead of nice ones.

[GoCubsGo]

17. Just go to Google Images...

Type in "Russian construction fails." You'll see what they've been putting up with since the old Soviet Union days. I have no doubt they slapped up that pipeline in the same manner. That's our future, if we don't get rid of Putin's Puppet. We're already on our way there as it is.

[Hortensis]

18. Just did. ! Of course, with their locust mentality, they expected

to be selling off most of Russia's petroleum for other nations to develop long before this, and just move to new fields as old ones dwindled.

[Delarage]

29. The Earth is rejecting

the cause of its own demise. Good for the Earth!

[uponit7771]

9. ***PROPPING OIL PRICES*** they can't shut down wells or pumps so they dump oil. They don't

... give a damn about the ecology and they're a nation that's a gas station only.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. THIS

The other big oil producers over the years have done similar - Saudi and/or Iranian oil tankers suddenly aflame, Nigerian pipelines sabotaged and/or leaking blamed on "rebels".

Russia and Saudi were pumping out oil this past spring at breakneck speed (partially to kill the American oil producers), which collapsed the oil prices, where WTI prices fell into the negatives per bbl -



and that surplus is still out there in the midst of a pandemic, where there is an extreme drop in oil/gasoline/kerosene usage. And they even announced plans to start that back up again (apparently as a lagging response to reopenings, despite those that did reopen to soon, starting to close back down again) -

OPEC and Russia May Ease Oil Production Cuts

By Stanley Reed

July 12, 2020


Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, and other major oil-producing countries are likely to increase their output in August, as coronavirus lockdowns ease and demand begins to rise again.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers are expected to modestly ease the record production cuts that they agreed to in April and later extended through July. A committee of key officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia will meet on Wednesday by video conference to discuss their approach to the market.

The oil-producing countries want to make sure that they maintain or increase their share of the recovering market.

But analysts say that the actions by OPEC and its allies could be outweighed by the impact of the pandemic on demand. The International Energy Agency said oil demand fell by more than 16 million barrels a day in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2019. The Paris-based group is forecasting a strong recovery but said the spread of the virus in countries like the United States and Brazil and elsewhere “is casting a shadow” over the outlook by raising the prospect of further lockdowns that could discourage driving and other activity.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/12/business/economy/opec-russia-oil-production-coronavirus.html

[uponit7771]

24. +1, they might have caught wind of this Bloomberg story

Oil Falls on Signs the Global Demand Recovery Is Slowing

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-16/oil-retreats-as-signs-of-slowing-recovery-cloud-demand-outlook

[BumRushDaShow]

25. Yup and this part --

/snip

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it also sees the oil consumption recovery slowing, mainly due to the virus surging in the U.S. The daily rate of demand gains has dropped from 125,000 barrels a day in the first half of June to just 50,000 over the past three weeks, it said in a note.

/snip

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-16/oil-retreats-as-signs-of-slowing-recovery-cloud-demand-outlook

...should be concerning (to them).

[uponit7771]

26. 😲😲😲, that's has to be a mistake

[BumRushDaShow]

27. I think what they are saying (and seeing)

is that in May, when many (idiotic) states started reopening full bore, the rate of oil demand suddenly shot up through Memorial Day and June. But notably, after July 4th, the coronavirus surges expectantly had started up in the most populous states (California, Texas, Florida - those 3 alone representing 90 million people) and that essentially shut the demand off.

[uponit7771]

28. I was thinking of other countries demand would be making of for oil, wti is going to be mud stomped

[BumRushDaShow]

31. Other oil-using countries/cities have been opening and closing in fits and starts

as outbreaks keep popping up. For example -

India (this has the potential for catastrophe)
Brazil (2nd only to the U.S.)
Japan
Australia
Hong Kong (on their 3rd spike)

[bucolic_frolic]

11. Safety and environmental protection cost money, this is cutthroat capitalism, coming soon to USA

[GoCubsGo]

14. Yep. They just slap things up as fast as they can, just to get the money rolling in.

Kind of like Trump's rush for a coronavirus vaccine.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

19. Permafrost melting due to record 100+ deg F temperatures in Siberia. Ground giving way. . . . nt

[Delarage]

30. Just another reason for alternatives

If we had just listened to President Carter, the US would lead the world in alternative energy and would not have to associate with the Putins and MBSs and other murderous thugs of the world. Instead of investing all of their stolen money in Trump's properties and blackmail, perhaps they should step up their game as far as safer materials handling or, even better, alternative energy.