Great European Debt !

Web of Debt

So, is Greece, Spain, or Italy either one going to be the next Lehman Borthers ? Maybe they are not huge enough to cause global financial markets to freeze up the way US and Asian crisis did in 2008. Is it seriously that we're seeing the start of a run on all European government debt. United States borrowing costs actually plunged on Thursday to their lowest level in months. And while worriers warned that Britain could be the next Greece, British rates also fell slightly. Greece's problems are deeper than European leaders are willing to acknowledge, even now - and they're shared, to a lesser degree, by other European countries.

Many observers now expect the Greek tragedy to end in default; probably they're too optimistic, that default will be accompanied or followed by departure from the euro. The problem, as obvious in prospect as it is now, is that Europe lacks some of the key attributes of a successful currency area. Above all, it lacks a central government.

Consider the often-made comparison between Greece and the state of California. Both are in deep fiscal trouble, both have a history of fiscal irresponsibility. And the political deadlock in California is, if anything, worse - after all, despite the demonstrations, Greece's Parliament has, in fact, approved harsh austerity measures.

So is a debt restructuring - a polite term for partial default - the answer? It wouldn't help nearly as much as many people imagine, because interest payments account for only part of Greece's budget deficit. Even if it completely stopped servicing its debt, the Greek government wouldn't free up enough money to avoid savage budget cuts.

The only thing that could seriously reduce Greek pain would be an economic recovery, which would both generate higher revenues, reducing the need for spending cuts, and create jobs. If Greece had its own currency, it could try to engineer such a recovery by devaluing that currency, increasing its export competitiveness.

But Greece is on the euro and to survive the crisis, Greek workers could redeem themselves through suffering, accepting large wage cuts that make Greece competitive enough to add jobs again. European Central Bank could buy lots of government debt, and accepting - indeed welcoming - the resulting inflation; this would make adjustments in Greece and other troubled euro-zone nations much easier. Or Berlin could become to Athens what Washington DC is to Sacramento - getting enough aid to make the crisis bearable. The trouble, of course, is that none of these alternatives seems politically plausible.

What if bank runs happened, and just like the Argentine government imposed emergency restrictions on withdrawals. This left the door open for devaluation, and Argentina eventually walked through that door. If something like that happens in Greece, it will send shock waves through Europe, possibly triggering crises in other countries. But unless European leaders are able and willing to act far more boldly than anything we've seen so far, that's where this is heading.

EU leaders have insisted for days the Greek financial implosion was a unique combination of bad management, free spending and statistical cheating that doesn't apply to any other eurozone nation, such as troubled Spain or Portugal. They said the bailout should contain the problem by giving Greece three years of support and preventing a default when it has to pay 8.5 billion euros in bonds coming due on May 19.

Again yesterday, European leaders were almost desperately trying to talk away the problems. Agreement on rescue for Greece will be a demonstration of Europe's force, of solidarity. The markets have taken little heed. Stocks, Greek bonds and the euro plunged even yesterday. Along with the eurozone meeting, the G-7 finance ministers will hold a teleconference yesterday on the crisis, according to Japan's finance minister.

And on top of the eurozone summit, key leaders like France's Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet will huddle ahead of time seeking a common strategy to soothe the markets. Well these new leaders have to work harder before they can enjoy their lead in either running the government office or at home relaxing with their spouse and children....


16 May 2010 Sunday report on paper,
Yet financial experts say the Greek crisis is unlikely to spark another global meltdown.

The European Union (EU) rescue package (worth $1.4 trillion) is sufficiently large and wide-ranging as to put an end to concerns over a liquidity crisis that could have threatened contagion in global markets but many EU countries will likely see very slow growth for a number of years because the package requires nations with unsustainably large budget deficits to implement strict spending cuts and tax rises.

Greek crisis
Greece is at the centre of the storm. Credit agencies like Moody's questioned the state's ability to meet its debt obligations and downgraded its credit rating with an accompanying negative outlook.
There were already concerns over the high level of deficit-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio for Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain - known collectively by the acronym Piigs, noted First State Investments. The European Commission set a rule that this ratio should be kept at 3 per cent or lower but it turned out that the ratio for the Piigs exceeded a great deal. For instance, Greece, Portugal and Spain have a deficit-to-GDP ratio of 13.6 per cent, 9.4 per cent and 11.2 per cent respectively.

Contagion effect
Contagion risk is the fear that financial problems in one nation will spread to others which are linked to one another in some way. This happened during the Asian financial crisis when the currency turmoil in Thailand brought volatility in Indonesia and other neighbouring nations.
The contagion effect from the debt issues in Greece has hit other European countries, including the other Piigs. The potential contagion effect of any of these countries defaulting on their debts becomes clearer when we take a look at their loans to one another.

For example, Greece and Spain borrowed externally from many other European countries, in particular France and Germany. Germany and France are Spain's largest creditors with more than US$500 billion (S$694 billion) of exposure between them.
So the contagion risk is very real given that if any of the Piigs were to default, it would adversely impact the balance sheets of other EU countries.

Impact on stock markets
Stock markets have headed south in recent weeks and are experiencing significant volatility.
But experts are confident that this is a short-term reaction. 'Our 12-month fair value for the STI is 3,200. In the short term, we think the market will be range bound from 2,750 to 2,930,' she said. 'We will be buyers if the index falls back to 2,750 as further downside risk from there should be limited.'
While the weakened euro and current economic conditions in Europe may spell weaker demand for Asian exports, exports could still be supported by US demand and intra-regional trade. 'We do not believe that recent sell-off is a renewed bear market.'
While the short- to medium-term outlook is expected to remain cautious, the selldown has brought valuations to more attractive levels. Calling the selling a 'knee-jerk' reaction, smart money to gradually return to the market once the initial selling is over, as liquidity in the market remains strong.
In addition, equities continue to be good, long-term investments especially since current corporate results have generally been in line with or above expectations.

Impact on Asia
Though Asian investors may not be directly affected by the crisis, there are several indirect implications, such as declining demand for Asian exports.
The weakening of the euro means that European consumers have lower purchasing power, and with the EU being a key export market for Asian (economies) like China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, exports for these Asian economies could see a negative impact.
Financial experts pointed out that as an export market, Europe is as important as the US is, to Asia.

Asia's export exposure to Europe constitutes about 12 per cent of its total exports on average, with India and China having the largest export exposure of close to 20 per cent. Singapore has a 9.4 per cent export exposure to Europe.
The implementation of austerity measures in Greece is likely to be followed in weaker European economies like Portugal while larger economies like Britain are looking to rein in spending to avoid similar debt problems. This could signal a longer-term shift to weaker consumer consumption, and that is a negative for export-oriented Asian economies.

Other factors
Besides the Greek debt crisis, other possible headwinds for investors include the ongoing Goldman Sachs case where the US investment bank is facing a number of related lawsuits and investigations over the sale of mortgage-related investments. Another concern is the move by the Chinese government to curb rising property prices through tightening credit.

Well, what do we do with our cash, not worth to deposit in the bank and we need to make it growth with annual rate of few percentage point in order to benefit on it's cash value? Think twice to buy stocks at this moment, I suppose.

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The real reasons for the euro-led collapse are: an over-reliance on debt to grease the wheels of growth; countries and people living beyond their means, largely through borrowing and poor regulation by governments and central bankers; and excessive risk-taking - or greed, if you prefer - by inadequately capitalised investment banks which, it has to be said, ran many a hugely profitable scam in the past decade selling junk to a hapless public, often with the blessing of complacent regulators.

Perhaps just as relevant has been the inability of various government-led support measures to have an impact - from the US$1 trillion safety net announced by euro zone finance ministers a fortnight ago to German bans on naked short-selling.

Will Euro survive ?
The euro, the common currency of 16 European Union nations, is undergoing its severest test since its inception in 1999. Now at a four-year low against the dollar, the euro's credibility has been hammered by the slow and confused European response to the debt crisis in Greece, which has now spread to Spain and Portugal.

European stock markets have retreated and a massive US$1 trillion rescue programme announced on May 9 has thus far failed to calm investors nerves. Suddenly people are asking what was unthinkable - will the euro survive, might the currency union fall apart? Since January, Europe has dawdled while Greece - one of the eurozone's weakest members - had to pay progressively higher interest rates on a debt that was growing faster than bond holders had been led to believe.
While Greece pleaded for help, Germany, the eurozone's biggest economy, resisted, saying the profligate Greeks had to clean up their own mess and cut government spending.

By April, Greece sought emergency help not only from its European Union partners but also from the International Monetary Fund. At the centre of the storm is 'Mr Euro', Jean-Claude Trichet, the astute 67-year-old Frenchman who has headed the ECB since 2003. By holding too long to the view that there was no possibility that Greece could default, Mr Trichet like others underestimated the magnitude of the Greek problem.

As the euro tumbled on exchange markets, government leaders finally realised that not just Greece but the entire euro currency project was at risk. At an emergency meeting in Brussels on May 7th eurozone leaders outlined the massive rescue package that emerged two days later from an 11-hour long meeting of finance ministers.

President Obama is not a passive bystander to the euro crisis. Alarmed that a double-dip recession and credit squeeze in Europe would derail the US recovery, Mr Obama telephoned the French, German and Spanish leaders urging prompt, decisive action. Mr Trichet, sobered by the crisis, is calling for 'a quantum leap in the governance of the euro area', meaning enforceable rules to assure fiscal discipline.


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Change of Fortunes :
HOW times change. It was fashionable even as recently as January this year, to proclaim that the euro would emerge as the world's key reserve currency because the United States was weighted down by its huge trade and fiscal deficits.

It was held as an article of economic faith that saver nations will, at some point, become unwilling to subsidise the penchant of Americans to consume far more than they produce. A disastrous fall in the value of the US dollar would end the unique advantage the US has enjoyed in possessing the global reserve currency since World War II.


Many lent their names to this theory. Even the former Federal Reserve Board chairman, Alan Greenspan, had an inkling of the US dollar's doom. It is 'absolutely conceivable that the euro will replace the (US) dollar as the reserve currency, or will be traded as an equally important reserve currency', he told the weekly, Stern, in 2007.
For now at least, all these views seem misplaced. The euro is gasping for air. In a dramatic reversal, the euro has fallen nearly 22 per cent from its peak reached in July in 2008.

When it was launched in January 1999, the euro was placed at a slightly stronger level against the dollar. Then, it fell through parity and languished for three years. It went down as low as US$0.82 in October 2000, before soaring to a high of US$1.60 in July, 2008. This remarkable surge helped to spread the optimism about the euro's dominant future. Conspiracy theories began to take shape. Wasn't the euro a factor behind the invasion of Iraq?
As the US dollar began to crumble, talk was rife that Opec would finish the job, delivering a deadly blow to American prestige and economy.


There were reports of a secret understanding among the big oil producers to dump the US dollar.
Indeed, across the world, central banks stepped up their holdings of euros in their reserves. According to the International Monetary Fund, euro-denominated reserves with central banks, excluding China, rose to 672 billion at the end of last year, from 97 billion in the first quarter of 2002. While China intends keep to diversifying its holdings, Russia has trimmed its euro reserves and Iran is having a rethink of its reserves.
For years, the euro seemed to defy the question of how a common currency could run without a common government. Many economists indeed thought that, after the initial years, a recession would wreck eurozone cohesion.
The scenario put out was that when a recession affects weak areas of Europe, it would lead to a conflict of interest vis-a-vis countries committed to disciplined economic policy.

Weak economies with populist governments, wanting low interest rates, would be willing to put up with some inflation. But strong economies like Germany, serious about maintaining price stability at all costs, would not oblige. And Europe would struggle to handle 'the asymmetric shocks' that would follow. Language barriers and a general reluctance of European labour to move within the eurozone would further handicap the governments.

The result would be a vicious political row and a potential financial crisis, as market players start to discount the bonds of weaker governments.
That script is now being played out. Germany's unilateral ban on naked short-selling - which was immediately opposed by France - has exposed a lack of cohesion in the EU nations. Worries are growing about the contagion spreading. The prospect of widespread government spending cuts is raising the spectre of social unrest and political turmoil in Europe. Analysts and chartists are predicting further falls in the value of the euro, which is trading at about US$1.23 now, or close to a four-year low.
So for now, and what for it is worth, the American dollar is back again as the top reserve currency and a safe haven.
However, while Europe is indeed in the midst of a major crisis, the economic shockwaves can travel beyond European shores. Moreover, the US has enormous budget deficits and debts as well. And many US companies have major exposures to the European continent - all of which makes the US economy also vulnerable.

"Green" youngsters arrogant with dis-respect nowadays in your workplace?

Arrogance in many ways exhibit unacceptable behaviour like offensive display of superiority, self-importance, overbearing pride, haughtiness, behaving in a superior manner as if he is the BOSS.

We all in life probably have encounter or experienced arrogance by others at some time in our working life. An arrogant person may affect you in many ways, and depending on your position you may or may not be able to control or educate such people. For example, an arrogant supervisor, engineer, shopfloor worker, boss or reputed personality can make life hell for his subordinates or those indirectly reporting to him in project execution or at the site where you need to follow his instruction and he or she continues to behave with brazen superiority with everyone.

If you are not able to do anything because such people has been assigned to lead your core necessities like making upto exams, promotions, performance appraisal, direct report to the senior management, etc.

But in some cases you can hit back with all your power at arrogant people. Nevertheless arrogant people in all walks of life will be shortlived as they either cannot last or burn themselves out with their own setback. Behind the back gossip like, "He or she has become arrogant now, but wasn’t like that before" is quite common in most workplaces, amongst friends, colleagues, etc. However it does not mean arrogant people will be boorish with everyone, but they will definitely not miss an opportunity to demonstrate it on someone they can afford to be rude with.

Often the person being branded arrogant may not truly realize they have indeed become arrogant. For example, we rarely think of ourselves as being arrogant as we usually believe it is always someone else who can be arrogant, but not us. But arrogance does exist in various degrees in everyone, including you and me. Now suppose you discover that people who matter to you are calling you arrogant behind your back? Or worse, someone tells you flat on your face that you are indeed arrogant. What will be your reaction? It can rudely jolt you from the grand benevolent image you hold of yourself.

Nobody would like to be branded as arrogant. You could get furious, outraged and vehemently disagree with their opinion. Or, if you can control your senses, you can stop and think of it as a wake up call to mend your ways. Arrogance is like a special body odour that you can’t detect it yourself because you have already feel the "highs" in yourself and everyone else cannot hold up to you.

So what are those likely indicators that can make some youngsters arrogant and feel high and mighty?

It could be his experience and knowledge have built up day by day. He may have gotten all the answers for everything through his subordinates or peers and gaining all the credit, or you believe it so ( see my other blog about gaining credit, it is Ok let others take your credit, do not feel bad !! ). Soon he begin to think and feel he is the so-call “expert” in everything and all others are dependant on him. And these young horns gradually become dismissive of suggestions and recommendations by the older colleagues, except his own, of course. Let’s face it, in big organization, you depend a lot from those seniors and more experience workers to lead the success story of the organization and green horns still have a lot to pick and learn.

