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Wednesday, 16 August 2006 04:32 |
 Consumers weary of skyrocketing gas prices got more bad news on Aug. 7, when the Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska temporarily shut down because of crumbling infrastructure and a leak in one of the pipes.
Prudhoe Bay, owned by British Petroleum, is Americaës largest oil field, providing eight percent of the nationës oil output.
The shutdown two weeks ago sent the price of crude oil jumping up three percent and saw prices at the pump rise by as much as five cents per gallon in some major cities.
The crunch particularly affected the West Coast economy. California, in particular, relies on Alaskan crude.
To residents of
the area, problems with fuel supply became all too familiar last fall,
when the fallout from Hurricane Katrina packed gas stations and sent
prices up by as much as a dollar.
That, however,
was the result of a natural disaster. The issues at Prudhoe Bay, on the
other hand, are the result of simple negligence.
Blame for this shutdown should first fall upon the oil company ÇƒÓ and it is inexcusable.
Worldwide, oil
companies last year made record profits. They claimed, to much
criticism, that this was offset by the increased costs of drilling,
refining and maintenance.
But, if BP
cannot be bothered to do basic maintenance on a facility of Prudhoe
Bayës size and importance before now, one must ask the question, "Where
are all the profits going?"
A look at the
bank accounts of oil executives, the salaries of their lobbyists and
campaign contributions to sympathetic legislators would probably be a
good place to start.
Lax federal
regulators also deserve some of the publicës ire for this shutdown.
They should have been ensuring that the oil companies kept the fields
in good condition and made needed improvements.
Americans should
demand accountability from the oil companies ÇƒÓ if theyëre making money
hand-over-fist, they should at least keep their fields working.
In the longer
term, this is a textbook example of why Americaës dependence on oil is
foolhardy and dangerous, leaving the public to shudder every time a
single facility has problems.
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