BP, Apache Corp and Mariner youtube

Who's the company behind today's Gulf of Mexico oil rig explosion
EXCERPT:
During the last week of August, production from the Mariner rig that exploded today averaged about 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate. Mariner's entire deepwater portfolio includes nearly 100 blocks, seven discoveries in development and more than 50 prospects.

Mariner's chairman and CEO Scott D. Josey earned a total of $2,090,000 in compensation last year. He previously served as vice president and co-manager of Enron Energy Capital Resources from 2000 to 2002.

Mariner is a former subsidiary of the Enron Corp. When Enron imploded in scandal back in 2001, so did Mariner's reputation, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. While the subsidiary had an on-the-books value of $367.4 million at the time of Enron's collapse, a post-bankruptcy review found that Mariner warranted a $257 million write-down -- a difficult time for Josey:

Surviving Enron and thriving
EXCERPT:
Sept. 10, 2007
In the fall of 2001, as Enron hurtled into bankruptcy and disgrace, Josey recalls staring out his office window and seeing vultures circling ominously. He knew that there was a buzzard roost on a nearby roof, but with Mariner's own fate uncertain, "you couldn't help but attach some significance to that," Josey says. An Enron veteran, he was named chairman of Mariner just days after Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling's abrupt departure set the scandal in motion. His mandate, says Josey, was to offset the company's risky strategy of deep-water drilling with safer inland projects.

Apache Corp and BP
EXCERPT:
Apache completes acquisition of BP's remaining GOM Shelf assetsHome/Explore!/Browse Archives/Apache completes acquisition of BP's remaining GOM Shelf assets
July 2006

Apache announced June 21 that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of BP’s remaining producing properties on the Outer Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico for approximately $845 million, with an effective date of April 1.

The properties – 13 fields, nine of them operated – have net proved reserves of approximately 19.5 million barrels of liquid hydrocarbons and 148 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas. Apache has identified 50 drilling locations on the properties and another 4 million barrels of liquids and 26 Bcf of natural gas in probable and possible reserves. Average 2006 net production of the properties is estimated at approximately 3,650 barrels of liquids and 85 million cubic feet (MMcf) of gas per day; approximately 97 percent of the production will be operated by Apache.

The company has hedged essentially all of the production volumes through 2008 at prices that protect its acquisition economics, while preserving upside potential from higher prices.

Apache financed the purchase with commercial paper; with the acquisition, the company’s debt-to-capitalization ratio remains below 23 percent.

Mariner Energy and the Carlyle Group
EXCERPT:
March 04, 2004
#2004-12
Mariner Energy Completes Merger

Houston, TX -- Mariner Energy, Inc., an oil and gas exploration and production company, today announced the completion of the merger of its parent, Mariner Energy LLC, with an affiliate of the private equity funds Acon Investments LLC and Carlyle/Riverstone Global Energy and Power Fund II, bringing an end to the company's ownership by Joint Energy Development Investments Limited Partnership, an affiliate of Enron Corp. The transaction was valued at $271.1 million and provided for the repayment of Mariner's existing debt. Carlyle/Riverstone affiliates own 67.0% of the equity interests of Mariner's parent, and Acon affiliates own the remaining 33.0%. Debt financing for the transaction was provided by a group of banks led by The Union Bank of California and BNP Paribas. The transaction was approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court.

Jim Webb owned stocks
EXCERPT:
Furthermore, 18 members of Congress reported financial interests in Apache during 2008, the most recent year for which data are available and processed by the Center.

Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), the only member of Congress who reported holding Mariner stock in 2008, reported selling it off in June 2009 at a value of between $1,000 and $15,000, according to a Center review of his 2009 personal financial report filed last month. Hours after the explosion, stock prices for both companies fell.

Mariner has also had ties to big political players in the past.

The company was previously owned by an affiliate of Enron -- the corporate giant that imploded several years ago after a massive accounting fraud. While a subsidiary of Enron, Mariner spent $120,000 on federal lobbying in 2001 and $40,000 on lobbying in 2002.

Apache Corporation wikipedia
EXCERPT:
2010 Apache commenced production from Van Gogh development offshore Western Australia.
2010 Federal judge upholds Apache's decision to exclude from its annual meeting ballot a corporate governance proposal from a person who had not proven on a timely basis that he actually was one of the company's shareholders. [5]
2010 Apache announces planned merger with Mariner Energy for $2.7 billion.[6]
2010 Apache announces that it was purchasing major assets from BP in Texas, southeast New Mexico, western Canada, and Egypt for a total sum of $7 billion, to pay for BP's response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.[7]

Mariner Energy is owned by the Texas Pacific Group Carlyle fascist fronts that are more concerned with profits than environmental laws or worker safety
EXCERPT:
3rd September 2010
By Alex Constantine

Yesterday morning, a gas rig operated in shallow water on the Continental Shelf by Mariner Energy exploded, sending 13 workers into the drink. The company is part-owned by the Texas Pacific Group. Carlyle/Riverstone also owns a piece of Mariner. (Riverstone is a private equity firm that operates primarily in joint venture with Carlyle. Wikipedia: “Riverstone was founded by Pierre F. Lapeyre, Jr. and David M. Leuschen, who had been instrumental in the formation of the Goldman Sachs Global Energy & Power Group in the mid 1980s.”) Former Enron execs haunt the boardroom.

