No estimate for reopening of Alaska oil pipeline

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110109/ts_nm/us_oil_pipeline_alaska ^ | January 9, 2011Yahoo News | Yereth Rosen

[Truth29]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – The Trans Alaska Pipeline was shut for a second day on Sunday, with no indication of when it would reopen, after a leak was discovered at Prudhoe Bay, forcing oil companies to cut production to 5 percent of their average 630,000 barrels per day.

The shutdown of one of the United States' key oil arteries, which carries about 12 percent of the country's production, is the latest setback for the aging, 33-year old pipeline, which handles less than a third of the oil it did at its peak in the 1980s.

[Truth29]

Just great. I wonder how long the repair will take, along with how long it will take the Administration to authorize a restart?

[Oldexpat]

One early order of business for the new congress should be to unlock ANWR. It is the easiest oil out there and would help to finance the operation of this vital oil supply. It would also help stimulate the construction of a gas pipeline from the north slope.
We have allowed the RATS and the Greens and the Rino’s to handicap the country and our energy supply..it must stop.
At times I think that these politicians and traitors must be on the payroll of the Arabs and other oil producing countries that hate us.

[epithermal]

Alaska pipeline running at about 5 percent

[houeto]

At times I think that these politicians and traitors must be on the payroll of the Arabs and other oil producing countries that hate us.

I can think of no other logical explanation.

$$$

[Eye of Unk]

Biggest concern is any cooling effect from a decreased flow, they will have it running up again soon. Let it cool too much and it won’t pump. Of course it hasn’t been running anywhere near its capacity, which may be a good thing considering the degradation issues cropping up in the last year or two, crude oil is actually a bit abrasive.

[Truth29]

You're right, but it is still something like 10% of domestic supply so I wonder what effect this will have on the psychology of oil futures? Also, I read somewhere that there is a minimum flow rate that is still several hundred thousand barrels above zero, so that the gradual decline would lead to a sudden shut off sometime in the future. Both of these situations would be a gift to the anti carbon based energy policies of the Obama Administration.

[elpadre]

It is time to build a second, a parallel line to assure adequate flow for now and handle future expansion.

[Eye of Unk]

I tell you honestly, the only really viable threat against the Alaska Pipeline will be one from an Executive Order from the Federal Government to shut it down, and even then I would think the engineers will laugh it off, too many people up here in Alaska know obama never qualified to be legally a President.

We also know nobody will prosecute him for it anyway, so we just look at him as being the figurative village idiot given a crown to wear, in his mind he thinks he is King, and we are just compassionate enough and smart enough to keep him living his dream, we nod at his jokes but we also know he is a no-where man.

Now getting back to the pipeline....

It won’t shut down, its the heart of Alaska, too many rely on it for a job.

[Miss_Meyet]

Thank you for posting this.

[null and void]

Have the pump prices spiked yet?

[ridesthemiles]

President Sarah Palin will do exactly that, IMO.

[Miss_Meyet]

President Sarah Palin will do exactly that, IMO.

Please, please, oh, please, keep my hands off the keyboard before I type a sentence that includes the words, "Governor Palin..."

[Truth29]

"Have the pump prices spiked yet?"

Prices have already been running up so I don't know if this has been factored in yet. Over $3.00 for regular is common.

[OrangeHoof]

It won’t shut down, its the heart of Alaska, too many rely on it for a job.

Ask the folks in Louisiana whether Obama cared about their petro jobs.

[null and void]

He cares very much about petro jobs...

[Eye of Unk]

I cannot remember when regular gas was less than $3 a gallon up here around Wasilla, it might have been maybe 4 years ago.

Its on average about $3.40 and up around here. Went up just a little bit a couple of weeks ago. A half tank of fuel to top up my Silverado last night when I went into town was $60, on average every day I spend maybe $15 per day in fuel alone just to go to work and back, its the cost of living in Alaska.

And so many new people have moved here, they are renting apartments at $1800 a month with about a $400 utility bill, and they are looking for work.

Work that won’t normally re-emerge until springtime. I can blame it on some recent sensationalism of the TV reality shows like Gold Rush Alaska. Its going to be an interesting year ahead, we may see a lot of problems with people going bust up here on an unprecedented level.

Not people who actually live here, the ones that moved here ill prepared and not knowing how to fend for themselves. At the local watering hole I met one such young man who just moved here from Kansas with his family, and he is the one paying such high rates to live in Wasilla, if he any real intellect he would have found different ways to live without extending himself.

Myself when I moved here many years ago I bought an old travel trailer, adapted it for two winters living and then bought cheap land, renting is outrageous up here.

[thulldud]

...even then I would think the engineers will laugh it off, too many people up here in Alaska know obama never qualified to be legally a President.

Would these overlap at all with the ones who wrote-in Murkowski for US Senate?

[Truth29]

Alaska COL like Hawaii is a special case. Regular over $3 headed to $4 in the lower 48 states will be a real drag on the economy. The former head of Shell, John Hofmeister is predicting $5 by sometime next year.

[PapaBear3625]

One early order of business for the new congress should be to unlock ANWR.

ANWR is also estimated as having lighter grades of crude, which would help the oil flow more easily in the pipeline. The oil from the older wells is heavy crude, which has higher viscosity.

[Diogenesis]