No, you can't get the oil down the pipeline because they are being proactive at this point. The problem was found as a result of inspections. Which they have been doing the entire time.They are shutting down oil flow right now due to enviromental imact concerns. One quick patch and they could band aid this line back in service. But the other spots are cause for concern so they are replacing over 75% of the pipe. Before a spill happens. Corrossion happens in the materials they use because of the product, its the aging process. It just happens to come at a time when oil prices are at historical highs. So exactly how were they neglegant? There is a lot of pipe in Alaska and the GoM. The only difference in the inspections were the type of inspection. Would you like to shove and instrument in your pipes anymore than necessary if you new that the instrument could end up getting stuck. Millions of dollars are spent inspecting this maze of pipe. And also chemicals to protect this pipe.
if oil costs too much, you should buy less. that might hurt the profits you seem to so irritated by. and it is a good thing too, because according to you, peak oil is happening and we are running out. good thing we cant refine as much as we need. helps with conservation. why should they care? if they make "too much" profit, you will want to regulate them anyways. i hear lots of complaining, but it appears to me that people should be taking steps to use less oil instead of whining. i recently bought a bicycle, so you won't hear me complaining. and not everyone lives in an urban area like me and can ride a bike or the subway. but they can do lots of other things, none of which they want to do when they can whine and try to make the situation worse with government intervetnion instead.
and if you think that's bad, what about the oil sitting under the frozen tundra at Anwar?..................think of the negligence on the part of those unwilling to drill there!
Pipeline inspections are generally performed via flyovers. Most leaks in pipelines are discovered this way. With miles and miles of pipe across Alaska, it is not economical to do full non-destructive testing unless indicators are present. Also, generally speaking, certain spool-pieces are generally tested periodically, and are thought to be representative of entire sections of pipe. If the spool-piece shows corrosion, then the section of pipe is anticipated to show corrosion. There have not been any new refineries constructed in years. Lets thank our tree huggers for that situation. As far as infrastructure, maintenance is routinely performed on all equipment, as required by API and any other applicable standards.
ANWR should be drilled, with proper precautions to protect wildlife. So should offshore California, Florida, and the East coast. But this has nothing to do with Big Oil making windfall profits and failing to deliver the oil because they were too cheap to inspect the pipes properly. Corrosion is a major problem in pipelines. Whole sections are shut down routinely for maintenance and occasional replacement in Louisiana. This does not disrupt product transport here because the pipeline network is so extensive and interconnections frequently available. Product can be easily rerouted when there is a spill or a maintenance shutdown. But on the north slope there are few parallel pipelines, making it imperative that the operators properly inspect and maintain the pipes. If this problem had been caught earlier through annual inspections there would have been time to put in a replacement pipeline segment before the crisis and product shipment could have gone on uninterrupted.
Environmental groups have been very successful at getting tougher legislation passed the last 30 years. The regulatory and permit process makes it extremely difficult to build refineries, chemical plants, power plants, more drilling, etc. Also, many communities join forces with these groups to keep this stuff out of their backyard. Think the oil companies have the right to drill or build refineries when and where they want? If so, please provide proof. Here is an example of an environmental group fighting the building of our first refinery in 30 years. It has taken Arizona Clean Fuels almost 10 years to finally get a permit, but the battle continues. Refinery Reform Campaign Reason Foundation
The environmentalists and a little thing known as "Environmental Justice", or NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard) are two significant reasons we have not constructed any new refineries in the United States in quite a long time. Here's a link to a house energy fact sheet concerning New Clean Air Act requirements. http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/home/Fact_Sheet_America_Need_New_Refineries.pdf While not a refinery, the whole debacle over the location of the proposed Shintech facility in St. James was ridiculous. So instead of siting it downriver where there would have been less impact on air quality outside of the ozone non-attainment area, we drop it in the ozone non-attainment area, right next to Georgia Gulf and downriver from Dow, further concentrating emissions in the non-attainment area. Environmental Justice at work. Back to the tree huggers. US environmental laws have made it near impossible to build refineries close to residential populations (e.g., Environmental Justice). These laws are almost entirely driven by environmentalists, not industry. And I do concede that oil companies have not helped our current state by closing multiple refineries in the 80's in the name of profits. But in order to try and expand, well, it takes more than an act of Congress. The US is about to be in the unenviable position of having to import refined gasoline from the OPEC nations, whose refining capacity is still several years away. We will be wishing that we had made it easier to expand our refining capacity, and that we had actually done it.
I see. By "tree-huggers" you were referring to the Congress of the United States of America and The Environmental Protection Agency of the Executive Branch. You know, the elected representatives of We The People. I assumed you meant the Green-peace kooks who actually chain themselves to trees. :hihi:
