Gulf Oil Spill Testimony: Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil CEO, Admits Being Helpless At Handling Major Oil Spills (VIDEO)

Top kill, cut-and-cap, junk shot ... if you've come to the realization that the oil industry is helpless at stopping the raging Gulf oil spill, you're not alone. At least one major CEO admitted as much during Congressional testimony on Tuesday.

"When these things happen, we are not well equipped to deal with them," acknowledged Rex Tillerson, head of Exxon Mobil. His company once claimed that they were prepared for an oil spill of up to 166,000 barrels per day, but after BP's Deepwater Horizon started spewing a mere 40,000 barrels per day -- literally an unmitigated disaster -- it was time for Tillerson to change his tune.

"We are not well equipped to handle them. There will be impacts, as we are seeing"

One more time, with feeling.

"When they happen, it is a fact that we're not well equipped to prevent any and all damage. There will be damage occurring."

That damage remains impossible to calculate but easy to see on beaches and marshes throughout the Gulf region. Local authorities are scrambling to defend their shores, left to "do the work that the oil industry hasn't done since the 1960's," said Rachel Maddow on her eponymous MSNBC show. She aired clips of Tillerson's testimony and hammered the industry for using, as Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) explained it, rotary-phone era technology in an iPhone age.

WATCH:

Comments

[Hodieb Khalifa]

06:42 PM on 06/17/2010

TO THE HELPLESS CEOs of EXXON, CONOCO & SHELL

READ THIS TO KNOW HOW TO KILL BP WILD WELL! THERE ARE STILL MORE TECHNIQUES IN STORE!

As an expert in oilfields in the Middle East, I offered BP the following simple technique that can instantly plug the well. Though BP admitted it can work, it wouldn't implement it because it will kill the Well.

PLUGGING BP WELL BY A STRING OF CEMENT-FILLED CASING PIPES:

{BP has to lower down the wellbore through the Blowout Preventer a string of 18" Casing Pipes connected together 500-1000 ft long after being filled with cement}- Finito!

BP Well will instantly be plugged and there will be no need for the Relief Wells. They have assortment of Casing Pipes onboard their platform in the Gulf. The annular space between the Casing Pipe String and the well walls will be filled by pumping cement. The whole operation will take few hours.

AMERICANS!

REQUEST YOUR CONGRESSMEN TO INVITE ME TO FACE BP EXECUTIVES TO IMPLEMENT THIS SOLUTION AND END THE NIGHTMARE

Eng. Hodieb Khalifa
Cairo - Egypt
hodieb_khalifa yahoo
002-0163427827

[Overtone]

01:45 AM on 06/17/2010

PLEASE TELL THESE FOLKS THAT A GEOLOGIST SAYS THE OIL CAN ONLY BE CAPTURED BY DRILLING 8 OR MORE NEW WELLS IN A CIRCLE AROUND THE GUSHER ASAP!

See: What to Do and Life Threatening Danger at http://www.aesopinstitute.org updated today.

All high pressure wells may prove to open the door to similar hazards, even those on land.

You may want to also read Moving Beyond Oil and Running on Water on that Aesop site.

With adequate support, a 24/7 development program could move these breakthrough technologies our of the laboratory, and into production, much more rapidly.

We can supersede oil faster than might be imagined. And, it may be far more important to do so than is generally understood.

This may prove to be an emergency equivalent to all out war!

World War II demonstrated we have the capability to respond when necessary. A few months after Pearl Harbor was attacked, a bomber rolled off the line at Willow Run every 59 minutes.

These new technologies are less complicated. The science is hard to believe, as it disagrees with conventional wisdom. But, independent and National laboratories are increasingly involved. Once prototypes for schools are in production, it will become obvious that gasoline, oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear power will face low cost competition that can leave all of them behind. And generate millions of well-paid positions in the process.

Wake up folks! We have a difficult, but possible, job to do! Let's do it!

[GVEric]

04:34 PM on 06/16/2010

As a former Forest Firefighter in California...the US needs set up a system similar to what happens with forest fires -- an Interagency Command System for oil spills, who's duties are to contain and clean, same with wildland fire...the people on the ground don't care who started it or who's property it started on...they just work to stop it.

The Forest Service, Cal Fire, BLM and other agencies train the same way and all talk the same lingo for effective fire fighting...also, training is done yearly. Same with local Dozer and Cat operators...they pre-trained every year to know the command system when the fire starts.

This same idea/concept should be implemented for oil spills. Coast Guard, HLS, Fish and Game etc....they should an oil spill command team with training, resources and knowlegde....then the bill can be sorted out after blame is placed.

I really don't see how this any different, if a logging company or power company starts a fire, they aren't the ones in charge...CalFire or the Forest Service take over the incident.

