WikiLeaks cables: BP suffered blowout on Azerbaijan gas platform

[cory777]

Source: Guardian

Striking resemblances between BP's Gulf of Mexico disaster and a little-reported giant gas leak in Azerbaijan experienced by the UK firm 18 months beforehand have emerged from leaked US embassy cables.

The cables reveal that some of BP's partners in the gas field were upset that the company was so secretive about the incident that it even allegedly withheld information from them. They also say that BP was lucky that it was able to evacuate its 212 workers safely after the incident, which resulted in two fields being shut and output being cut by at least 500,000 barrels a day with production disrupted for months.

Other cables leaked tonight claim that the president of Azerbaijan accused BP of stealing $10bn of oil from his country and using "mild blackmail" to secure the rights to develop vast gas reserves in the Caspian Sea region.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/15/wikileaks-bp-azerbaijan-gulf-spill

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Breaking Activist News http://activistnews.blogspot.com/

[fasttense]

1. WikiLeaks, the gift that keeps on giving.

Happy Festiva.

[gateley]

6. +1 nt

[dipsydoodle]

2. The President of Azerbaijan

is President because at the last elections he was alowed to kick out the International observors. His sensitivity about the possiblity $10bn being "stolen" , if true, is probably due to that depriving him of doing the same. He can think what he likes about BP - Azerbaijan's oils resrves are not really worth a toss without the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline in which BP is the main shareholder / owner.

Azerbaijan is a country which the US allows to be undemocratic because it serves their purpose.

At least BP was able to evacuate its workers which is more than could be said when Occidental's Piper Alpha platform disaster in the North Sea led to the death of 167 men : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Alpha

[Lars77]

5. My peace-loving Norwegian government supports them too

because of the Norwegian state oil company are involved there. I have been to Azerbaijan. People live mostly in desperate povery unless they have a good job in the capital, and officials are incredibly, incredibly corrupt.

The police force drive AMG Mercedes and BMW M3 patrol cars, so they're happy.

[Sancho]

3. Too bad this information can't be used to in the BP lawsuit!

After all, no one in the US Government can read about the Azerbaijan spill since they can't see these cables or look a the Wikileaks sites.

[gateley]

8. They just need to come to DU! :-) But point well taken. nt

[lunatica]

4. There are people who think we don't have the right to know these things

Right here.

[gateley]

7. Not me! I was thinking I wonder if all this exposure will encourage more people

to submit to WikiLeaks - people who have said a million times "This isn't right, I should tell somebody about it" but didn't know where to go.

My brother and his wife had never heard about WikiLeaks before, so I'm assuming there are millions out there like them, some of whom may be aware of some bad shit taking place.

:hi:

[krabigirl]

9. I know..it is sad.

[The Flaming Red Head]

10. The insurance file is supposed to contain more revelations on BP

I wish they would release the part on BP. If this is the tame stuff, I am dying to see the rest of it. I love WikiLeaks. Manning and Assange are heroes!

[Kaleko]

11. Rec'd

[Uncle Joe]

12. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, cory.