Where did the oil go?

That's the question being asked in the Gulf of Mexico these days. It appears the oil has dissipated much faster than expected.

As The New York Times says today, reporters flying over the Gulf are spotting "only a few patches of sheen and an occasional streak of thicker oil" while others are seeing only a few tar balls and emulsified oil "here and there."

Is the oil hiding? Or as Peter at OPNTALK facetiously asks, has it been stolen, or is it simply "lounging" below the surface? No.

It's likely that much of the Macondo's sweet crude evaporated on the water's surface, was weathered and broken down by Gulf storms, or was consumed by the oil-eating bacteria that have been living on oil from naturally-occurring seeps since the beginning of time.

The successful deployment o... more »

Four major oil companies are joining forces to build and deploy a rapid-response containment system that will be available to capture and collect oil from future blowouts in the Gulf.

The new system will be suitable for use in depths of up to 10,000 feet--twice as deep as the Macondo well--and will have the capacity to contain 100,000 barrels of oil per day with expansion potential.

The four companies, which include Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell, have committed $1 billion to pay for the initial cost of the new system. They also will assemble a dedicated staff to maintain readiness under a new non-profit organization called the Marine Well Containment Company. Other companies will be invited to participate.

"[R]egardless of how unlikely it is that this situation will reoccu... more »