INVESTIGATIONS INTO BP'S PIPELINE OPERATIONS IN ALASKA WIDEN
PIPELINE DECAY MAY INDICATE LONG-RUNNING PRACTICES FALLING BELOW REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
10 August 2006

Global petroleum giant BP has been forced to shut down the entire supply from its Prudhoe Bay pipeline, due to corrosion that has caused several spills and threatens an environmental catastrophe. Now, US investigators are demanding sections of the pipeline be dismantled and sent as evidence to a criminal inquiry.

In March of this year, some 270,000 gallons of crude oil spilled onto the Alaskan tundra, causing widespread environmental damage. That event brought into focus the complaints of environmental groups and surveyors from the Environmental Protection Agency, who had raised concerns about the maintenance status of the pipeline and its potential threat to the local environment, a fragile tundra ecosystem, dependent on the persistent habits of specific species and seasonal vegetation.

Now, after another leak was discovered, raising concerns of a possible comprehensive failure of the pipeline system, the US government ordered BP to shut down the pipeline, implement full-scale repairs, and cooperate with several ongoing investigations into negligence and regulatory violations.

The shut-down itself is a complex process, currently underway, eventually bringing more than half of Alaskan crude output to a halt. BP says there are supplies in store, which could be used to maintain production, while the pipeline is shut down, but the US Dept. of Energy says the shut-down will likely interrupt overall market supply, and will likely last for several months, cutting into fuel supplies well into next year.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman has said his discussions with BP executives imply there may not be a need to fully shut down the system, but that this is unclear and the full shut-down would be the most efficient way to carry out all necessary repairs and cooperate with investigators.

A grand jury is holding hearings into possible criminal negligence as tied to the decay of the pipeline and failure to carry out routine maintenance. The US Justice Dept. is weighing filing criminal charges for the massive spill in March. And the US Congress is pressing for hearings into the system used by BP to maintain the pipeline and to discover whether or not there has been any criminal wrongdoing.

BP, if it is able to carry out the repairs and bring its Prudhoe Bay operations back online later this year or sometime next year, may likely face much tougher regulatory scrutiny, and could face heavy fines related to clean-up of the oil spilled to date and to help fund more intensive scrutiny. [s]

• IHT: "Scrutiny of BP mounts in Alaska"

BACKGROUND:
THE WORLD AFTER OIL PEAKS
26 May 2006 :: Lester R. Brown

Peak oil is described as the point where oil production stops rising and begins its inevitable long-term decline. In the face of fast-growing demand, this means rising oil prices. But even if oil production growth simply slows or plateaus, the resulting tightening in supplies will still drive the price of oil upward, albeit less rapidly, and in a world of declining oil production, no country can use more oil except at the expense of others. [Full Story]

'THE WIND RUSH IS ON' IN TEXAS
TEXAS TO BUILD 500 OFFSHORE TURBINES, LARGEST OFFSHORE WIND FARM IN U.S.
15 May 2006

State authorities in Texas have announced plans to build the nation's largest offshore wind farm. The facility would be built about 10 miles off Padre Island in the Gulf of Mexico and would consist of 500 wind-harvesting turbines, 400 feet in height. [Full Story]

THE COMING DECLINE OF OIL
5 May 2006 :: Lester R. Brown

When the price of oil climbed above $50 a barrel in late 2004, public attention began to focus on the adequacy of world oil supplies —and specifically on when production would peak and begin to decline. Analysts are far from a consensus on this issue, but several prominent ones now believe that the oil peak is imminent. [Full Story]

POPULATION, LAND, AND CONFLICT
14 June 2005

As land and water become scarce and as competition for these vital resources intensifies, we can expect mounting social tensions within societies, particularly between those who are poor and dispossessed and those who are wealthy, as well as among ethnic and religious groups. Population growth brings with it a steady shrinkage of life-supporting resources per person. [Full Story]