what is different between the gulf and alaska? >> the difference between the gulf and alaska, 5000 -- a >> that i know and i appreciate your answer. i appreciate your answer. as they reach a report from your position on arctic drilling with the president is we have stepped forward with caution. we have to make sure it can't be done to rapidly et cetera et cetera. but it's 150 versus 200 some odd feet -- 18,000 feet. and i worried about this country. we're going to spend about $400 again to buy our oil. in this commission are all against the development of offshore drilling. and i'm sure, by the way. some of the commission against opening in animal order. we are facing bankruptcy because we have not been able to develop our fossil fuels. and yet the commission, the majority, in fact all of them, our intent is not to a fossil fuels. and i think that's inappropriate. lastly, if i can suggest one thing, mr. chairman, we have drilled in the polls about 42,000 wells including about oil wells. and nowhere do you report in your report or

we think that the long-term viability of the industry in the gulf and its economic successes in the gulf are very closely tied to a new standard of safety and environmental protection, which is what our report will, i think, establish a path toward bree -- toward achieving. >> we will take couple of more. yes, sir? >> john kingston from plats. how do you deal with the fact that if they hired a regulator, someone who understands the industry, the compensation package will never be on the level that the private industry can pay for and then presumably take that person away from boem. >> i will tell you two ways. the we've got to get the competition of for those highly trained, special-specialty, technical people. it is possible there are other agencies, like nasa, that have a pay scale that permit that. whether we can get it up to a level comparable to that of industry remains to be seen, but that is one thing that i think the regulator can be helped by having a safety institute with industry people who are evaluating, auditing and inspecting, and who do have comparable compensation, as in

and frankly the gulf on april 19 was a degraded area. it has suffered for decades of misuse and most dramatically shown by the marshes of louisiana, which have been receding at a rate of over one but caulfield every 30 minutes. -- one football field every 30 minutes. . . nation. we have recommended that 80% of the fines and penalties that we anticipate will be assessed under the clean water act the direct did at gulf restoration. that will require your approval. only congress can make that commitment of those fines and penalties. but we believe it would be money well spent. we recognize that it will require a significant amount of time, probably an average of 20 to 30 years to complete restoration. we believe these funds would be the basis of a major down payment towards that objective. i'd like to conclude my remarks. i got the signal, mr. chairman. that truly is inherently risky. we can never reduce it to zero, but we believe the steps we recommended will substantially reduce the probability of other repeat of macondo and should that h

there is circulation in to and out of the gulf. but it is fairly self-contained. we did not have any major hurricanes that came into the gulf and the loop current which can act to transport water and potentially oil away from the gulf within a form where it didn't do that. so much of the oil that was spilled, if it wasn't collected and recaptured, it did remain in the gulf and is in the process of being degraded or the cleanup effort has got it. >> suarez: a lot of attention was paid to the disbursement ant, the chemicals that were dropped into the water to break up that oil. this time on, do we have any common wisdom about whether too much, not enough was used, whether it was the right approach chemically, whether it can be safely used in a body of water from which we also eat millions of pounds of food a year? >> we know, ray, that the use of the dispersants was intended to do two things. one to keep the oil off beaches andes wears where we knew it would do damage and two to break up the oil into smaller and smaller pieces so it could naturally biodegrade much f

it was the transition between gulf one and gulf two and all the changes. the nature of gulf two that was seen as an elective war in the wake of 9/11, have you made peace, if not with some of the men at this table with whom you haven't enjoyed casual conversation heretofore until today for years and do you feel the need to? >> i prefer to think of it as a truce, brian. >> we have agreement on that from everyone? >> yes. we're going hunting, jim and i are. we haven't invited anybody else, but the two of us are going to go. no, i -- clearly we had differences on subsequent policy issues. from my perspective, and i looked at saddam hussein differently after 9/11 than before 9/11 as colin pointed out. but i reached the point and i think where a lot of the controversy concerns me is that i was in the bunker, in the white house on 9/11 and watched as the world trade center was destroyed, the pentagon was hit, 3,000 americans were killed. never before have i seen an attack like that on the united states. and i was bound and determined, as was the president i then

despite that oil spill in the mexican gulf i spoke to deputy prime minister of section about exactly that let's hear what he had to say about why they. well as a book. is working on a new strategy aimed at transforming the company into an international energy holder deal with b.p. is of course part of the strategy they've gained a great deal of experience including the gulf of mexico oil spill cleanup operation b.p. has learned from this experience and our joint venture will be carried out with the greatest level of measures aimed at protecting the environment we've been working with b.p. for many years they're competent and have strong experience of russian companies. so a strong relationship with between us nafta and b.p. as he gets to chin said there and of course it can't be avoided that this is a huge area with potentially huge amounts of natural resources underneath the seabed there an area that's not particularly easy to exploit so rosneft was always going to need some sort of expertise and and and investment from outside as any national oil company would under those circumsta

we think that the long-term viability of the industry in the gulf and its economic successes in the gulf are very closely tied to a new standard of safety and environmental protection, which is what our report will, i think, establish a path toward bree -- toward achieving. >> we will take couple of more. yes, sir? >> john kingston from plats. how do you deal with the fact that if they hired a regulator, someone who understands the industry, the compensation package will never be on the level that the private industry can pay for and then presumably take that person away from boem. >> i will tell you two ways. the we've got to get the competition of for those highly trained, special-specialty, technical people. it is possible there are other agencies, like nasa, that have a pay scale that permit that. whether we can get it up to a level comparable to that of industry remains to be seen, but that is one thing that i think the regulator can be helped by having a safety institute with industry people who are evaluating, auditing and inspecting, and who do have comparable compensation, as in

and was reassured confidently by the waitress know we wouldn't serve any seafood from the gulf. that problem persisted through the fall. i understand it's not entirely disappeared now. people continue the, the fishermen, continue to suffer. i remember talking to the governor around memorial day of mississippi who told me that there wasn't any oil within 60 miles of the beaches of mississippi but there was 30% occupancy in what usually is the most important occasion tourism year, weekend year of mississippi. those stories and of europeans cancelling trips to key west where the we'll never approached are very poignant stories. vietnamese fishermen impressed me more than those of any other in my experience when i was in the gulf, and we had hearings. the first was in new orleans. we became familiar with the problems you described and they are as serious as you say. >> thank you. i have a follow-up question. in additional fees and proposed taxes on the industry, what would the total government take away the including royalties, severance taxes, property taxes, income taxes, least bo

what is different between the gulf and alaska? >> the difference between the gulf and alaska, 5000 -- a >> that i know and i appreciate your answer. i appreciate your answer. as they reach a report from your position on arctic drilling with the president is we have stepped forward with caution. we have to make sure it can't be done to rapidly et cetera et cetera. but it's 150 versus 200 some odd feet -- 18,000 feet. and i worried about this country. we're going to spend about $400 again to buy our oil. in this commission are all against the development of offshore drilling. and i'm sure, by the way. some of the commission against opening in animal order. we are facing bankruptcy because we have not been able to develop our fossil fuels. and yet the commission, the majority, in fact all of them, our intent is not to a fossil fuels. and i think that's inappropriate. lastly, if i can suggest one thing, mr. chairman, we have drilled in the polls about 42,000 wells including about oil wells. and nowhere do you report in your report or

the gulf of mexico. that recognition will cause, in spite of the reticence to accept additional regulation, this to be an exception. second, as has been said, we think a substantial amount of the recommendations that we are proposing can be adopted without congressional action, as it is in the hands of, particularly the and talk -- the department of interior and the administration, to execute. from the commons that we have had thus far from the obama administration, i am very hopeful that that will take advantage of that opportunity. let me add tw of things. congress can reorganize the department of interior to create an environment and safety enterprise come off totally walled off from revenue generation and leasing, without any money. that can be done. it is knowledgeable of all lot more regulation. that is a simple initiative that they can take and we think will be a guarantor in the future against revenue driving this program, which historically through several administrations we document that it has

the piece incredibly control it's now about the gulf of mexico oil spill the new c.e.o. bob dudley was brought into specifically to. rehabilitate the reputation of the company if you like following that disaster and he's certainly going a long way towards doing that he talks a lot about it talks about how much they've learned and the chairman of ross sniffed actually said to me expression which basically translates as once bitten twice shy he thinks that specifically because b.p. suffered this disaster and was blamed for it particularly by the americans they will think twice about what they're doing next time so a company like that will have been versed in what to do when an environmental disaster like this happens so they know they're not green in any way dudley again talks about how contrite they were and what they're going to do so make sure that another disaster doesn't happen let's hear what he had to say. it's been working with ross now for twelve years now and we've been working on the york to for us since two thousand and five was raw stuff working with sokal and

we think that the long-term viability of the industry in the gulf and its economic successes in the gulf are very closely tied to a new standard of safety and environmental protection, which is what our report will, i think, establish a path toward bree -- toward achieving. >> we will take couple of more. yes, sir? >> john kingston from plats. how do you deal with the fact that if they hired a regulator, someone who understands the industry, the compensation package will never be on the level that the private industry can pay for and then presumably take that person away from boem. >> i will tell you two ways. the we've got to get the competition of for those highly trained, special-specialty, technical people. it is possible there are other agencies, like nasa, that have a pay scale that permit that. whether we can get it up to a level comparable to that of industry remains to be seen, but that is one thing that i think the regulator can be helped by having a safety institute with industry people who are evaluating, auditing and inspecting, and who do have comparable compensation, as in

the gulf of mexico is shared to a very large degree with mexico. cuba has also expressed interest in possibly drilling 14 wells, some of them 50 miles off the coast of florida. i have already opened conversation with the mexicans, as has secretary salazar about their need to enter an agreement with the united states. one hopes to but can be drawn into this conversation as well so that all of us practice the same level. -- one hopes cuba can be drawn into this conversation as well so that all of this practice the same level. the same with arctic. it is a punishing environment. it is beset by whether the like of which one does not see in the gulf, except maybe in the occasion ever hurricane. it will acquire special care and attention and the kind of regulations that are effective in the gulf will not be acceptable in the arctic. russia, canada, norway, denmark has already begun last summer to drill two wells, -- all will want to develop those resources and so will the united states. we recommend the state department engage those countries and a commo

experience including the gulf of mexico oil spill cleanup operation b.p. has learned from this experience and our joint venture will be carried out with the greatest level of measures aimed at protecting the environment we've been working with b.p. for many years they are competent and have strong experience of russian companies so there is a strong relationship already in place between b.p. and rosneft before this deals even been signed and of course this is a large area this hundred twenty five thousand square kilometers is going to benefit both sides and the extra expertise technology and cash of course will be needed to be to be brought in so that's where b.p. comes in the piece incredibly contrite now about the gulf of mexico oil spill the new c.e.o. bob dudley was brought into specifically to rehabilitate the reputation of the company if you like following that disaster and he's certainly going a long way towards doing that he talks a lot about it talks about how much they've learned and the chairman of ross sniffed actually said to me expression whi

in the gulf propaganda sunday january the sixteenth marks the twenty years anniversary of the first gulf war was it a fight to free wade or to secure access to the country's oil reserves take a look back on this event on our web site. at easy way of getting around during winter grab jarius lets you glide through the snow or any other terrain check it out on r.t. dot com. this week portugal's prime minister repeatedly insisted his country won't be asking for a bailout from the e.u. because it doesn't need one shows a socrates said the country was on track to restoring its economy and valid to continue with strict sturdy measures such as pension cuts and tax increases he's comments follows speculation that portugal is next in line for a loan after greece and ireland the eurozone is currently in the grip of a debt crisis that is threatening the long stability and experts fear a portugal's demise could worsen the spanish economy financial advisor marco petrov says a bailout wouldn't solve the fundamental flaws in the concept of the eurozone. this is no in any calling the way a final solution

to carry out a project like this in spite of the disaster that we saw in the gulf of mexico last year and i spoke to. him who's the chairman of ross nafta and one of russia's deputy prime ministers here's what he had to say about why they chose b.p. for this. is working on a new strategy transforming the company into an international energy holding little bar do do you. b.p. is of course part of the strategy they've gained a great deal of experience including the gulf of mexico oil spill cleanup operation b.p. has learned from this experience and our joint venture will be carried out with the greatest level of measures aimed at protecting the environment you know we've been working with b.p. for many years they're competent and have strong experience of russian companies so she said i want to show you so there is a strong relationship already in place between b.p. and rosneft before this deals even been signed and of course this is a large area this hundred twenty five thousand square kilometers is going to benefit both sides and the extra expertise technology and cash of course will

after the gulf of mexico oil spill but it's still doing big business elsewhere the british based oil giant has secured a multi-billion dollar contract with russia's rosneft the two companies have agreed to explore and extract the vast untapped natural resources of the arctic artie's lore and it reports. it's a deal that both parties a calling a groundbreaking strategic global alliance russia's biggest oil company rosneft has signed swap deal with b.p. it's the first major equity linked partnership between a national and international oil company when it's done in five percent of b.p. in exchange for a nine and a half percent share in the russian oil major ross next chairman deputy prime minister told r.t. it's the beginning of a new direction for the company. is working on a new strategy aimed at transforming the company into an international energy holding our deal with b.p. is of course part of the strategy they've gained a great deal of experience including the gulf of mexico oil spill cleanup operation b.p. has learned from this experience and our joint venture will be carried ou

one man's mission to turn the gulf region away from greed. great britain's former prime minister face his toughest questioning yet about the decision to go to war in iraq. he admitted a ignoring earlier advice from his most senior legal adviser that an attack might be illegal. he did say to some he did profoundly regret the loss of life in iraq. >> there was no slipping in through a side door. tony blair walked through the main entrance. there were barely a dozen protesters to see him. he took his place at the witness table. the talked about the private letters he sent to george bush in the year leading up to work. >> what i was saying to president bush was very simple. you could count on us but here are the difficulties. i wanted him to take a view radically different than those in his administration. i said i will be with you in handling it this way. i will not push you down this path and back out when a against too hot. -- when it gets too hot. i did this because i believe in this. >> but all the time he was making promises to george bush

we mentioned that warm air coming up from the gulf. it was just enough to mix with some very turning winds in the lower atmosphere, all coming together at just the right time, relatively low odds of that taking place, but all of it happened early this morning, again, producing 20 tornadoes, stretching across four states. 70 severe weather reports, as well. so the timing was certainly not good. a lot of people were sleeping, not even up on this holiday morning. also, kate, this will go down as the second deadliest tornado outbreak on new year's eve, ever. >> julie, can you give us a sense -- i know you're in cincinnati, arkansas, a very small town. how devastated is the town? >> reporter: well, about 14 homes are completely damaged or destroyed. in fact, just across from me, the site of those fatalities, an elderly couple in their mobile home were killed early this morning. next to them, a business owner out tending to his cattle killed, as well. this is a very small, rural community of about 100 people. as you can imagine, everyone end

we began our efforts six months ago with a trip to the gulf. we thought it was important to hear the voices of those who had been most affected by this tragedy. i would like to recognize the distinguished service and extraordinary work of the commission's staff led by mr. richard lazarus and with mr. fred bartlett as head of our investigative team. this staff, which was composed of sign tists, lawyers, engineers, policy analysts and more performed under a very tight schedule a great public service for which we as the commission are extremely proud. i would like to give a brief overview of our report and some of its findings and then i will turn the podium over to my colleague and co-chair, mr. bill riley who will address the implications for the industry practice and the future of offshore drilling. . e is a fundamental fact that the oil and gas our shores is an american asset. it belongs to the people of the united states of america, and thus the federal government has a dual role, it is a regulator for things such as sety into environmental p

and did you hear recently that there is a natural lg in the gulf that is -- a natural algae in the gulf that is eating up some of this oil and what is your opinion of that? host: before we get an answer, what are your thoughts about offshore oil drilling in california? i think she hung up, so we will not know. guest: i will take the low hanging fruit first. there is only one thing that it is pushing -- that is pushing companies into deeper and deeper water and riskier places to drill, and that is, our appetite tfor oil. our suppliers of oil have totally tapped out the easy places, the shallow waters that you mentioned. if you have ever flown over the coast of louisiana in a helicopter, as i have many times, it looks like a pin cushion down there in terms of how many wells are drilled and how many platforms there are. one thing on that, the only reason they're going there is because we want it and we need it. and they are responding to that demand. on the second question, algae in the gulf, yes, i think people were surprised, perhaps the leia plug-delayed public more than researchers, on

in the gulf of mexico but the question on everyone's lips is whether b.p. is a suitable partner for developing the textile following that huge environmental disaster but b.p.'s c.e.o. bob dudley says the company learns a lot from that and they're ready to move into the delicate environment we've been working with ross now for twelve years now and we've been working on the york to for us since two thousand and five working with cycling you know our capabilities our exploration capabilities and i think to be honest we learned a lot about what happened in the gulf of mexico shaken the company to the core renewed focus on safety and risk management and the technology that's new for the environmental care of what we do the deal is a two way street the russian government's probably is to create a favorable economic environment meanwhile b.p. hopes it will improve russia's investment climate. reporting there now x. birds are calling the deal a huge boost for both companies and countries international trade consultant philip says b.p. has plenty riding on russian p