Next indicator is probably he has now a new job title that can create an aura of awe. Titles having groovy words like deputy manager, consultant, advisor, deputy project manager, etc., can corrupt the green horn’s ego faster than a person who has gone through years of hardship but with a mediocre title like departmental manager, though both could be doing identical job description.

He also may develop connections with reputed people, top brass, senior management level, etc., and hover around important staff like the director or general manager of the department. He probably has got the blessings of a “godfather” who is quite senior in the office and has laid the ground for the young punk to step on. So the punky now feels like a VIP with the power to crush ordinary mortals or his juniors reporting under or indirectly to him.

Frequent completion of achievements can be a powerful arrogance booster. For example, he or she had a series of tasks completed and the boss has promised of future quick advancement or promotion in the coming annual appraisal review. Everything turns out in his favour and probably he has been very smart and quick in burying his/her failures before anyone notices them. Or somebody is doing the work and producing the results, while he/she are getting the rewards and credits in front of the bosses. During temporary lucky periods in life a feeling of Midas touch can get into people’s head. This is often the reason why many well known film personalities, business owners, etc., become haughty and pushy.

The arrogants now don't provide solutions to questions anymore. Instead they now answer every question with another question. They develop the skill to invent tough and tricky questions on the fly ( because probably they do not have answers at all ) that can make others squirm, chew their head off or make them flee from the scene.

In addition to the above factors, an individual’s personal qualities, or Mother Nature’s temporary gifts to humans like young age, physical strength, beauty, good health, IQ, etc., can also make one arrogant.

Finally the challenge for each one of us is to frequently pause and observe ourselves to see if any of the above factors are making us with high self esteem.

Failures are meant to destroy arrogance and induce humility in a person. One's overbearing pride in himself is manifested in his manners especially towards his inferiors. It is said that if you want to judge a person see how he behaves towards his inferiors. In my 30 years of service, I have seen arrogants but by the time they progress with more pressure the failures subdue them. If you come across any arrogant young punk, then take it that he has not learnt from his failures yet.

Arrogance is a like a deadly disease , Pride is it's ally. Power, wealth, fame brings arrogance into the human being, but final destiny is a great leveller, no one can fight the destiny , The destiny shows one to become humble to correct his ways to reform by various incidences to check his selfness and arrogance,it provides him a chance to reflect but most remain arrogant and return to normal ways once everything is normal , only a transient phase they eat a “humble pie” and when back to normal then it is again power arrogance.

Because humble pies were primarily served to the most humble of servants, a connection developed between the consumption of a dubious but filling dish and a true sense of humility. The word "humble" in the metaphorical "humble pie" comes from the Latin humilis, meaning "from the earth,"

Eating humble pie is meant to be a metaphorical punishment for excessive arrogance or boasting. Few people would ever eat such a dish voluntarily, but others may wish that particularly self-important public figures or abusive employers would take a bite or two, especially when they are proven wrong in a very public way. Eating humble pie should take the offender down a few pegs on a social or professional ladder, at least long enough to feel humbled or properly chastised for their overbearing behavior.

As our Chinese saying, older folks eat “more salt” than the young punk eating rice or drink milk and whether old or young, green or yellow, we all need to eat lots of humble pies and not behave high and almighty as come one day, all of us are going to perish and make sure humility rules our head and not trying to grow with big ego, self-esteem and cut out to be bossy….. unless you own the conglomerate company then no one would stop you from all kinds of unacceptable arrogant behavior but watch your step, as one day you will fall through the gap in no time.

Quotable quotes :

Words That Encourage Darkness and The Adversary: Angry, Antagonistic, Appetites, Arrogant, Confused, Contention, Covetous, Critical, Depressed, Domineering, Doubt, Easily Offended, Evasive, Fear, Frustrated, Harshness, Impatience, Ineffective, Irritable, Jealousy…..

Some people don't give up easily. When they're successful, this is called "perseverance." Before they succeed, or if they fail, it's called "stubborn," "bullheaded," "arrogant," or "foolish."

Nobody can be so amusingly arrogant as a young man who has just discovered an old idea and thinks it is his own.

What is wrong with us human beings, and has been wrong since time immemorial, is that without ever stating it in so many words, we believe that we have entered the realm of immortality. We behave as if we are never going to die - an infantile arrogance. But even more injurious than this sense of immortality is what comes with it : the sense that we can engulf this inconcievable universe with our minds.

Early in life, we had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. We chose honest arrogance and have seen no occasion to change.

