Better buy gas: BP shutting down large Alaska oil field

[Firetxmi]

BP shutting down large Alaska oil field

6 minutes ago

BP Exploration Alaska, Inc. began shutting down the Prudhoe Bay oil field Sunday after discovering unexpectedly severe corrosion and a small spill from a transit pipeline.

Prudhoe Bay represents about half of Alaska's oil production and about 8 percent of U.S. production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Company officials said it would take days to shut down the oil field. Once completed, it's expected to reduce oil field production by 400,000 barrels a day.

"We regret that it is necessary to take this action and we apologize to the nation and the State of Alaska for the adverse impacts it will cause," BP America Chairman and President Bob Malone said in a prepared statement.

Officials learned Friday that data from an internal sensing device found 16 anomalies in 12 locations in an oil transit line on the eastern side of the field. Follow-up inspections found "corrosion-related wall thinning appeared to exceed BP criteria for continued operation," the company said in a release.

That's when workers also found a small spill, estimated to be about 4 to 5 barrels.

BP says the spill has been contained and clean up efforts are under way. State and federal officials have been informed of the decision.
Link:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060807/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_field_shutdown

Looks like I better buy some gas tonight!

[askDNA]

too late, traders already made $$$ off of it before the news became public.

[XShipRider]

too late, traders already made $$$ off of it before the news became public.

Isn't that what's termed "insider trading?" Someone should be going to
jail.

I thought this pipeline was constantly monitored for such calamities.
How did it get to the point of "severe corrosion" without anyone
noticing?

[Firetxmi]

Is it still possible to tap into the reserve with this pipeline being shut down?

[K2-Kelly]

Well lets take a "guess" here at what is going to happen...........

Being they run inspection equipment including that which checks the steel down the pipe regularly, I believe I saw on a special daily, they suddenly have a leak without any warning losing a whopping 4-5 barrels (that would be comparable to a single drip from your home's faucet compared to its entire lives water supply).......So never the less oil companies caring about the environment over profit :roll: , decide to shut it down.....Just not immediately, soon though.

Oil/fuel prices skyrocket from the lack of flow although they repair the faulty section in a day....Yet naturally keep it down for a week or so naturally till price at the pump is ridiculous, then kick it back on WITHOUT fanfare......

Naturally they then reduce the price of fuel accordingly.......IOW, 1/4 of what it was raised..........

VIOLA!!.......Another year of RECORD profits even though they're suffering so badly like the last........Kewl huh?

I live in Michigan part time, Jamaica the other part.........What strikes me as odd is "why" we're even still tolerating this foolishness (besides the fact our government is making a killing too)....When there is such a thing as E85 fuel. So why mention Michigan & Jamaica?.........Well, E85 is made from corn, kewl, essentially corn starches and sugars turned into 200 proof grain alcohol, then a touch of gasoline added so we're not all sipping off our fuel tanks.

Seems to me the major crops of both Jamaica & Michigan would do better at making this rare elusive fuel................Sugar Cane & Sugar Beets. Time for some aggressive entrepreneur to kick the oil companies in the nu.........err how's the weather by you?

[Sand Man]

I've been meaning to ask this: How does that so-called "engine that runs on tap water" technology really work? Is it true or fiction?

I imagine it would really bring the these oil companies down. If it were true and some inventor stepped up with his great idea I think these oil companies will pay him truck loads of $$$ just to shut up.

[Zvucni Efekti]

When I woke up this morning my arse hurt for some odd reason, I was clueless as to why until I read this news. I'm starting to get sick of getting raped by the oil companies.

[Durandal]

Gas was up to 3.15 here because of a "possible" threat of the hurricane that dissipated Friday...

*snort*

Then it went down last night to 2.91...

Next price hike won't be till about 3 PM today...going to get fuel now...

What a ƒucking joke...

Time to get a TDI...and ditch the Explorer.

The Tax credit for Hybrids is freaking joke, thanks to an ineffectual government...

Hybrid Car Tax Credit:

2006-2007 Ford Escape Hybrid Front WD $2,600
2006-2007 Ford Escape Hybrid 4 WD $1,950
2005 Honda Accord Hybrid $650.00
2006 Honda Accord Hybrid $1,300.00*
2005 Honda Civic Hybrid (SULEV) MT $1,700.00
2005 Honda Civic Hybrid (SULEV) CVT $1,700.00
2006 Honda Civic Hybrid CVT $2,100.00
2005-2006 Honda Insight CVT $1,450.00
2007 Lexus GS 450h $1,550
2006 Lexus RX400h 2WD $2200
2006 Lexus RX400h 4WD $2200
2006-2007 Mercury Mariner Hybrid 4 WD $1,950
2007 Saturn VUE Green Line SUV $650
2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid $2,600
2006 Toyota Highlander 4WD Hybrid $2600
2006 Toyota Highlander 2WD Hybrid $2600
2005-2006 Toyota Prius $3150

(Note, those rebates are not permanent and some are already a fraction of the listed value do to the number of vehicles sold to date.)

