Posted on 09/29/2005 5:43:59 PM PDT by akdonn
Oil giant BP, rattled by a string of industrial accidents, said Wednesday it will shut down and refurbish dozens of North Slope oil wells as part of a multimillion-dollar campaign to improve safety.
The shutdown will knock out a big chunk of North Slope production -- about 20,000 barrels a day -- at a time when oil prices are running at historic highs in excess of $60 a barrel. Slope production has averaged 811,000 barrels per day so far this month.
But oil field safety trumps high oil prices, and a review of some 2,000 wells in the huge Prudhoe Bay field, as well as the neighboring Endicott field, found that about 70 oil wells need improvements, BP Alaska spokesman Andrew Van Chau said.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
It's an interesting dynamic for Alaskans; the higher the price per barrel, the more in our Permanent Fund even though it costs more for transportation.
The original legislative intent of the Permanent Fund was to pay for state government. Then they decided to give everybody individual payouts and to hell with state government! We don't even have a state income tax.
That means when we pay federal income tax we don't get to deduct our state tax. It's all still going to the same place it always went to for Alaska--anywhere but here. (That's an overstatement, of course...)
About 10-20 years too late. Dial 1-800-US-Congress.
People need to understand that the oil industry is extremely complex. Explore, drill exploratory wells, discern potential, evaluate, stage equipment and resources. Casings, blow-out protectors, valves, pipes, to a REFINERY that in itself takes 7 years to build at an average cost of $3 billion dollars.
This process is not a "light switch" instant-on process.
I wish people understood discovery, supply chain distribution logistics.
A horse, a horse. My kingdom for a horse!
Forget ANWR, we should drill for oil in the sea of oil under the U.S. mainland ASAP.
I live in Georgia and I know for a FACT with test wells for oil done in the 1950's, that there is a sea of oil 12,000 feet beneath me.
And it is probably cheaper than pulling it out of the ocean under miles of water and bedrock.
Who owns these leases?
If true, the oil companies would be drilling for it instead of spending the huge premiums to drill in 6000' of water in the GOM.
FYI, the oil resides inside pores within rock, not in underground caverns or seas.
You might have a point, but when ALL so called oil companies under extreme duress are posting excellent profit margins from 3 Billions upward of 33 Billions(Chevron Corp)it is hardly a sign of emergency operation.
Actually several private families own mineral rights to various tracks of land.
Most of these families are not rich would be more than happy to let the oil companies come and drill for oil on their land for a fair market value price.
Probably becasue some are clueless in the realm of supply chain distribution logistics, economics, and marketing.
You may want to take an Accounting Class.
Have you ever read a financial statement?
Well my WIFE wrote one for Texaco. She worked for Texaco Oil (an eevil oil company for thirty years.).
A corporation is in the business of supplying goods and services.
Have you been to Russia? Spokwn with Russian engineers? Well, My WIFE has. Ever been to Texaco's International World Headquarters? Well I know five CEO's there.
It appears that with your philosphy, you would not let your child open up a lemonade stand.<(shaking head at dopey uninformed ...).
Your cavil is noted.
Wah, Wah, Wah. If everybody was as smart as you are we wouldn't need to have schools, right?
Being an Alaskan, I remember clearly all of the reasons why all the smart people said we couldn't build a pipeline from the North Slope to tidewater at Valdez. Oh, they had more bug-a-boo issues, that mere pedestrians like me would never resolve. But guess what? Once they got the show on the road it happened pretty quickly. That was more than 30 years ago and the damn thing is still delivering millions of gallons to market.
Of course this will result in another 'disruption' and increase in prices but it's all in the name of safety. Next best rationale after 'it's for the children'. Any other business would recognize the need for periodic inspections and routine maintenance work and plan for it so as to avoid 'disruptions' but not the oil industry.
And the MAJORITY of oil refined in the US is imported. Why do we continue to send the oil royalty payments to foreign governments while we sit on our own? We could double the US oil production and not meet the capacity of our refineries. We would however, keep the 12.5% royalty within the US.
Oh, did I mention; MY wife is a bank manager with 30 years in the business at several major banks. That makes ME an expert in banking...
Have YOU ever taken an accounting class?
Have YOU ever written a financial statement? Did your wife reveal all of the details of her employer to YOU while she was writing the corporate financial report for Texico? Did YOU actually write the report but she got paid for it?
How heavy were your wife's bags when YOU carried them for her to the Texico Headquarters? Did YOU get to shine her shoes before she introduced you to all those important people?
Golly!
Talking about comparing apples and oranges. A Lemonade stand is hardly and Energy Broker.
Reread my statement...is has nothing to do with the oil fields and production of Russia (you mentioned your WIFE was there)it has to do with OUR oil Companies and their behavior vis-a-vis an immediate natural disaster.
Crying "wolf" while there is none, while raking in great 1/4ly profits, is not a good business practice IMO.
Do not get me wrong, I am all for profits, just don't try to piss on my leg and tell me it is raining. I am not that stupid, capischi?
Oil, Gas, Electricity as your WIFE probably told you, are THE essential part of our economy well been and perhaps a closer scrutiny of an independent body will be in order to ensure that things are not getting out of hand on phony premises.
Examples?...FAA, NASDAQ, NTSB etc.
Give me high five!
What does the NASDQ have to do with the FAA or NTSB? Please explain. Thank you.
Well, please provide facts, not conjecture and hearsay. Do you have annual or quarterly financial reports from any of these oil companies? Do you own stock in an oil company. If you do, you should be ecstatic.
BTW, profits cause more investors to invest in an enterprize who will invest capital to grow the enterprise and create a return on investment. Is that a bad idea?
Understanding how to read a balance sheet and a p&l is not a bad idea. Our children learned this when they took Accounting 101. Now they are both MBAs with strengths in Economics and Marketing.
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