P/s:  This writing has no intent to pin point on any individual or youngster now out there with arrogant or almighty working style but if there is similarity in the writing that describes about any individual of whom then there is need of "self-reflection" and correcting himself or herself to be a betterself....... think this would have done them more good in bringing the message as there is a long way for these people to move in their working life....... :)

Horizon on Fire

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig which caught fire few days back, lasted two days, then sank in 5,000 ft of water in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig belongs to Transocean. The rig was originally contracted through the year 2013 to BP and was working on BP’s Macondo exploration well when the fire broke out. The day rate for the rig costs about US$500K per day to contract. The complete drilling day cost, with helicopters and support vessels and other services, will cost closer to US$1 mil per day to operate drilling for oil and gas. The rig building cost about US$350 mil in 2001 and would probably double that if order one today with steel prices, material cost rising. The rig represents the cutting edge of drilling technology. It is a floating rig, capable of working in up to 3000m water depth. The rig is not moored as it would be too costly and too heavy to suspend this mooring load from the floating structure. There should be a cost study done to compare options of moored or DP and long term operational cost viability. This rig has a triple-redundant computer system uses satellite positioning to control powerful thrusters that keep the rig on station at all times. From web information, seems like the rig had apparently just finished cementing steel casing in place at depths exceeding 18,000 ft. The next operation was to suspend the well so that the rig could move to its next drilling location, the idea being that a rig would return to this well later in order to complete the work necessary to bring the well into production. Initial speculation news that was thought that somehow formation fluids –oil /gas –got into the wellbore and were undetected until it was too late to take action. Usually a “kick” would have been detected from the cabin monitoring controls. With a floating drilling semi-submersible, because it moves with the waves, currents and wind, the main pressure control equipment sits on the sub-seabed –the bottom point in the well is only part unmoved. There is a setup of ‘BOP’s” and controlled with redundant systems from the rig being laid just above the seabed. In the event of a serious emergency, this BOP tree will be shut and close against the well preventing back flow of the gas from seabed. Investigation will take some months before all of the reasons are known. The well still is apparently flowing oil, which is appearing at the surface as a slick. They have been working with remotely operated vehicles, or ROV’swhich are essentially tethered miniature submarines with manipulator arms and other equipment that can perform work underwater while the operator sits on a vessel. They have been trying to close the well in using a specialized port on the BOP and a pumping arrangement on their ROV’s. Seems to be unsuccessful so far. Specialized pollution control vessels have been scrambled to start working the spill, skimming the oil up. In the coming weeks there is another plan to move in one other rig ( could be from DD3 built by us ) to drill a fresh well that will intersect the blowing one at its pay zone. They will use technology that is capable of drilling from a floating rig, over 3 miles deep to an exact specific point in the earth –with a target radius of just a few feet plus or minus. Once they intersect their target, a heavy fluid will be pumped that exceeds the formation’s pressure, thus causing the flow to cease and rendering the well safe. Probably will take months to get this done, bringing all available offshore drilling technology to fruition. It will soon be an ecological and environment hazard if the well flows continuously and not stopped.

Subsea systems challenges :

Other challenges facing the rig operator of this kind of deep water drilling vessel relating to deepwater depth in several ways:

•The temperature at the seafloor is such that hydrate formation in any gas migrating to the BOP can freeze the system closed. Provision must be made to flush the connectors routinely with BOP operating fluid (which contains glycol) or as a last resort to inject methanol remotely from the ROV.

•The well pressure at approx 7,500 feet is 230 bar or 3,333 psi. All of the subsea BOP equipment must work in cold, dark, high pressure environment around one and a half miles from the vessel drill floor.

•The long column of drilling fluid in the riser exerts a pressure on the formation. In shallow water this pressure is usually far enough from the fracture pressure of the formation that cuttings can be transported out of the hole without exceeding the fracture pressure and invading the formation. This allows longer sections of hole to be drilled before second casing. As water depth increases the difficulty of keeping mud weights between fracture gradient and pore pressure causes an effective well design to include multiple casing strings driving up both the complexity and the cost of the well

•The marine riser itself must be strong enough to support choke and kill lines, boost lines, hydraulic lines, dual gradient lines and MUX cables and yet light enough to allow a combination of top tension and buoyancy to support it for a defined range of mud weights and vessel offsets.

•The time to run any piece of equipment to the seafloor is a significant part of the total operational time. It can take days to round trip the BOP in 7,500 feet of water and the rig is vulnerable to environmental extremes while the BOP is suspended below the rig

Below typical schematic of the subsea BOP control system which should be able to shut the well once activated. With so many cables and tubings going down the seabed, probably anything can go wrong during the Horizon emergency and Murphy's law set in, anything wrong goes.

Well Control

As a result, the design of the riser, its buoyancy, the BOP and sub-sea system is the most critical element of the overall design of the rig. The size and weight of a 21” riser and 18 ¾” 15K BOP system that dictates the overall size and therefore cost of the rig. Most deepwater operators are well aware of this and extensive research has been undertaken by them to find ways to allow smaller and less capable rigs to drill safely and effectively in the ultra deep water. These technologies include :-

•Dual density drilling – to solve the pressure differential problem referred to above.

•Slimbore wells to allow the use of 16” riser and a 13 5/8” BOP

•Expandable tubing to facilitate slim bore wells

•Free standing riser systems

•Artificially buoyant seabeds bringing the wellhead closer to the surface

All of these technologies hold future promise but they also represent compromises in the primary objective which is to deliver a quality high production well to the operator.