Half of them get WORSE gas mileage than a VW Jetta TDI. Most of the ones listed above get between 28 and 35 MPG while the Jetta TDI is up at 44...

This country is sooo screwed up sometimes....

[2Sheds_Jackson]

Honestly, I view this as a good thing. Unless something is demonstrably broke, it won't get fixed. As expensive as gas is, it's still not expensive enough for people to give a sh*t. People are still plunking down $45k every day on 13mpg Avalanches....because they can. I think we need a kick in the ass to wake up and understand that we can't have things both ways.

Ethanol is swell but studies have shown that even at our maximum anticipated production, the ethanol we make would just barely keep up with our projected growth in gas usage over the next 8 years. Hybrids are a fashion trend, not a real solution...at least the models that are currently offered. As Durandal said - there are other cars that get better outright mileage - not to mention the huge price premium they charge for hybrids which can't be recovered for decades at current gas prices.

Drill more. Build 5 new refineries. Raise the CAFE baseline. But heh heh - as has been pointed out - this is after all a commodities game, and the players involved love nothing more than keeping the supply low and volatile. ;)

[Durandal]

Honestly, I view this as a good thing. Unless something is demonstrably broke, it won't get fixed. As expensive as gas is, it's still not expensive enough for people to give a sh*t. People are still plunking down $45k every day on 13mpg Avalanches....because they can. I think we need a kick in the ass to wake up and understand that we can't have things both ways.


All too true...

Personally, I'd like to see a 1.00 per gallon gasoline (only) tax.

Maybe that will help push it over the edge.

I know my next car is going to be small and efficient. Not that piece of crap I drive now. Maybe 3 months away...have to get married first and join our financial stuff together...then its onto less important things...like a car and a new home.

[Firetxmi]

When I woke up this morning my arse hurt for some odd reason, I was clueless as to why until I read this news. I'm starting to get sick of getting raped by the oil companies.

Gives new meaning to being bent over a barrel huh? :D

[Firetxmi]

Honestly, I view this as a good thing. Unless something is demonstrably broke, it won't get fixed. As expensive as gas is, it's still not expensive enough for people to give a sh*t. People are still plunking down $45k every day on 13mpg Avalanches....because they can. I think we need a kick in the ass to wake up and understand that we can't have things both ways.


I agree. Eventually we will reach out tipping point. Many of my friends are selling their big trucks for more economical cars, but you still see so many big trucks on the road it is unbelieveable.

U.S. Border Patrol is across the alley from my house and every day at shift change I watch their Excursions idle in the parking lot for half an hour at least (in other words I watch my tax money drain right before my eyes). :D

On a side note, my 98 Subaru Outback gets 25 MPG, I'd still like to get better though!

[ToyotaF1Fan]

Well lets take a "guess" here at what is going to happen...........

Being they run inspection equipment including that which checks the steel down the pipe regularly, I believe I saw on a special daily, they suddenly have a leak without any warning losing a whopping 4-5 barrels (that would be comparable to a single drip from your home's faucet compared to its entire lives water supply).......So never the less oil companies caring about the environment over profit :roll: , decide to shut it down.....Just not immediately, soon though.

Oil/fuel prices skyrocket from the lack of flow although they repair the faulty section in a day....Yet naturally keep it down for a week or so naturally till price at the pump is ridiculous, then kick it back on WITHOUT fanfare......

Naturally they then reduce the price of fuel accordingly.......IOW, 1/4 of what it was raised..........

VIOLA!!.......Another year of RECORD profits even though they're suffering so badly like the last........Kewl huh?

I live in Michigan part time, Jamaica the other part.........What strikes me as odd is "why" we're even still tolerating this foolishness (besides the fact our government is making a killing too)....When there is such a thing as E85 fuel. So why mention Michigan & Jamaica?.........Well, E85 is made from corn, kewl, essentially corn starches and sugars turned into 200 proof grain alcohol, then a touch of gasoline added so we're not all sipping off our fuel tanks.

