Recently, I’ve seen some alarmist rumors about large methane gas bubbles and cracked sea beds in the Gulf that are going to destroy the Gulf Coast area (particularly West Florida) and that the U.S. Government is hiding it from us. The coast’s destruction happens when tsunamis are generated by a) the gas bubble exploding or b) the seabed collapsing. After reading a few of these posts on Facebook and checking out the linked video’s on YouTube, my researcher’s brain was writhing in agony, because the arguments being presented didn’t make sense.
1) If there was a massive problem with the seabed or a giant methane bubble under the Gulf, there’s no real way to hide that from all the producers are mapping/have mapped the geology in the area. They have too many people who are looking at the data and someone would spill the beans because 2) in this age of the internet, there is no such thing as a secret. So I went searching for answers. My search lead me to The Oil Drum, a site devoted to the discussion of peak oil, sustainability and a whole host of other Oil and Gas Industry-related topics from around the world.
The Oil Drum is published by the Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Its mission is to facilitate civil, evidence-based discussions about energy and its impact on our future by raising awareness, hosting a civil discussion, conducting original research in a transparent manner by using the internet and peer review, and to create a global community working towards a common goal of resolving issues around peak energy.
Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure what I would find when I got there, but I was pleasantly surprised. The first article I read was detailed analysis of why the top kill procedure and the junk shot didn’t work. While I am familiar with some aspects of the Oil and Gas industry, I’m not well-versed in the procedures relating to deep water drilling. This article along with all the other articles on the site are clearly written so that a lay person can understand what is being discussed.
Over the past few weeks I’ve found myself going back to this site repeatedly to get more insight about drilling and peak oil. I haven’t jumped into any of discussions yet, but I’m looking forward to doing so because the discussions are civil and based in fact.
