Yep - they need to go to the diamond bearings we use in oilfield - then no steel wear surface
No - we place flat diamond against flat diamonds. Grease and oil are attracted to diamond, so they lubricate better than steel. Complicated but effective in actual use.
He didn't neglect it. He used it to make offshore drilling 2x more expensive and to install idiots in what used to be the Mineral Management Service.
I heard these new bureaucrat guys in well control school getting all hopey that they could carry guns on oil platforms…
They truly are stupid…
((He))) wanted to shut it all down - moratorium. The US and Canada are the only places where we even have independent oil companies - the rest are government controlled WW. There was too much resistance for shutdown.
But, the regs and new bureaucracy are convoluted. Took drilling permits from a single month into a year to obtain, and saddled drillers with tons of required certifications and regulations that do little to improve safety.
The rig count is half of what it was pre-Macondo in the offshore plays. Mission accomplished?
BP guilty of that by using Corexit - it's still affecting marine life. Big mats of shit floating up all along the coastline still today.
Forever would mean revolution in no uncertain terms