Seems to me the major crops of both Jamaica & Michigan would do better at making this rare elusive fuel................Sugar Cane & Sugar Beets. Time for some aggressive entrepreneur to kick the oil companies in the nu.........err how's the weather by you?

E85 isn't economically feasible as of yet due to the fact that most of the factories that produce it use petroleum based fuel for power. As such, Ethanol's price is tied to the price of oil for the time being. It also faces subsidies for the farmers who grow the corn of anywhere from $.40-$.50/gallon from the feds and another 10 to 40 cents from the state. Finally, E85 uses 1.5 gallons to travel the same distance as 1 gallon of gas. Therefore, one ends up paying the same price per gallor as regular gasoline but gets 3/4 of the mileage. Btw, I am originally from South Dakota and Iowa, so if you want to uise ethanol that is fine with me, just means more money in my extended family's pocket. :)

TF1

[annihilation]

Diesel engines is where its at. Man we are going to have an expensive winter, better stock up on fire wood if you can.

Someone mentioned a tax on gas. I would agree and accept a 1 dollar a gallon tax if that money was used to find an alternative to oil. Not used for anything else but to find alternatives. Then I would accept that. Till that happens I dont want to see any other taxes on gas.

[Firetxmi]

Diesel engines is where its at. Man we are going to have an expensive winter, better stock up on fire wood if you can.

Someone mentioned a tax on gas. I would agree and accept a 1 dollar a gallon tax if that money was used to find an alternative to oil. Not used for anything else but to find alternatives. Then I would accept that. Till that happens I dont want to see any other taxes on gas.

Very good idea. I bet the gas companies would throw a sh!tfit!

[Decebalus]

Here in Chicago near my place, the cheapest gast at the cheapest gas station is about 3.30$ a gallon. I'm guessing it will increase by at least 8% in the next couple of days. I need to fill my tank, so I'll go today and fill it up. The problem is that I have a car that is a gas eater. 5.2 engine, all wheel drive, 8 cylinders. Man I have to sell that car and buy a 4 cylinder Toyota.

[XShipRider]

Diesel engines is where its at. Man we are going to have an expensive winter, better stock up on fire wood if you can.

Someone mentioned a tax on gas. I would agree and accept a 1 dollar a gallon tax if that money was used to find an alternative to oil. Not used for anything else but to find alternatives. Then I would accept that. Till that happens I dont want to see any other taxes on gas.

You scare me. Just kidding. But your thinking does bother me just a bit.
Don't ever accept a tax on faith that your elected governmental officials
will do the right thing once they impose it.

Most state governments operate much like the federal government. All
tax monies are pooled then doled out according to who greased what
pocket with the most gratuities. Even with all the good intentions of
the taxpayer in mind, the Congress rarely expends all the money on said
project in toto, rather they earmark funds for favored projects (read
"pork").

[Firetxmi]

Energy Dept. ready to tap emergency oil

By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 48 minutes ago

The Energy Department is prepared to provide oil from the government's emergency supplies if a refinery requests it because of the disruption of supplies from Alaska, a department spokesman said Monday.

"We're taking a very serious look at this," said spokesman Craig Stevens, referring to the loss of nearly half of oil shipments from Alaska's North Slope because of a pipeline corrosion problem.

Stevens said the department will be in contact with BP Exploration Alaska Inc. and West Coast refiners later in Monday to assess the situation. "If there is a request for oil we'll certainly take a serious look at that," he said.

Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., often a critic of the administration's energy policy, said: "This is the appropriate and right thing to do. We're glad the White House's reluctance to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to prevent price spikes seems to have dissipated."

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the nation's emergency stockpile of crude oil. It was created after the 1973 oil embargo when Arab countries halted petroleum exports to protest U.S. support for Israel.

The reserve has about 700 million barrels in storage on the Gulf Coast to be used in case of a serious supply disruption. The Energy Department in the past has lent SPR oil to refineries when there were disruptions because of pipeline or other problems.

Most of Alaska's oil goes to refineries on the West Coast. It was unclear how those refineries would be supplied with oil on the Gulf Coast. However any oil put into the market to replace lost Alaska oil would tend to ease prices, market experts say.

Oil prices jumped by more than $1 a barrel Monday following a production shutdown at an Alaskan oil field that accounts for about 8 percent of U.S. production.

BP Exploration Alaska Inc. began shutting down oil production Sunday at Prudhoe Bay due to severe pipeline corrosion.

Once the field is shut down, in a process expected to take days, BP said oil production would be reduced by 400,000 barrels a day. BP officials said they didn't know how long the Prudhoe Bay field would be off line.

