Have at it! I'll sit this one out lol.
Posted on 08/07/2006 8:57:11 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday called on the U.S. Congress to hold hearings into BP's operations in Alaska following a second oil pipeline rupture at its Prudhoe Bay operations over the weekend that will shut the 400,000 barrel-a-day oilfield.
"It is appalling that BP let this critical pipeline deteriorate to the point that a major production shutdown was necessary," said Rep. John Dingell (news, bio, voting record), the top-ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, in a statement.
"The United States Congress has an obligation to hold hearings to determine what broke down here and what laws and regulations need to be improved to ensure problem pipelines like these are found and fixed earlier," Dingell said.
Democratic Rep. Edward Markey (news, bio, voting record), who also serves on the House committee, said the shutdown reflects BP's chronic mismanagement of its U.S. drilling operations and that the company had been earning enough money to prevent the problem.
"With oil above $70 per barrel and BP making record profits, it can afford to properly clean and maintain its pipelines," Markey said in a statement.
Markey said the Department of Transportation's Office of Pipeline Safety needed the legal authority to require minimum maintenance standards and avoid such pipeline shutdowns.
"This sudden loss of production will dramatically increase oil prices and the American people will be footing the bill for this combined failure of DOT's regulatory oversight and BP's corporate responsibility," he said.
Congress is now out for its month-long summer recess, and any hearings on the shutdown would not take place until lawmakers return in early September.
In the meantime, Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record) said the Bush administration should immediately release oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help offset the lost Alaska crude supplies.
Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said the government was prepared to make oil loans from the emergency stockpile to West Coast refiners if they requested the supplies.
I have a probe I'd like to give 'em.
...
Wow, they're demanding to know why the pipeline has worn out (normal wear) and why the supply is being interrupted (because the idiot Dems won't let them build a new one)....
I hate this shutdown and question its timing, but to see the dems posturing on this is equally disgusting. As if they are actually going to do something constructive to help. Right.
Have at it! I'll sit this one out lol.
And Dingell knows appalling.
They block construction of all new oil projects and then PROBE when old equipment fails.
Gee, if the leftist Demoncrat eco-nuts hadn't blocked exploration in ANWR for the past 30yrs, there probably would already be another [spare] pipeline running from the NorthSlope down to Valdez in case the Prudhoe pipeline needed repairs.
"It is appalling that BP let this critical pipeline deteriorate to the point that a major production shutdown was necessary," said Rep. John Dingell"
And why is this line so "critical"? Because idiots like Dingell won't let us build any new ones.
This is the same Dingell who does not know if Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, but he knows an oil company when he sees one.LOL!
The dems can't make a move without pi$$ing off part of their collection of losers. That's why they have to deal in broad generalizations of their agenda.
Long on broad-brush ideas, but the "devil is in the details" and they dare not give details. Besides, generalizations sound so grandiose.
Hey Dingell...are BP employees terrorists?
They want to "hold hearings...."......THIS COULD BE GREAT! Let's ask some pertinent questions, shall we....like what most of you previously have said...."Why Senator, how long do you think a pipeline can operate without wearing out???? And, dear Senator, why have you not voted to OPEN UP ANWR.....and dearest Senator, when was the last time you voted to PROBE for MORE oil elsewhere in the U.S.....it's a quagmire, I tell ya!
Dear Mr. Dingellberry: I was laboring under the assumptiom that BP was a privately owned firm it doesnt belong to the government and they can run it pretty much as sloppily as they like. Take your probe and shove it.
Now if you really want to run a probe try finding out why as bad as we need new supplies you pricks in the Dem party keep blocking drilling.
Which would still involve shutting the pipeline down, wouldn't it? Especially when replacing a weak section?
Why does congress think the solution to every problem is to have hearings and pass more laws ?
"to a man whose only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail".
Congressman Dingell, is it true that you are a Communist sympathizer, and have been working on behalf of Hizbullah to undermine the United States? Answer the question Congressman!
"I have a probe I'd like to give 'em."
Have at it! I'll sit this one out lol.
I think Bela Pelosi's been probed...
Hello!... BP does this every single year.. on some lengths of pipe.. news release of major shutdown sounds like insider trading to me.. Everybody knew the stock would go up for the next few days..
The closure was for environmental reasons.
Really BP is damned if they do and damned if they don't. They don't have the shut-down to prevent a major environmental disaster or they keep the oil flowing and have a major oil catastrophe. You really can't win with these liberals.
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