Horizon


With the Horizon rig going “under”, oil began gushing to the surface at an ever-increasing rate. In the worst case scenario, the daily outflow of oil is projected to reach as many as 60,000 barrels (2.5 million gallons) per day.

Some methods have been used for cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana coastline mess, both through working beneath the waves at 5,000 feet and atop, as the oil surfaced :-

Blowout preventer (Drilling term : BOP ) — In offshore oil industry, it’s an accepted fact that oil drilling rigs and platforms must be protect and prevent well kicks from the well beneath. Despite all safety precautions, there’s always the possibility of an accident that could potentially destroy the entire rig, just as happened with the Deepwater Horizon. But when that does happen, a separate device is supposed to prevent an oil leak at the bottom: the blowout preventer ( Maker like Cameron, Schaffer, Hydril are some of famous ones). For deepwater, subsea BOP is used and for shallow water like drilling jackup, surface BOP is used.

It was a bad luck that the BOP failed to activate. Other semi-submersible have been deployed to try to fix the device with help of ROVs ( remote operated vehicle ) or install a new BOP to stop the flow of oil at its lowest point, but have failed so far. It is not simple task to do it at deepsea where controls underwater are not easy with the temperature and current beneath.

Containment domes – These devices, also called coffer dams, are the second of the three major methods BP hopes will eventually stop or contain the leak by transferring the oil into FPSO. Starting with one this week, BP will lower three 40-foot tall containment “domes” over the leaking sections of pipe on the seabed. Some oil will still escape, but the plan is to suck most of it up through the dome (which is actually more of a rectangle). This idea also reveals the essential crudity of our deep-ocean technology: there’s nothing subtle about dropping just under a hundred tons of concrete onto a leaking pipe.

However, the effort to place a massive containment dome over a gushing underwater wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico was dealt a setback when a large volume of hydrates -- icelike crystals formed when gas combines with water -- accumulated inside the vessel, The dome was moved off to the side of the wellhead and is resting on the seabed while crews work to overcome the challenge

Relief wells — Even if the above two methods are successful, BP will still work on a relief well over the coming months that, when finally completed, will divert oil away from the spill site. Drilling the relief wells is a more involved process than the original well, because the drill bit must work at an angle once it penetrates the seabed. The company estimate its relief well will likely cost in the region of US$100 million.

Oil skimmers — Since some oil sits on top of the water, a clever skimming system can separate the oil to be siphoned away (and potentially even sold on the market like normal oil). Skimming devices can range from small to massive, but despite advances in the technology, none are large enough to deal with a Gulf-sized spill, at least without months of work.

Fire — One of the oldest technologies at least for gasoline, will burn off quickly and even explode. But the “sweet crude” welling up is actually a thick, heavy substance that doesn’t always burn easily or evenly. The Coast Guard attempted to burn enough oil to prevent it from reaching the Louisiana coastline, but failed.

Name: Deepwater Horizon

Reading & Bates Falcon RBS-8D
Owner: Transocean
Port of registry: Majuro
Marshall Islands
Route: Gulf of Mexico

Ordered: December 1998
Builder: Hyundai Heavy Industries

Cost: US$560 million [1][2]
Completed: 2001

Acquired: February 23, 2001

Maiden voyage: Ulsan, South Korea – Freeport, Texas
Out of service: April 21, 2010 (exploded)
Identification: ABS class no.: 0139290

Call sign: V7HC9
IMO number 8764597
General characteristics
Class and type: ABS +A1 DPS-3 Column Stabilized MODU
Tonnage: 32,588 t (32,073 LT; 35,922 ST)
Displacement: 52,587 t (51,756 LT; 57,967 ST)

Length: 112 m (367 ft)
Beam: 78 m (256 ft)
Height: 97.4 m (320 ft)
Draught: 23 m (75 ft)
Depth: 41.5 m (136 ft)

Installed power: 42 MW
Main Power 6 x Wartsila 18V32 rated 9775 hp each, driving 6 x ABB AMG 0900xU10 7000 kW 11,000 volts AC generators

Emergency Power 1 x Caterpillar 3408 DITA driving 1 x Caterpillar SR4 370 kW 480 volts AC generator
Power Distribution 8 x ABB Sami-Megastar Thruster Drives, 5.5 MW and 6 x GE Drilling Drive Lineups 600 V 12 MW
Deck Cranes 2 x Liebherr, 150 ft boom, 80 mt @ 35 ft
Thrusters 8 x Kamewa rated 7375 hp each, fixed propeller, full 360 deg azimuth
Speed: 4 kts
Crew: 146
Notes: 8202 tonne Variable Deck Load, DP Class 3, 8 thrusters, 10,000 ft drilling water depth

Video with courtesy of BP

Is job hopping good or bad ??

Refer today’s Sunday times interview two extremes working personnel, one stayed with one company for 38years and another seven jobs in 5 years.

