Posted on 05/04/2008 7:20:11 AM PDT by BlueMoose
Competitive as in DeBeers?
The ignorance of that is astonishing.
Oil is a world wide fungible commodity. Alaska's exporting oil to Asia has no more effect on the overall supply than Canada's exporting oil to us.
When I was in Alaska a few years ago, I was told that oil is exported from there because Asia was closer, and so it was cheaper to send it there than to transport it all the way down to the lower 48.
Look at the prices for Alaskan Crude 8 years ago. In 1999, the monthly average price dropped below $6 a barrel. There was a flood of oil on the West Coast.
Alaska North Slope Wellhead Acquisition Price by First Purchasers
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/f005071__3m.htm
When first built the pipeline oil could not be exported; that was part of the deal to get the pipeline approved through congress. The ban against exporting Alaskan North Slope was lifted in 1996 yet 100% of Alaskan North Slope oil is kept in America today. This has been the case for all but 4 years of the nearly 3 decades of Alaskan oil production. Between 1996-1999 5.5% of North Slope oil was exported to Asian countries. These exports were overwhelmingly supported by the US Congress and by the Clinton Administration to offset an oil glut in California at the time. In June 2000 Alaskan North Slope oil again ceased to be exported, and 100% of Alaskan North Slope production has stayed in America.
False. Just look at a map.
LOL
As much as I liked Alaska, I guess not everyone there knows what they're talking about. Same as everywhere else.
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