⌛ Tempest in Tanon

Ok yabs, I get it...you're concerned for local reefs while you engage in work directly linked to global climate change...You don't mind if your activities contribute to coral bleaching and Maldivians canoeing to their next homes...but do mind if a drill rig goes up a hundred k's from home....

And then, in between rotations you fly back to Dumaguete for a well-earned break. LOL....your carbon footprint must be almost as big as Al Gore's...

Nothing personal..really...I work with 'environmentalists'...usual BS...quite vocal about how the planet is being stuffed...and then they hop in their petrol-swilling 4WD and head home to their two-story mansion...I lost respect for the environmental cheerleaders a long time ago...at least you really care about your neck of the woods...

I was going to write a little bit about the safeguards responsible oil companies use to prevent pollution and effects on the environment. You'd likely know a lot of that already so I won't bother. I'm assuming that JAPEX being a good-sized international player in the industry would uphold those responsibilities. Virtually everything that might have water contact is tested to ensure there are no detrimental effects on marine life. I know...we test them. Actually, I eat fish caught from around platforms whenever one of our teams gets them...mackerals, trevallys, etc..we're just interested in whatever story their livers might tell us. And there is no story...they are perfectly safe. And diving around those platforms would reveal quite a large accumulation of the finned locals, like any other underwater structure...and the pelagics like to come and hang around too. The worry isn't the drill rigs....it is the fishermen having sons...Fish living around those platforms would be the best condition and safest in the Philippines. But back to Tanon Strait...unfortunately it's a JAPEX play and a very risky one (ie little or no oil shows likely given the history of the area). Seismic says one thing - the drill often says another. Maybe they will get lucky...some jobs out there for Filipino engineers and workers...Understand off Argao might be a goer...got my eyes on that one...I'll let you know..

 

Heard some unconfirmed rumours last few days...getting this second-hand from someone who knows someone on the Cebu side...that JAPEX has indeed got lucky and the rig is now flaring gas, visible from Cebu. Anyone in Dumaguete know about it? If so, that would be quite encouraging. Good-sized flare means a good-size flow...Very interesting if true..

 

Just in case anyone wants to know more about offshore drilling and production:

APPEA - Drilling and Production at Sea

Should be somewhat reassuring to those who really value ecology...

Also, on a slightly different note...for the seismologists..anyone notice the increase (about double the norm from what I can see) of earthquakes around the world in the last week? Particularly the 'ring of fire'. Never seen the numbers so high...mostly small of course, a few biggies...but the frequency is interesting..Philippines has been quiet so far........so far...

Latest Earthquakes in the World - Past 7 days

 

Of course you realize that depends on whichg side of the issue you are on.

 

Nonsense Environmentalist

What a plain Bull_Sh! What the local environmentalists, desperate locals, and useless politicians want is actually , plain and simple.

Environmentalist: The more pressing issues these people should address first is how to clean up the mountain of rubbish piling up in Balugo dump site. This place is surrounded by densely populated housings: Scandinavian Housing, Motherita, El Pueblo, Gawad Kalinga, and worst of all the Taclobo Elementary School.

Desperate fishermen: The problem with these people is that they can barely afford to support their families yet they keep on raising children. The typical mentality is that the more children they have, the more people will help them when they get old. And the result: more social problems. About the declining sea bounties? It's been declining for decades even before the exploration started. Why? Because of destructive fishing methods they employ like using dynamite, cyanide, and coral destruction. I ask, did this people protest when Muro Ami fishing was their way during the 70s and 780s? I don't think so.

Politicians: Well, the pork barrel should be enough explaination.

 

Environmentalist

I guess the school near dumpsite is Balugo-Habitat Elementary School not Taclobo.....

 

I work for a consultancy firm that deals with environmental governance.

Yes, oil exploration has its own ill effects to the marine environment but we also have to weigh-in the benefits of this government project to our economy, and the environment also. Take note that the main cause of environmental degradation in our country is poverty. Poverty that is mainly caused by over-population. Dwindling supply of food made us to over-fish, convert our forest lands to farm lands, and ballooning urban communities makes proper sewerage and waste disposal almost impossible for local governments to manage.

Picture this, over 100,000 ha of forests are lost every year and the country imports over $50M worth of forest products annually. About 70% of coral reefs are destroyed – overfishing and destructive fishing practices threaten the country’s food security. Less than 40% of solid waste is collected, the rest clogs rivers and streets. Almost 58 percent of all groundwater is contaminated. Only 7% of domestic effluents or sewerage is managed - (source: Department of Environment and Natural Resources)

and the question is - why add more injury to this sickening earth? thru this exploration!...well, with the current environmental situation in our country, we need to raise up our economy to better manage our environment. If we have oil in our hands, we wont be dependent from imports anymore. This would lessen inflation rate, better equip the government with the basic services to be rendered, and one of it would be for environmental protection.

We need to create jobs to stray away people from environmentally destructive livelihood.

Then you'll say - what if the money all goes to corruption?. Then thats where youll put your concern and vigilance by making sure that government money is wisely managed. Do not waste time and effort trying to stop that oil exploration because that is for our own good. Don't exaggerate everything. You have to accept it that oil makes the world go round. dont be hypocrites!

 

If you engage the services of cheap drilling contractors that is when sh*t happens. The company I work for STRICTLY forbids dumping of wastes onto the water. The only wastes dumped are food scraps. Drilling mud being very expensive is loaded back to the supply boats and stored in depots. The rest are shipped back onshore and disposed of accordingly.

Do you know why this is? Because oil companies like Shell, Chevron, Total, BP, etc require drilling contractors to have clean records in their SHE (Safety, Health, & Environment).

You don't want careless people to work for you, do you?