Same company for 38 years - Mr Daniel Goh can still recall what he and his peers were looking for in a job, when he applied for his first job with Garuda Airlines in 1972 at the age of 21.  'During our time, it was all about getting a job first, then you look at the salary base, and third was the industry that you wanted to work in,' says Mr Goh, who is married with two children.

He adds: 'In those days, if we managed to get a job at the age of 21, it was something very grand, especially if you were working for an airline.' After 15 years as an airport officer and 23 in the sales department, he has no regrets about staying with his first and only employer.

He says: 'Garuda is like a family - we know the culture and the way they do things, and most importantly, we work as a team. There is no reason for me to ever think of leaving the company.'

Seven jobs in five years - For Ms Jamie Kong, the last five years have been 'a very long learning process' in feeding her 'hunger for learning and self-satisfaction'. From two spells as a Japanese-English translator to two working stints in Japan, and trying her hand at setting up a small F&B stall, she has held a total of seven jobs in her 51/2 years in the workforce.

'It has all been about self-discovery and giving myself what I needed at that stage of life,' says Ms Kong, who now works in the planning department of a Japanese F&B company.  After six months in her first job as a translator, she took up a six-month job with the Singapore Tourism Board at the World Expo in Japan in 2005. Upon her return, she resumed her former job as a translator at her old workplace where she was 'very well taken care of'. However, after two years, she felt she had 'stagnated'.

She says: 'We have been told from young to get a good job with stable pay, which was what I got there, but I felt it was not challenging enough in the long term.'  So she went back to Japan on a year-long exchange programme to teach English.  She recalls: 'It was just for the experience and living and working in Japan, which I had always wanted to do, to experience life and get paid as well. I had always planned to stay for just a year.'

After that, she came back to Singapore to work for a Japanese F&B company. She left after seven months, as it was 'not a healthy work environment'.  She feels she has found the right environment in her current job. She has also found a passion for the industry, which combines her love of food with her interest in Japanese culture.  While she cannot imagine herself in the same job for 20 years, she can certainly conceive of staying with a company for 20 years.

She says: 'You need a job that you can identify with. As long as you are given room to grow and progress, you can stay in a place for the long term. But if you do not grow in life experiences, you do not grow.'

Me, I started 1980 after completed 2 years full time national service as an infantry man, landed first job 7 seven years in Natco ( American Oil and Gas Process company, now no more existence in Singapore but in US, UK, http://www.natcogroup.com/). Second job of 7 years landed in a Japanese owned company (http://www.otec.com.sg/) and these Japanese bosses ( Mr Konishi, retired, Mr Hiraoka took over the helm now ) have been PR in Singapore for more than 20 years and already blended their culture with locals. Typical Japanese working lifestyle that you see in Japan, long hours carried on with a lot of smoke ( not really, these bunch are the health conscious lot ). Golf is the other part of their life.

Most likely my last work place before retirement, presently with KeppelFELS (http://www.keppelfels.com.sg/), Offshore rig designer and builder ( key solution provider ) joined 1994 and I would say it is a great place with the greatest achievement in my working career, a lot had to be said later. Probably start a memoir, if anyone care to read, not really perhaps..... :)

People in their 20s probably tend to change job quite often than those when reaching mid 30s, late 40s. So if you think job-hopping is good or bad?? . Job hoppers are deemed quitters and generally they feel more satisfied with their work life after hopping from one to another work place but not all feel the same.

Would Job hoppers have more rewarding careers.

In almost any job, the learning curve is very steep early on. And then it goes flat. So by the end of two years at the same job, you often have little left to learn if you work in administrative kind instead of those relating to technology or engineering where there are a lot of hands-on application and thinking process. It just make one wonder what people are doing to keep their brains alive if they stay at the same job for 20 years especially those mundane kind that do not need to squeeze out your brain juice. It could leave some uncertainty that job hoppers may know more.

If you change jobs often, then you’re facing with different kind environment and are you sure you get to learn — your learning curve has to move with new job description, i.e. if you are given to experience new things. This may not be true for office skills unless those engineering specific knowledge. It also applies to your emotional intelligence. The more you have to navigate organization hierarchies and deal with office dramas, the more you learn about people and the better you will become at making people comfortable while you encounter with them. And that’s a great skill to have but you may or may not get your learning interrupted if you start hopping to new place as you could end up repeating similar task or worst still the new company is not advancing faster than your previous place.

The stability you get in your career comes from yourself. If you’re counting on some company to give you stability, realizing this could be at times ending up not to your expectation. But if you believe in yourself and your abilities and treat your career with this understanding, then it’s no problem. You can create career stability — you just have to do it on your own capability. Do no “apple-polishing” as this will not bring you any further in your career.

If one day you are planning greener pastures, you’re going to be very conscious of your resume — that is, what skills you’re tackling, what you’re achieving, whether you’re becoming a so-call “expert” in your field. These issues do not generally concern someone who has been in a job for five years or more and knows he’s going to stay another five years or so. So job hoppers have to strive harder and do doubly well at work, if for no other reason than it helps their impressive resume secure their next lucrative job.

Job hoppers could end up overachievers on work activity they are involved in; they want something good to put on their resume. Though some companies could benefit from having a strong performer for 2 years than a mediocre employee for 20 years who has stayed stagnant.

Loyalty is caring about the people you’re with. Job hoppers don’t identify with a company’s long-term performance, they identify with their work group’s short-term performance. Job hoppers want their boss to adore them so they get a good reference. Job hoppers want to bond with their co-workers so they can all help each other get jobs later on. And job hoppers want to make sure everyone who comes into contact with them has experience to bring along with them; it’s not like they have ten years on the job to fix a first impression.

It takes a good deal of self-knowledge to know what you want to do next, and to choose to go get it rather than stay someplace that for the moment seems secured. It takes commitment to personal growth to give up career complacency and embrace a challenging learning curve throughout your career — over and over. And it’s a brave person who can tell someone, “I know I’ve only been working here for few months, but I think it does not suits me”

Doubtless you’ll hear that you should stick it out, show some loyalty, give it at least a few years. But why should you take time out of your life to spend your days doing something you know is not right for you? When is the right time to move on ? Is there a good opportunity and are you going to fit in ? What consequence if you leave your present company ? What opportunity cost you are losing out ?

No career is interesting if it’s not engaging and challenging, and your most important job is to find that right organization. Do not settle for outdated workplace models that accept complacency and downplay self-knowledge. Sure, the job market is tough nowadays - but that’s no reason to settle for something mediocre and no challenge at all. Without challenges, you just stayed on with no progress and this is not the path on the last day of your retirement when you turn back and say, “what did I do or learn in life?”

We need brainstorming ideas in workplace

Brainstorming purpose is to let creativity grow in the workplace and office managers should encourage such activity as often as possible amongst the working level.. However, we must not to let criticism kill the creativity spirit. The creative process must be supported, nurtured and embraced by the seniors in the office to enable possible good working results to be surfaced. There are some guidelines to making sure the process of brainstorming within the group and that the team agrees to them before any idea generation begins.

As ideas begin to flow, we must do everything in our ability to let these ideas flow. No one should start to pre-judge the ideas thrown on the table. The idea-generation is about coming out with as many ideas, not ranking them and then later put in time to evaluate them. Even if the person next to you throws out the stupidest idea which you think could be, let the process continue. Any comment or criticism will change the mood in the group, and they will start to clam up. The objective is to bring ideas to the surface, not to discuss them.

Once an idea hits the whiteboard, we will start to wonder how the idea would come to life, what would it cost? Who to take lead to start the ball rolling? What would the end result of the idea going to look like? What would the financial implications be? Where would the work idea take place? As important as that kind of thinking may be, it will crush the creativity idea very quickly and we need to thread our footpath very carefully.

Thus, fear is the biggest killer of creativity. We learn in schooldays that there is always one right answer and we should avoid making errors at all cost and with chinese culture, it inbuild in us that mistake made will make us “lose our face”. We need to release that fear to unlock our true creative potential. If we're leading the group, emphasize this before we begin. Tell our staff that every idea matters and that the whole point is to get a lot of ideas on the table. To best create an environment where everyone feels comfortable taking risks and has no fear of embarrassment or negative consequences, we need to set an example. If we as leader aren't afraid to toss out silly, outrageous ideas, we will likely to encourage others to release their fears as well, so that their most creative thinking can emerge. We can always learn a lot from the past, but it can also limit our ability to invent the future. Holding back an idea because we tried it once before and it didn't work out so well is limiting factor.. Imagine the world we live in changes none stop every day. An idea today comes into a world with an entirely new set of situations, market environment, technologies and customer preferences. If it happened not to work in the past, it may just have been ahead of its time. Or perhaps that idea, when revisited, will lead to a revised version that can carry the day. Every idea could be a new one at this moment, so share every single one that we believe has got it’s credit and substance.

Brainstorming sessions can easily dissolve into wandering and woolgathering. We need to watch out and not let it happen. An idea might remind someone of a past incident or it might lead to taking on a different creative challenge, or discussing a completely different topic. A right-brain creative state is so rare and so refreshing that its energy and excitement can cause a team to stray. To solve this, keep some of those not so relevant ones on a “parking lot” list to be discussed another time. This will keep the group focused on the task at hand while still making sure that important concepts are remembered and can get attention later.

Just as we manage the storming situation, the collective energy of the room can build into a frenzy, unleashing brilliant ideas while everyone has a great time, or it can devolve into yet another boring clock-watching drone session. We need to keep the energy up and maybe with some intermittent High-fives, cheers and positive vibes in between session. Let’s not allow negativity and energy-draining commentary bore the life from the room. Comparing ideas is an insidious form of criticism that needs to be checked at the door with all other left-brain habits. Comparing usually contains an implicit criticism. Brainstorming can become quite jolly, and the temptation to start joking about what comes up can be hard to resist and laughter at the expense of an idea is a fast way to kill it.

Brainstorming is a profoundly useful creative technique to generate solutions, new thoughts, improve work methodology, save cost, increase productivity, but only if we all know how to use it properly and be disciplined in the process of carrying it out in groups.