Posted on 08/21/2006 6:50:27 AM PDT by thackney
The Interior Department is set to open a vast area of environmentally sensitive wetlands in Alaska to oil drilling, even as opponents point to corroding pipelines to the east at Prudhoe Bay as a reason to keep the area off limits.
The tens of thousands of acres in and around Lake Teshekpuk on Alaska's North Slope are part of the oil-rich Barrow Arch that also includes the Prudhoe Bay fields that have kept oil flowing for decades.
Environmentalists and some members of Congress oppose the lease sale. Federal regulators and a House committee are investigating inspection and maintenance programs at BP Alaska, where widespread pipeline corrosion forced the partial shutdown of Prudhoe Bay oil production Aug. 6.
BP Alaska is a subsidiary of London energy giant BP PLC.
Government geologists think at least 2 billion barrels of oil and huge amounts of natural gas lie beneath the coastal lagoons, river deltas and sedge grass meadows, an area where caribou give birth to their calves and thousands of geese migrate each summer to molt.
Within days, the Interior Department will open tracts in the lake area for leasing. The winning bids will be announced in late September.
The lake and its surrounding wetlands are within the federal National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA), 22 million acres set aside in 1923 by the federal government for its oil and gas resources.
Unlike the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge farther to the east, the NPRA is acknowledged by all sides to be an area for energy development.
Environmentalists argue that parts of it, especially the region around Lake Teshekpuk, should be excluded from the lease sales.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Ever notice that all American owned resources are: "environmentally sensitive"?
Take care, be smart, but drill darn it. Let's become energy independent. Then we'll find out just how clever those islamic monkeys in the Middle East really are.
environmentally sensitive wetlands
you mean swamps right?
Actually they are frozen deserts, almost no rain or snowfall. But for the couple months a year they are thawed, there are lots and lots of lakes & ponds.
Stopping The USA from ANY drilling will make us more dependent on foreign oil and helps the downfall of western civilization.
There are small independent drillers in NPRA. ConocoPhillips as well. I'm not aware of BP exploring there but they may be as well.
What I'm noticing is that it seems that most of Americas resources are owned by foreign corporations.......why?
The USA is the ONLY developed nation that is NOT expanding its oil production (thank you wacko Leftists).
"What I'm noticing is that it seems that most of Americas resources are owned by foreign corporations.......why?"
Combination of inefficient government and capitalism is my guess. I am aware of 2 lines of thought of foreign ownership of domestic resources. One falls along the lines of it being bad, that profits and appreciation are diverted to support other nations. The other line finds it to be no big deal. The resources are here, they should be used.
I can see both sides. When the Japanese bought up real estate in the 70s and 80s it was supposed to be terrible... turned out to be no big deal.
I'd prefer that American companies develop American resources for security purposes, but I admit I'm no expert on this.
Any word on the replacement of the 30" line,as to game plan?
"Environmentalists and some members of Congress oppose the lease sale",or another name for the group would be DEMOCRTAS !!!
Replacement pipe is ordered. Temporary sleeves are being fabricated and drawn out of stock from multiple sources. Once the sleeves are in place, reduced pressure operation will probably begin. I do not believe it is a 30" line though.
Seaports, tollroads.
What do you base that on? It certainly is not the case on the North Slope.
LOL
Once you put down a gavel pad, it's not so wet.
I see this as good news, maybe my children (and the grandkids) will be able to stay here and have a job that pays enough to live on.
Panama Canal
yitbos
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