Friday, June 4, 2010

British Petroleum Patents Blowout Preventer Testing Method and Makes no Promises on Dividends (BP)

No comment.
Two from the Houston Chronicle's NewsWatch: Energy blog:

BP makes no promises on dividends

And:

The Deepwater Horizon accident was just a week old on April 27 when the U.S. Patent Office got around to approving what now seems like a rather ironic piece of work from BP: "A Blowout Preventer Testing System and Method."


BPBOPPatent.JPG
A diagram from BP's approved patent application for a new BOP testing method.
      
Blowout preventers, or BOPs, are a collection of valves that sit atop a well on the sea floor and are used to control the flow of hydrocarbons out of the well. It's also one of the main safety measures against an accident. In the case of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico the BOP failed. So far records and testimony related to the accident indicates the BOP on Deepwater Horizon was tested as required and passed. But what caused its failure will be a significant issue in the ongoing investigation.
But back to BP's patent....MORE