Tuesday, September 9

The Trouble-shooter


We tend to think of Texan oilmen as Stetson and cowboy boot wearing big loud brawny guys, but the trouble-shooter from Houston that I collected from a local hotel was just the opposite. He was of Chinese stock conservatively dressed, quiet, refined and well spoken.
 He was telling me that he was over to help sort out the much troubled Rivers gas plant at our vast Rampside Gas Terminal. The multi million pound project was completed three years ago but has not ever been able to start production. This has cost the staggering sum of three million dollars a day in lost production.
 Our diminutive Texan beamed as he proudly told me that his team had finished sorting out all the problems the previous day and that at long last the plant was finally in production. But as we drove past the helipad towards the gas plant his smile quickly faded. He pointed at part of the plant and explained to me that there should have been a gas flare burning when the plant is working. "Shucks I guess that they've gone and broke the darn thing again" he said shaking his head and adding a few more million dollars to the losses.

3 comments:

Peggy said...

Now EVERY time you drive past the gas plant, you're going to look for the flame. If it isn't on, you'll think to yourself, "shucks they've broke the darn thing again".

Darned good quote!

bob mullen said...

peggy: funny thing is I can see the gas plant from my window now, and yes the flame is burning.

King of New York Hacks said...

Guess he gages the production level to the pollution level in China....just a speculator here by the way ...no ill intentinions towards anyone.