| AJC by Tim Bradner: Gov. Sean Parnell terminated TransCanada AGIA pipeline contract. (Also see our report two days ago. -dh) |
From Mail Online: Russian agents are secretly working with environmental campaigners to halt fracking operations in the UK and the rest of Europe, the head of Nato warned yesterday. (Do we believe this effort does not extend to Canada and the Unites States? -dh)
Refer to the Federal Coordinator's new webpage for public information on the Alaska LNG Project. -dh
Prudhoe Bay and TAPS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
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EPA WARNING!!! Commentary by Dave Harbour |
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After all, if we don't look out for the future of our children by carefully monitoring government policies affecting them, who will? The EPA's "Destroy American Jobs, Economic Prosperity and Bright Futures For Our Youth" approach to reasonable environmental regulation is heartbreaking and a direct threat to the American way of life, as we have frequently documented here. In the letter below, Alaska State Representative Charisse Millett (NGP Photo above), exposes the damage EPA proposes doing to Alaska's people in yet another frontal attack on the 49th State's effort to survive as envisioned both by the 1959 Statehood Bill and its own constitution. We offer our respect and appreciation to Republican Representative Millett for her initiative. We wonder why we have not seen elected officials of the other party, serving in both Washington and Juneau, exercise more control over an agency whose policies their party leadership implements. Or, we wonder, do all democrats support the EPA's overreaching policies in Alaska and elsewhere? We would be delighted to print responses to EPA by all elected officials, regardless of party! Millett writes: This month the Obama Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency announced a plan to
reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
Known as the Clean Power Plan, it threatens the
power supply in the interior section of my state unless it is amended to recognize Alaska’s unique
circumstances.
I would like to set aside the ongoing debate among scientists over the role carbon dioxide has in climate
change and the doomsday predictions that come with it to focus on how electric rates and electric grid
reliability will be impacted in Interior Alaska by the Clean Power Plan.
It calls for slashing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 30 percent in 16 years, a goal that can
only be reached in many states, including Alaska, by converting coal fired power plants to natural gas.
Interior Alaska uses coal fired power plants because it is the only available energy source capable
generating cost effective, on demand power.
Massive natural gas reserves are available hundreds of
miles north at Prudhoe Bay, but until a multibillion dollar gas pipeline is built that fuel is not an option.
Replacing coal with alternative energy sources like wind turbines endangers electric grid reliability
because the winds do not always blow. Winter temperatures in Interior Alaska can hit 60 degrees below…. (Read more here)
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While on the one hand we were there at the beginning and are now delighted to celebrate the 37th birthdays of both the great Prudhoe Bay oilfield and the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), we also keep a wary eye on the future.
Our friend, Dawn Patience, reminds us that TODAY Prudhoe Bay turns 37, as does the Trans Alaska Pipeline System. Dawn also sends us a story (Scroll Down) by industry historian, Frank Baker (Photo above, 6-20-77, TAPS ceremony at Prudhoe Bay).
Confirmation well
The field startup was June 20, 1977, Prudhoe Bay is still the largest field ever discovered in North America, 37 years later. On March 13, 1969 the Prudhoe Bay confirmation operator BP announced a major strike about seven miles from the ARCO Prudhoe Bay discovery well.
Sealift
The construction of Prudhoe Bay included a barge armada transporting the facilities to the North Slope.
Nearly all the major oil field equipment were constructed as huge modules (as large as 2,6000 tons) on the coasts of California and Washington and transported to Prudhoe Bay by barge.
Freight drop flight
All materials and supplies were transported to Prudhoe Bay, more than 600 air miles north of Anchorage. The field startup was June 20, 1977, Prudhoe Bay is still the largest field ever discovered in North America, 37 years later.
June 20 Marks Prudhoe Bay’s 37th Birthday
By Frank E. Baker
Thu, Jun 19, 2014
June 20, 1977 was a gray, overcast morning at Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s Arctic coast as scores of reporters, dignitaries and others huddled around the pipeline at Pump Station 1, Milepost 0 of the trans-Alaska pipeline, to witness history. At 10:26 a.m., pumps were started, valves were opened and the first crude oil from North America’s largest oil field flowed into the pipeline for its 800-mile journey to Valdez, where it would be loaded aboard a tanker destined for the US West Coast.
It was an historic moment for the nation, which was heavily reliant on OPEC oil, and the State of Alaska, which was struggling to gain its economic footing as a new state. For BP and ARCO, the two operators of the giant Prudhoe Bay field, it was a long-awaited moment — the culmination of a major push into the Arctic that had begun nearly 20 years earlier when geologists first ventured north to probe this remote frontier. Their search paid off in 1968 with the discovery of Prudhoe Bay — ranked among the top 20 oil fields ever discovered worldwide and still the largest field discovered in North America. Early estimates were 9.6 billion barrels of recoverable oil, making it a field of Middle Eastern size.
Thirty-seven years later, after yielding more than 12 billion barrels of oil, the field is still producing about 260,000 barrels per day (gross) and remains a key asset in BP’s global portfolio. It has provided the State of Alaska billions of dollars in taxes and royalties, created tens of thousands of jobs and helped boost the state’s savings account — the Permanent Fund — to more than $50 billion.
Today, Alaska’s oil industry accounts for about 89 percent of the state’s revenues, with a large share coming from Prudhoe Bay. In addition to its economic benefits, Prudhoe Bay and the field developments it spawned have served as a proving ground for the advancement of oil field technology, Arctic engineering, and significantly increased knowledge of the Arctic environment.
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., which operates the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) on behalf of BP and other pipeline owners, is also celebrating its 37th anniversary TODAY. Counting production from Prudhoe Bay and other North Slope oil fields, it has reliably delivered nearly 17 billion barrels to the Valdez Marine Terminal, located in Prince William Sound. A monument at the terminal bears an inscription dedicated to the tens of thousands of men and women who worked on the TAPS project from 1974-77: “They didn’t know it couldn’t be done.”
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