Major Alaskan oil field shutting down

so....I guess that means the fed won't be raising interest rates anytime soon, huh?? keep those printing presses running guys!!!
more money, more money, more money........
anyone got a cheap wheelbarrow I can buy from them so I can haul around all the money I'm gonna need to buy the loaf of bread??
sure won't be using the car to carry it.

This article by Greg Palast, investigator extraordinaire, might explain some of it:

www.commondreams.org...

QUOTE:
"Years ago, I had the unhappy job of leading an investigation of British Petroleum's management of the Alaska pipeline system. I was working for the Chugach villages, the Alaskan Natives who own the shoreline slimed by the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker grounding.

Even then, courageous government inspectors and pipeline workers were screaming about corrosion all through the pipeline. I say "courageous" because BP, which owns 46% of the pipe and is supposed to manage the system, had a habit of hunting down and destroying the careers of those who warn of pipeline problems.

In one case, BP's CEO of Alaskan operations hired a former CIA expert to break into the home of a whistleblower, Chuck Hamel, who had complained of conditions at the pipe's tanker facility. BP tapped his phone calls with a US congressman and ran a surveillance and smear campaign against him. When caught, a US federal judge said BP's acts were "reminiscent of Nazi Germany."

This was not an isolated case..."
END OF QUOTE

*********************

I thought it was suspicious, too. I think this story explains alot.

Here's another theory for why BP is shutting down the pipeline.

Is the BP Prudhoe Bay Shutdown More Serious Than It Appears?
Production from the Prudhoe Bay field has declined over the past five years. The average well production rate was about 546 barrels of oil per day in 2001, 375 barrels per day in 2002, 350 barrels per day in 2003, 317 barrels per day in 2004 and 293 barrels per day in 2005.

Deploy tinfoil hat: Is it too far out to wonder if BP simply had to shut the thing down because they're not extracting enough oil?

Obviously, "rusty pipeline" sounds better than, "not enough oil to fill the pipeline." And now, in a research note, AG Edwards analyst, Bruce Lanni, is telling investors to expect up to 10% less output when the pipeline is brought back online:

Original pipeline diameter 34 inches, replacement pipeline diameter 18 inches.

There's a lot more to read at the source, but the jest of it is this. They shut the pipe down because it was designed to handle a larger flow of oil and they can't keep it full which causes lots of problems. The fact that they are replacing the pipeline with a pipe that's half the size is very telling. They don't have enough oil to fill a 34 inch line. The fields in Alaska are running out and we're seeing some of the signs now.

Dbates, brilliant deduction, I agree with adn applaud you loudly! I had not made that connection yet, but I think you're on the right track. Thanks.

Wow Dbates - this is a horse of another color entirely!

I still think te timing is suspect or at least convenient, but this capacity aspect is most disturbing & telling.

Originally posted by Relentless
Wow Dbates - this is a horse of another color entirely!

I still think te timing is suspect or at least convenient, but this capacity aspect is most disturbing & telling.

Hello Relentless,

I hope you have been well and not working to hard. Anyway there are two pipelines that lead up to pump station one they are and can be of a smaller diameter as there are now better slick em up chemicals that can be added to the product to decrease friction or flow resistance. In the beginning the average well produced 10,000 bbls/day. Now it is much lower in the 80's we attempted a massive fracturing event to increase flow unfortunately the fix was very expensive, 200 million dollars plus and very temporary. It is still hard to see 10,000 foot down a hole. New drilling is virtually non existent due to environmental concerns and opposition. Now the corrosion problem has been well known and documented since the mid 80's. And that corrosion does not just apply to b.p. terminal lines but also to the 800mi. Alyeska line. B.P. is merely getting the jump on other terminal operators as well as Alyeska. In all probability the whole thing will be shut down especially when the 'greenies" grab their guns [aka pencils] !!!



Named after the Aleut word for mainland, The Alyeska Pipeline Service Company operates the 800-mile long, 48-inch diameter pipeline that transports crude oil from Alaska's North Slope to the marine oil terminal of Valdez in Prince William Sound.

Link

I have worked extensively on the wells, terminal lines, the 48" Alyeska line, and some at Valdez.

longgone

[edit on 2/10/06 by JAK]

I'm from Ireland, mayo in fact & we've recently had some controversy ourselves in the north of mayo with Shell & gas pipelines. Anywho just saw that someone was pretty upset at how high the petrol prices were in the US but over here we pay between €1.20 & €1.30 a litre which is about $4.54 to $4.92 a gallon so the $5 gallon is a reality for us, probably before the end of 2006 as well.

Saw the reason that pipeline got so corroded was because usually theres some kind of robot that goes inside the pipeline & detects faults etc but BP decommissioned theirs for that particular line a couple of years ago cos they thought it was too expensive, kind of hard to believe for a company that makes the kind of profits they do to essentially hamstring themselves like that, but I'm kind of naive so maybe they had other reasons for doing it.

Recently I heard a man named Lindsey Williams on the web. Mr. Williams claims to be a simple, god-fearing missionary who somehow got to sit on the board of executives building the trans-atlantic pipeline back in the 1970's. He wrote this little-known book:

The Energy Non-Crisis by Lindsey Williams

...wherein he claims that there are at least two oil fields in NW Alaska which are as large as what the Saudis have. Yes that's right, he claims Gull Island is the name of one site, unknown to the American people, and says there is at least one other field up there. I haven't read the book but will be doing so very soon.

Here's the author's quotes from the description on amazon:

Book Description

"After only one week on the North Slop of Alaska, Senator Chance had said to me, "Almost everything said to me [about the energy crisis] by those briefers from Washington, D. C. was a lie,'"

"[After proving the find at Gull Island an ARCO executive] went on to say, 'Chaplain, America has just become energy independent!'...The energy crisis had just come to a screeching halt-this ought to hit the front page of every newspaper in America...but before an announcement was made the government forced them to cap it and seal the records which documented the find...WHY!?"

The executive mentioned above, was the senior executive of Atlantic-Richfield and he actually helped him rewrite the details, according to the author.

Mr Williams volunteered to be an unpaid chaplain while the trans-atlantic pipeline was being built. He was placed as official executive chaplain of the Northern 7 camps on the trans-alaska pipeline when being constructed. He was given executive status and asked to sit in on the board meetings as an advisor due to his good relationship with the workers. The executive mentioned above, is a man named Ken Fromm. Mr. Williams talks about a meeting in Ken Fromm's office at the day when this Gull Island field was opened and the pressure of the field was first proven.

Anyway, you can hear his testimony in this regard, at the link below. He begins telling his story at 36:30 into the first mp3. At 39:51 he speaks of a "30-year plan for the arabs".

mp3-2.rbnlive.com...
mp3-2.rbnlive.com...

Wikipedia gives the construction dates as between March 27, 1974 and May 31, 1977. If his testimony is true, then perhaps in 2003/2004 we saw the "30 year plan for the arabs" put into action? Maybe this was the "Mission Accomplished" which Bush was celebrating? Not sure, but I believe we are being lied to.

[edit on 30-8-2006 by smallpeeps]

I do not find it hard to believe the findings and claims of Lindsey Williams. It is not total cynicism nor conspiracy theory thinking for all of it to be taken as the truth. . Along with lots of money and lots of power comes lots of corruption. Unfortunately, is the battle too big to win.? Most likely , yes. and that is beyond sad. No, beyond scary.

Did anyone else get the feeling that the main point of this video was for Linsey Williams to sell his book? I'm going to try to check some of his facts before I make up my mind.

If you actually did some research before posting youd realize his books are out of print. The only copies you can find are on Amazon for $1000 and on his site, which also has his book online for free if you just want to read it. So you can through out that idea.

Lindsey is a brave man for doing this and its sad to see that hes decided to give up due to threats on him and his families well being. Every American needs to see this. Pass his story to everyone you know. I have