Doug PollardThe Oil Disaster
The largest oil field in the United States has been shut down today amid fears of leaks from the aging trans-Alaska pipeline. The pipeline, which runs from Prudhoe Bay to an oil export terminal at Valdez had been found to have severe corrosion, leaking 4-5 barrels or between 630-790L of oil.
The closure of the field, which supplies eight percent of the US crude oil market, effectively 400,000 barrels, is set to dramatically affect fuel prices around the world. The price of crude oil spiked at US$77 overnight, leading annalists to suggest that petrol prices locally will reach $1.50.
In a conference call with reporters BP America chairman Bob Malone could not confirm the time required to re-start the Prudhoe Bay field, but it has been suggested it could be months before the field resumes full operation.
Now more than ever it seems that rather than pouring money into pulling the price of petrol down, our money could be better used to produce alternate fuel sources. Australia has, or at least had, a reputation for innovative ideas and now these ideas, and Australian brainpower, are needed. The government will inevitably pump Three Billion Dollars into reducing the petrol price by 10 cents a litre to save face and a poor result at the next election. Just imagine if that same money was used in education and research, developing new ideas, not simply with ethanol additives to existing fuel, but a whole new approach to the area – we could be spared this whole horrible mess of petrol prices.
* Image taken from this linked il_well3419.jpg" target="_blank">wikipedia site and is used for the purpose of reporting news related to the image.
In a conference call with reporters BP America chairman Bob Malone could not confirm the time required to re-start the Prudhoe Bay field, but it has been suggested it could be months before the field resumes full operation.
Now more than ever it seems that rather than pouring money into pulling the price of petrol down, our money could be better used to produce alternate fuel sources. Australia has, or at least had, a reputation for innovative ideas and now these ideas, and Australian brainpower, are needed. The government will inevitably pump Three Billion Dollars into reducing the petrol price by 10 cents a litre to save face and a poor result at the next election. Just imagine if that same money was used in education and research, developing new ideas, not simply with ethanol additives to existing fuel, but a whole new approach to the area – we could be spared this whole horrible mess of petrol prices.
* Image taken from this linked il_well3419.jpg" target="_blank">wikipedia site and is used for the purpose of reporting news related to the image.
