Here is a story that I have difficulty telling better than the original source. Today’s article in Bloomberg.com titled Oil Surges Above $76 as BP Shuts Alaska Field, Largest in U.S. is a litany of the current threats to the US oil supply. It should be a cause of grave concern for all of us that spend a good portion of our time in automobiles getting back and forth to work and other non optional endeavors.
The big news is that Prudhoe Bay, the source of 400,000 barrels per day, nearly 8% of the total US oil production, will be shut down over the next few days to respond to a leak in the Alaskan Pipeline. The leak was not large, but the subsequent tests conducted on the pipeline must have revealed some substantial areas of concern in order to cause BP to decide to shut down the entire field. At current prices, the field should produce more than $30 million per day in revenues.