The nation's petroleum reserve was created in legislation signed by President Ford in December 1975, which made it U.S. policy to create a reserve capable of holding up to 1 billion barrels of oil as an insurance policy against future supply disruptions.

Oil companies contribute to the supply in lieu of paying cash royalties for oil pumped on federally owned land.


Link:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060807/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/oil_shutdown_reserves_4;_ylt=AjolWxNdDjqlLumuz0pKHQOAsnsA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[annihilation]

You scare me. Just kidding. But your thinking does bother me just a bit.
Don't ever accept a tax on faith that your elected governmental officials
will do the right thing once they impose it.

Most state governments operate much like the federal government. All
tax monies are pooled then doled out according to who greased what
pocket with the most gratuities. Even with all the good intentions of
the taxpayer in mind, the Congress rarely expends all the money on said
project in toto, rather they earmark funds for favored projects (read
"pork").

Oh I'm fully aware of their dirty dealings. Thats why I said I won't support a tax increase until such agreement could be made. I know those bastards if given the chance would spend it on useless projects much like they do know. I also know they would never allow for such a thing to have the money from that tax go to a specific cause without their ability to "touch" the revenue.

I have no faith in my government anymore. I've lost it a long time ago.

[XShipRider]

I have no faith in my government anymore. I've lost it a long time ago.

Too bad we can't have a "no confidence" vote like they do in some
parliamentary countries.

[ElHombre]

I thought this pipeline was constantly monitored for such calamities.
How did it get to the point of "severe corrosion" without anyone
noticing?

it's not like the oil companies are lacking in money to fund maintenance.

[annihilation]

Too bad we can't have a "no confidence" vote like they do in some
parliamentary countries.


OMG how awesome would that be.

Hell I think during the election for president we should have a third option which is none of the above. If that gets the majority of the votes then those two running are tossed out and another two candidates are selected to run for president and they have 6 months before another election.

[askDNA]

Too bad we can't have a "no confidence" vote like they do in some
parliamentary countries.

so we could be like Italy and be in 50+ governments since WW2?

[aedmon640]

I've been meaning to ask this: How does that so-called "engine that runs on tap water" technology really work? Is it true or fiction?

I imagine it would really bring the these oil companies down. If it were true and some inventor stepped up with his great idea I think these oil companies will pay him truck loads of $$$ just to shut up.

completely false

[remo williams]

it's not like the oil companies are lacking in money to fund maintenance.


"I think this was predictable and preventable," says Phil Flynn, an energy analyst with Alaron Trading Corp.
In fact, allegations about BP's maintenance practices have been so persistent that a criminal investigation now is under way into whether BP has for years deliberately shortchanged maintenance and falsified records to cover it up.
The criminal probe was triggered by Chuck Hamel, a longtime nemesis of the oil companies and advocate for oil workers.
"They're playing the Russian roulette up there," he says.
Hamel says a dozen past and current BP employees came to him claiming they'd been told to cut back on a chemical put into the system to retard rust and corrosion, and to falsify records. A federal official confirms that many of these workers have also talked to the FBI.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14251436/

Apparently they needed to cut costs on their mintence program in light of those multi billion dollar profits:roll: .

[Will938]

Here in Chicago near my place, the cheapest gast at the cheapest gas station is about 3.30$ a gallon. I'm guessing it will increase by at least 8% in the next couple of days. I need to fill my tank, so I'll go today and fill it up. The problem is that I have a car that is a gas eater. 5.2 engine, all wheel drive, 8 cylinders. Man I have to sell that car and buy a 4 cylinder Toyota.

Let me take a guess, Dodge Durango.

[Zvucni Efekti]

I've got a mid-80s GMC Jimmy myself, not the S-15 but the big guy. Unfortunately if I were to sell it I would have just enough money for a used Vespa, so unless gas gets expensive enough to justify owning a Vespa in the Rocky Mountains with Winter on the horizon, I'm stuck with what I've got.

Some people have got SUV's or big trucks because they're stuck with them. Not people driving brand new Suburbans, obviously, but people like me.

[ElHombre]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14251436/

Apparently they needed to cut costs on their mintence program in light of those multi billion dollar profits:roll: .

i heard the same thing on NPR yesterday. BP hadn't done a maintenance check on those lines since the nineties! they only did because a gov't inpsector ordered them to do so.

incedentally, this brings to mind the explosion down in texas city a while back. it was a BP facility as well.

[Durandal]

Hey, at least they have the new eco-friendly looking logo. p-)