Corruption

Another Gulf rig explosion? ......

Mariner Energy shares fall after platform blast

Mariner Energy, Inc. shares dropped more than 4 percent Thursday following news that one of its production platforms exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.

Mariner shares lost 96 cents, more than 4 percent, at $22.39 in afternoon trading.

The Houston independent oil and gas company is a relatively small player compared with BP, Shell and other oil giants operating in the Gulf. In April, Apache Corp. said it planned to buy the company for $2.7 billion, though the deal hasn't been completed yet.

Apache shares fell $1.89, or 2 percent, to $90.57.

Most of Mariner's operations are in West Texas and along the Gulf Coast. The company also owns more than 240 blocks in shallow parts of the Gulf of Mexico.

The platform that exploded is called Vermilion 380. According to regulatory filings, Mariner owns 100 percent of the platform.

Mariner said in a statement that the platform had been producing both oil and natural gas. During the last week of August, the Vermilion produced an average of 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 1,400 barrels of oil.

It's unclear if the platform was producing when the explosion occurred.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jDDqoYyE2c1um1B0ZJzKGOkZaqlwD9HVU3T01

Who is Mariner Energy...

Mariner Energy is one of the leading independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the Gulf of Mexico. At December 31, 2009, the company had interests approximately 240 blocks on the continental shelf and 100 blocks in deepwater. About 85% of the company’s production comes from offshore, with a growing share of that coming from deepwater developments such as Geauxpher, Bass Lite and Northwest Nansen.

Officers and Directors
Director
Scott D. Josey

Mr. Josey has served as Chairman of the Board since August 2001. Mr. Josey wad appointed Chief Executive Officer of Mariner in October 2002 and President in February 2005. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Josey served as Vice President of Enron North American Corp. and co-managed its Energy Capital Resources group. From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Josey provided investment banking services to the oil and gas industry and portfolio management services

Bernard Aronson
Mr. Aronson has been a director since March 2004. He is a founding partner for ACON Investments, a private equity fund. Prior to founding ACON Investments in 1996, Mr. Aronson was International Advisor to Goldman Sachs & Co. for Latin America from 1994 to 1996. From 1989 through 1993, Mr. Aronson served as Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs. He is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. Mr. Aronson serves on the boards of directors of Liz Claiborne, Inc. and royal Caribbean International Inc., each of which is publicly traded, and Global Hyatt Corporation and Chroma Oil & Gas, LP. He is Chairman of Mariner’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and member of the Audit Committee.

More here
http://www.mariner-energy.com/directors.html#

Officers (noted most seem to have an ENRON of NORTH AMERICA connection)
http://www.mariner-energy.com/officers.html


Muckety
http://www.muckety.com/Mariner-Energy-Inc/5025342.muckety

camerlengo gave me this link

Mariner Energy, Inc. board faces under investigation for ME shareholders

PRLog (Press Release) – Apr 16, 2010 – An investigation on behalf of current investors in Mariner Energy, Inc. (NYSE:ME) concerning shareholder claims over possible breaches of fiduciary duty by the board of directors of Mariner Energy, Inc. (Public, NYSE:ME)was announced.

The investigation by law firm focuses on potential breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of state law by the Board of Directors of Mariner Energy of arising out of their attempt to sell Mariner Energy, Inc. (NYSE:ME) to Apache Corporation
http://www.prlog.org/10629593-mariner-energy-inc-board-faces-under-investigation-for-me-shareholders.htmlnergy, Inc. (NYSE:ME) to Apache Corporation

Do These Guys Ever Give Up?

From the "things they probably wish they hadn't said" desk, the Financial Times reports that employees of Mariner Energy, the owner of the oil platform that exploded this morning, were apparently in Houston on Wednesday to protest the offshore drilling moratorium:


"I have been in the oil and gas industry for 40 years, and this administration is trying to break us," said Barbara Dianne Hagood, senior landman for Mariner Energy, a small company. "The moratorium they imposed is going to be a financial disaster for the gulf coast, gulf coast employees and gulf coast residents."
http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/09/do-these-guys-ever-give

haha..timing!

enron and GS..enough said!

