Doesn't BP do preventive maintenance on its Prudhoe Bay oil field lines?

[NNN0LHI]

You would think they would? I mean its not like they have been hurting financially and can't afford the manpower to do it. Put a little coat of Rustoleum on them occasionally so they don't rust away.

What do they got a bunch of wankers up there taking care of this stuff?

Don

[NV Whino]

1. They have to wait until just the right time...

to raise the price of gasoline.

[Imagine My Surprise]

3. I believe they have a corrosion problem about as much...

as I believe they're bankrupt. Call me cynical, but I believe this is a totally fabricated, manipulative way of raising prices to the point of causing us to miss back when gas was $4 a gallon.

[Quakerfriend]

7. That's exactly what I thought as I listened to reporters this am

- Saying it was "unexpectantly corroded very badly" and, the time they would be back and running was "undetermined".

I heard reports later in the afternoon (CNN) that this incident should be much LESS disruptive than Katrina was to the oil supply coming out of La.

[Monk06]

11. Actually those pipelines are in bad shape. I saw a documentary

featuring an ex pipeline engineer who quit the
business because the companies were not properly
monitoring and maintaining the pipeline.

He showed videos of corroded sections and in
one case a leak caused by a stray hunter's
bullet that went undetected and un-repaired for
several weeks.

That's one of the reasons why you won't see any
ANWR oil for a very long time if ever.

The Prudoe pipeline will have to be upgraded to
handle the extra pressure and capacity.

[Vincardog]

2. The pipeline is stainless steel. It needs no maintenance.

[NNN0LHI]

5. BP Tries To Assess Alaska Pipeline Rust; Prices Up Sharply

http://www.wbbm780.com/pages/65543.php?

ANCHORAGE (AP) -- Oil company BP scrambled Monday to assess the pipeline corrosion that will shut shipments from the nation's biggest oil field, removing about 8 percent of daily U.S. crude production and driving oil and gasoline prices sharply higher.

BP, which is already facing a criminal investigation over a large spill in March at the same Prudhoe Bay oil field, said it did not know how long the field would be offline. "I don't even know how long it's going to take to shut it down," said Tom Williams, BP's senior tax and royalty counsel. snip

Marshall said tests Friday indicated that there were 16 anomalies in 12 areas in an oil transit line on the eastern side of Prudhoe Bay. Tests found losses in wall thickness of between 70 and 81 percent. Repair or replacement is required if there is more than an 80 percent loss.

"The results were absolutely unexpected," Marshall said.


Are they lying?

[spanone]

4. Minumim maintenace equals maximum profits.

[global1]

6. With All The Money These Oil Companies Are Making Off Us Poor....

suckers - you would think they would have maintenance down pat on their oil transit lines. But then again - once they shut this down for repairs they'll even make more money off of us suckers because supply will go down and the prices will go up. They have no incentive to drill for oil; build new refineries or keep present equipment in top running order. And guess what - we keep bending over for them to drill us.

[Bridget Burke]

8. BP has a dreadful safety record.....

In March 2005, 15 people were killed in an explosion at their Texas City plant. Many more were injured. And that particular plant has a long history of death & injury--mostly because of the "corporate culture." The plant is also the source of "massive releases of toxic pollution." This article from the Houston Chronicle tells some of the story. Other stories at the site giver further details of the human & environmental cost of BP's negligence.

www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/05/blast/3616079.html

Results are not yet in on the "Independent" study of the March '05 explosion. James Baker III was named head of that study. (BP has been a client of Baker Botts.)

Yes, that James Baker. There's a "smell" about BP that goes beyond the usual refinery stench.

[ixion]

9. This is, in part, how they gamed the electric system in CA

by shutting plants down for 'maintenance' when it wasn't necessary.

What those profits soar.

[Rude Horner]

10. What sucks is that this is one of the reasons they justify high prices

They claim that new development, and maintenance of existing infrustructure is expensive, thus justifying high prices. Oh ok. Shhhhhhure.