Worker abuses abound in oil cleanup scandal
EXCERPT:
This kind of negligence is staggering — especially since the lives of so many workers are at stake. But it's beginning to seem like worker endangerment is the rule, not the exception when it comes to oil companies and the contractors they hire to clean up their colossal messes.

For example, there was a shocking investigation this week by the Michigan Messenger into oil spill cleanup efforts at Battle Creek —a spill that dumped 800,000 gallons of oil into a waterway in Michigan in July.



Mariner Energy wikipedia
EXCERPT:
Mariner Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ME) is an oil and gas exploration company based in One Briar Lake Plaza in Westchase, Houston, Texas.[1][2]

In 2009 Mariner Energy bought the assets of Edge Petroleum Corp. in a bankruptcy auction.[3] In 2010 Apache Corp. said that it would buy Mariner Energy for $2.7 billion.[4]

[edit] Vermilion 380 platform explosion
A company-owned production platform, situated in Vermilion Block 380 in the Gulf of Mexico about 80 miles (130 km) south of Vermilion Bay, exploded and caught on fire on Thursday, September 2, 2010.[5][6] According to the United States Coast Guard, the explosion was witnessed and reported by persons in a commercially-operated helicopter flying near the site at about 09:00 CDT.[7] Thirteen workers were occupying the platform at the time of the explosion. All of the workers were rescued from the ocean, with one person sustaining injuries.[8][9][10] Mariner indicated that during the last week of August, 2010, the platform had been producing approximately 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas and 1,400 barrels (58,800 gallons) of oil per day,[11] but was off-line for maintenance at the time the incident occurred. Though initially Mariner Energy had reported a mile long oil sheen, subsequent Coast Guard fly-overs found no remaining evidence of a spill.[12] The state run investigation will be headed by the newly created Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement[13] and the NTSB will probably also be involved in the enquiry along the way.

mariner-energy.com

Enron
EXCERPT:
Pulp and paper
Garden State Paper Company Inc. (New Jersey, USA)—paperboard and newsprint recycling mill
Papiers Stadacona Ltee. (Quebec, Canada)—wood pulp & paper mill
St. Aurelie Timberlands Company Ltd. (Quebec, and New Brunswick, Canada & Maine, USA)—timber company
[edit] Other
Mariner Energy Inc. (Houston, Texas, USA)—oil & gas exploration, development, and production with operations in the Gulf of Mexico
Interruptores Especializados Lara (Venezuela)—manufacturer of valves, thermostats, and electrical breakers for appliances
Enron Wind (formerly Zond) — manufacturer of wind power

Tony Blair cancels London Book signing protesters
EXCERPT:
Tony Blair was accused of 'running scared' last night after he scrapped a book signing event in London tomorrow because of threatened protests.
The former Prime Minister abandoned the planned session after eggs and shoes were thrown at him during a similar event to promote his autobiography, A Journey, in Dublin at the weekend.

Enron acquires Zond a major wind power company
EXCERPT:
Published: January 7, 1997

The Enron Corporation said yesterday that it had acquired the Zond Corporation, one of the largest developers of wind-powered electricity generation, and formed a business unit to focus on developing renewable energy projects. Terms were not disclosed. Zond, which is based in Tehachapi, Calif., will become a subsidiary of the Enron Renewable Energy Corporation, which was formed to develop projects for Enron, which is based in Houston. Zond is expected to break ground this year on the largest single wind-power project to date, to supply power to the Northern States Power Company.

After GE purchased this company THEN WHAT?
Enron Wind wikipedia
EXCERPT:
Enron Wind Systems, part of the Enron group, were manufacturers of wind turbines. The group was formed after the acquisition[1] in January 1997 of Zond Corporation of California, the largest US developer of wind-powered electricity at the time.

On May 10, 2002, following the Enron scandal, General Electric acquired the assets of Enron Wind Systems[2], after which it ceased to exist.

www.enron.com

GE and wind turbine
EXCERPT:
GE to Supply 207 Wind Turbines for MidAmerican Energy Company's Wind Generation Project

310.5-MW Wind Project Will Be One of World's Largest

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (November 30, 2004) — GE Energy has been selected as the wind turbine supplier for MidAmerican Energy Company's 310.5-megawatt project in Iowa that, when completed in 2005, will be among the world's largest wind generation facilities.

Owned by MidAmerican Energy Company of Des Moines, Iowa, the project is being developed by enXco, Inc. and Clipper Windpower. The project is located at two sites in north central and northwest Iowa. The sites will utilize 100 and 107 of GE's 1.5-megawatt wind turbines, respectively.

The MidAmerican project is among the $1.3 billion in U.S. wind project orders and commitments for 2004-2005 recently announced by GE Energy. The project will supply enough wind power to meet the annual electricity needs of approximately 85,000 homes.