Blackwater created shell companies

The security company Blackwater Worldwide formed a network of 30 shell companies and subsidiaries to try to get millions of dollars in government business after the company faced strong criticism for reckless conduct in Iraq, The New York Times reported.

The newspaper said Friday that it was unclear how many of the created companies got American contracts but that at least three of them obtained work with the U.S. military and the CIA.

Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has asked the Justice Department to see whether Blackwater misled the government when using the subsidiaries to gain government contracts, according to the Times.

It said Levin’s committee found that North Carolina-based Blackwater, which now is known as Xe Services, went to great lengths to find ways to get lucrative government work despite criminal charges and criticism stemming from a 2007 incident in which Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians. A committee chart outlines the web of Blackwater subsidiaries.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gEkqkbr5Pndf7Tzj86eSqaSbPHSAD9I1CAQO1


I was reminded via a “sub” article that was forwarded to me of McChrystal’s comment.

The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan said Friday that the coalition depends too much on private-sector contractors, and insisted his forces are keeping close watch on the flow of Taliban fighters who are training in Iran.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, during a four-day visit to France, said the coalition in Afghanistan has become too dependent on private contractors in the effort to stabilize the country, AP reported.
http://www.allbusiness.com/international-relations/weapons-arms-firearms/14293529-1.html
“I think we’ve gone too far,” McChrystal said at France’s IHEDN military institute. “I actually think we would be better to reduce the number of contractors involved.”

AND TWO MONTHS LATER!!

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama sacked his loose-lipped Afghanistan commander Wednesday, a seismic shift for the U.S. military order in wartime, and chose the familiar, admired — and tightly disciplined — Gen. David Petraeus to replace him.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37866754/18424824

I have a feeling McChrystal was fired over more than a magazine interview
Reply

blackwater had all sorts of affiliates..the crusaders for christ

Sharpton’s Nonprofit on the Brink, Audit Finds

An accounting firm hired by Al Sharpton’s National Action Network found the civil-rights group in such financial disarray that it flunked its record-keeping — and may not even survive, The Post has learned.

The scathing critique was spelled out in a hard-hitting internal audit of NAN’s books, a copy of which was obtained by The Post.

snip
The audit, which was submitted to NAN’s board of directors, warned, “These circumstances create substantial doubt about the organization’s ability to continue.”

KBL said it was “unable to form an opinion” on the accuracy of NAN’s financial figures “because of inadequacies in the organization’s accounting records.”

In 2008, federal prosecutors decided to drop a criminal probe into the finances of Sharpton and NAN. But Sharpton — who also has a lucrative syndicated radio show and a speech-making and consulting business — agreed to pay back more than $2 million in overdue personal and NAN taxes.

The audit said NAN still owed $1.348 million in delinquent city, state and federal taxes and penalties at the end of 2008. The IRS has filed dozens of liens against NAN over the past decade, including one as recently as April of this year.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/al_net_lo_es_f52rRrLNnBRAZagK0TgvwN

Internal audit….timing….book cooking

Gates Foundation Acknowledges Flaws in Report

SEATTLE—The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has taken another step toward increased transparency, acknowledging in its annual report that the world's largest charitable foundation is too secretive and hard to work with.

The report, posted online Tuesday, includes the usual financial information and a look at the foundation's plans. But it also offers a glimpse of the organization's attempts to be more open.

CEO Jeff Raikes draws attention in the report to a grantee survey that gave the foundation poor marks for communicating its goals and strategies, and for confusing people with its complicated grant-making process.

Mr. Raikes originally released the survey results in June—a day before Bill Gates made headlines for launching a campaign with investor Warren Buffett to get other American billionaires to give at least half their wealth to charity.

Few but charity insiders noticed the unfavorable review, and the foundation could have let it fade into obscurity.

Instead, Mr. Raikes points out the results for all to see in the annual report, right next to his letter outlining the foundation's priorities for the near future.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704358904575478312162167440.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLEThirdNews

Gates Foundation will never be transparent

why is a foundation secretive?

Flash Fire Occurs on Oil Platform in Gulf of Mexico

A flash fire occurred aboard a Mariner Energy Inc. oil and gas platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, U.S. regulators said.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement said the fire was immediately extinguished and no pollution was reported. The platform sits atop permanently plugged wells, and is located in shallow waters about 109 miles south of Lafayette, La.

snip
The incident comes a week after a fire engulfed another Mariner Energy platform in the Gulf. That accident sent 13 workers tumbling into the sea, but there were no casualties and no oil was spilled.

Nevertheless, the incident heightened pressure on the energy industry, which is fighting efforts to tighten regulation following the Deepwater Horizon accident that unleashed the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704644404575481940693222972.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

lol anything to push the “green” effort.

yep..was a complete nothing event but got coverage..as you said..

Oil From the BP Spill Found at Bottom of Gulf
University of Georgia Researcher Says Samples Are Showing Oil From the Spill

Oil from the BP spill has not been completely cleared, but miles of it is sitting at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, according to a study currently under way.

Professor Samantha Joye of the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Georgia, who is conducting a study on a research vessel just two miles from the spill zone, said the oil has not disappeared, but is on the sea floor in a layer of scum.

“We’re finding it everywhere that we’ve looked. The oil is not gone,” Joye said. “It’s in places where nobody has looked for it.”

All 13 of the core samples Joye and her UGA team have collected from the bottom of the gulf are showing oil from the spill, she said.

In an interview with ABC News from her vessel, Joye said the oil cannot be natural seepage into the gulf, because the cores they’ve tested are showing oil only at the top. With natural seepage, the oil would spread from the top to the bottom of the core, she said.
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/oil-bp-spill-found-bottom-gulf/story?id=11618039

Interesting timing since this was released yesterday.

BP Delays Quarterly Report
LONDON—BP PLC said Friday it will delay the release of its third quarter 2010 earnings by one week to give the company more time to prepare additional data and disclosures needed following the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP’s earnings will now be released on Nov. 2, in its second earnings report since the April 20 rig explosion.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703597204575483242724871222.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

all the shit is sitting on the floor..

Scrushys to pay at least $10 million to HealthSouth to settle claims

Richard Scrushy and wife Leslie have agreed to hand over to HealthSouth Corp. about $10 million to $12 million in cash and property, to settle claims Leslie Scrushy sheltered her husband’s belongings to avoid having them seized by the company.

The settlement doesn’t release Richard Scrushy from the $3.2 billion judgment he was ordered to pay HealthSouth last year after being found liable for the fraud that almost sank it into bankruptcy while he was chief executive in 2003.

snip
Richard Scrushy agreed to sign over cash, investments and real estate in his closely held companies worth about $5 million, acknowledging in the agreement that the sums are all he has, and that no assets have been hidden overseas or under the ownership of associates.

In return, HealthSouth shareholders have agreed to abandon claims under the Alabama Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act that Leslie Scrushy is in possession of Richard Scrushy’s assets to shield them from collection attempts.

“We believe Leslie has done nothing wrong, morally or legally,” said Lee Benton, Leslie Scrushy’s attorney. “This settlement will allow her, as alluded to in the biblical verse, to shake the dust from her feet and move on in her life with her children.”

Scrushy’s $3.2 billion debt to HealthSouth will be credited by about $10 million, reflecting the estimated value of the cash and property the couple is handing over. The settlement agreement is subject to a judge’s final approval before it becomes official.

“This was part of an attempt to pursue assets of Richard Scrushy that we knew about,” said John Somerville, an attorney for HealthSouth shareholders. “We will continue with our attempts to identify and pursue other assets.”

Whatever possessions HealthSouth shareholders recover will be sold and 40 percent of the proceeds remitted to the company. Stockholder lawyers and a qualifying class of sharehowners will divide the rest.
http://blog.al.com/businessnews/2010/09/scrushys_to_pay_at_least_10_mi.html

From 3.2B to 10M…healthsouth investors take the hit. Lawyers win.
LOL @ “This was part of an attempt to pursue assets of Richard Scrushy that we knew about,”

Bet there are assets safe and sound that they “dont know about”