on a thorough financial footing following the massive losses it sustained from the gulf of mexico oil spill it's also a huge vote of confidence for the russian oil exploration industry your and it's are to. the news to teacher arms reduction treaty between russia and the u.s. will be ratified and brought into force before the end of the month that's according to russian lawmakers who have approve the deal during a second round of three readings in the state duma sought start treaty rather was signed by president obama in april last year and should slash the country's nuclear arsenals by a third it was ratified by the u.s. senate in december after months of heated debate on capitol hill congressman added several key changes forcing the russian lawmakers to counter-balance those amendments to keep the treaty intact the head of state do most foreign affairs committee told r.t. that the us is responsible for the lengthy ratification process constantino also expressed fears that washington could talk peter the agreement in the future. they amended the senate resolution just the very dramat

since the oil spill in the gulf of mexico b.p. has a specially bad reputation in environmental protection so the arctic environment is is particularly for a gyal so isn't it too risky choice of a partner for four or for a big project major project in the arctic appreciate the question it's obviously a very important issue and i think has been the recipient of much thought both at the company and i think the leadership of the country you would have seen probably some of the highlights from the meeting with prime minister putin and b.p. c.e.o. bob dudley this topic was addressed on i think it's been made clear by leadership of russia that frankly the experience b.p. has had in the gulf of mexico or over the course of the period from the end of april last year through the end of last year should be viewed as a positive there are many exploration wells being drilled around the world. and have been doing so for many years this one incident is obviously it was painful for all of us in the industry to see at the same time looking back i

we think that the long-term viability of the industry in the gulf and its economic successes in the gulf are very closely tied to a new standard of safety and environmental protection, which is what our report will, i think, establish a path toward bree -- toward achieving. >> we will take couple of more. yes, sir? >> john kingston from plats. how do you deal with the fact that if they hired a regulator, someone who understands the industry, the compensation package will never be on the level that the private industry can pay for and then presumably take that person away from boem. >> i will tell you two ways. the we've got to get the competition of for those highly trained, special-specialty, technical people. it is possible there are other agencies, like nasa, that have a pay scale that permit that. whether we can get it up to a level comparable to that of industry remains to be seen, but that is one thing that i think the regulator can be helped by having a safety institute with industry people who are evaluating, auditing and inspecting, and who do have comparable compensation, as in

and did you hear recently that there is a natural lg in the gulf that is -- a natural algae in the gulf that is eating up some of this oil and what is your opinion of that? host: before we get an answer, what are your thoughts about offshore oil drilling in california? i think she hung up, so we will not know. guest: i will take the low hanging fruit first. there is only one thing that it is pushing -- that is pushing companies into deeper and deeper water and riskier places to drill, and that is, our appetite tfor oil. our suppliers of oil have totally tapped out the easy places, the shallow waters that you mentioned. if you have ever flown over the coast of louisiana in a helicopter, as i have many times, it looks like a pin cushion down there in terms of how many wells are drilled and how many platforms there are. one thing on that, the only reason they're going there is because we want it and we need it. and they are responding to that demand. on the second question, algae in the gulf, yes, i think people were surprised, perhaps the leia plug-delayed public more than researchers, on

boats in the tonkin gulf the night before the tonkin gulf incident, first reading of this is amazing that people don't vote the story is better than they ought to know them, the night before the tall candles the alleged attack, the u.s. destroyers had been accompanied the south vietnamese parties who were reading the north vietnamese territories and was all hush, hush of course we were all supposed to do that. so the boats cannot and challenged the destroyers who were doing that but they didn't firearm them and win the destroyer's took hostile action against the boats the reagan, they went back. the next like a winner was the destroyers, the mattocks and foot herger chollet started firing and that is when johnson said those boys didn't know they were shooting at. there is no evidence the fighting at anything, but since the united states was involved in the illicit activities the night before which couldn't be discussed the whole thing turned it was a fraud and johnson knew it was a fraud which he used to get a blank check from incompliant congress. they pass the tonkin gulf resolutio

as you know, one of the last sales in the gulf of mexico is legislated. that's an option that's always out there. our hope is we can look long-term, look at the five-year plan and work with the department of the interior and develop a long-term planning process that allows us to develop american resources. and fundamentally, that would be the best outcomes. others may resort to legislating solutions. because the fundamental issue of taking the pacific, the atlantic and the parts of eastern gulf off the table for the next five to seven years were clearly have adverse impacts on our economy and our ability to produce the oil and gas were going to need. >> is a legislating in the plan if necessary? >> current option has been done before and that's one way ultimately you can resolve it. you can also resolve it that way in cooperation with the administration. [inaudible] [inaudible] >> -- particularly americans dependent on that oil, china is obviously taking a huge portion of. >> welcome we should be concerned and focus on this energy realities. it's part of