[NEAF]

02:40 PM on 06/16/2010

'The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program' -Ronald Reagan

[medcare651]

11:11 AM on 06/16/2010

I have a question since we have knowledgeable people here.
What happens to the space where the oil is once it is removed? Is there something that replaces the oil in a controlled situation. What is the risk of the space collapsing as all this oil is uncontrollably removed?

[droog1]

01:34 PM on 06/16/2010

It is replaced by formation water. The oil is in tiny pore spaces in the rock between sand grains. The rock is held together by it's matrix and won't collapse.

[Rosie2]

04:03 PM on 06/16/2010

Where do sink holes come from?

[medcare651]

11:02 AM on 06/16/2010

It is exactly what I expected. These companies are transparent. There is nothing there. They know that if there is a leak there is no hope of stopping it. That they had to extensively test Kevin Kostner's technology? What a joke. All of ideas proposed are better than what they have come up with.
There was a window of opportunity that was lost lost lost.

[sgraham59]

10:59 AM on 06/16/2010

love the deer in the headlight stare

[AddyGmom]

10:28 AM on 06/16/2010

I'm sure the BigOilCo's have the same OilSpew contingency plan------

LoopHoling Lawyers ...

[Artos]

10:24 AM on 06/16/2010

If these oil companies have the technology to be drilling for oil in deep water then they should have the tech to deal with these kind of spills. If they don't have the tech and the ability to deal with it then they never should have been allowed to drill there in the first place. It's as simple as that. You would think though that with all the money they made during their last Great Big Heist during Bush's last year, that they would have had plenty of money to have had the technology to fix this. Typical Corporation, short on safety, short on quality, long on Bonuses for the CEOs and execs.

[SpongeBrad]

10:19 AM on 06/16/2010

The oil companies hve a plan, Bounty the quicker picker upper

[medcare651]

11:04 AM on 06/16/2010

Could you believe they actually had men wiping the marsh plants with wipes? How stupid do they think we are.

[SpongeBrad]

11:43 AM on 06/16/2010

You mean We the Sheeple. People in those states are still in favoor of drilling there, I think that says it all.

[santai]

10:13 AM on 06/16/2010

...he says "we are not equipped to handle spills"...that is because you haven't spent a dime trying to equip yourself.

[wolfmason]

09:43 AM on 06/16/2010

Nice to see someone in a position of importance finally admit the painfully obvious truth.

There are no real contingency plans or clear-cut fixes for this kind of thing. It's all optimistic best-guesses and supposition.

[Catch 22]

09:32 AM on 06/16/2010

"When they happen, it is a fact that we're not well equipped to prevent any and all damage. There will be damage occurring."
This was an amazing bit of footage, and a remarkable admission. I wonder how Gov. Jindal will explain this to the citizens of his State, who have suffered irreparable damage from BP's spill. Bear in mind, these Corporations, had to submit, a detailed plan, showing their ability to deal with these contingencies. The oilmen are playing us. They should have an escrow account, and their safety plan should be carefully scrutinized. Six months might be too short a time. We must get it right.

[Rover]

08:38 AM on 06/16/2010

Welcome to our new American government, in the making since 1980. We lose they win.

[max hp]

09:41 AM on 06/16/2010

It's still trickling down and it ain't over.

[Hodieb Khalifa]

08:34 AM on 06/16/2010

The following solution can end BP NIGHTMARE instantly!

As an expert in the oilfields in the Middle East, I've already offered BP the following simple technique that can instantly plug the well.

Though BP admitted it can work, it wouldn't implement it because it will kill the Well; whereas they still plan to exploit it.

PLUGGING BP WELL BY A STRING OF CEMENT-FILLED CASING PIPES:

{BP has to lower in the wellbore through the Riser Pipe Stub and the Blowout Preventer a string of 18" Casing Pipes connected together 500 - 1000 ft long after being filled with cement. The wild well will instantly be plugged and there will be no need for the Relief Wells. The small annular space between the Casing Pipe String and the well walls will be filled by injecting cement. The whole operation will take a few hours. They have large assortment on their ships and platfoems in the Gulf}.

I want to face Tony Hayward during a Senate or House hearing. I want him to admit that this technique will succeed and that BP has wasted 2 months in vain, then my technique will be implemented by BP in the presence of US officials and me, and the NIGHTMARE will end in few hours.

GOD bless you and bless America.

Eng. Hodieb Khalifa

Cairo - Egypt

hodieb-khalifa windowslive

Tel: [phone] (Egypt)

[Artos]

10:28 AM on 06/16/2010

Thank you for that advice, I have been saying exactly the same thing. If it were not for BPs continuing desire to exploit this well they could plug it just as you mentioned. It's greed and greed alone that has exacerbated the situation. The Government needs to make it clear to them that this well is no longer exploitable. That they will fill it permanently and be done with it.