Mariner Energy would be the owners of the rig that caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday. The day before Mariner had been participating in a public rally demanding more drilling. Why? Because it's so doggone safe, of course! There's nothing quite like corporate organized public fury.
The fire is a setback for the oil industry, which has been arguing that drilling in the Gulf is safe and that the BP explosion was a rare event. It came only 24 hours after companies including Mariner had staged a rally in Houston against a moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf. About 5,000 employees had been bussed in for the rally.The good news for the environment is that is sounds like there will not be an oil leak since they were not yet drilling.
Barbara Dianne Hagood, a spokesman for Mariner Energy, told the Financial Times on Wednesday: "I have been in the oil and gas industry for 40 years, and this [the Obama] administration is trying to break us. The moratorium they imposed is going to be a financial disaster for the Gulf coast, Gulf coast employees and Gulf coast residents."
