We all need goals. They motivate us to act, to become better at something, to improve a situation.
The goal might not be achieved, but improvement comes nevertheless. There’s usually at least some notable advancement.
Setting a goal is clearly a good thing to do, whether at home or in business.
Or in government.
So it’s good that Gov. Sean Parnell set a goal for significantly increasing oil production in Alaska. The governor long ago said he wanted to see 1 million barrels of oil per day flowing through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline within 10 years. The long-term trend has been downward since the high point of 2.1 billion barrels per day in the late 1980s.
The pipeline carried 609,863 barrels on Wednesday.
Getting to 1 million per day within 10 years would seem to be a tall order, considering that oil explorers and producers consume years bringing an oil field to life.
We may not get to the actual number of 1 million.
But so what?
What really matters is that the trend line heads upward at an acceptable clip.
It’s important to note the state can’t by itself make the goals of 1 million barrels a reality. The state doesn’t control the pipeline or the oil markets or the federal government’s role. But it does have control of the fiscal terms Alaska puts in place for oil exploration and production, and it’s the debate over changing those terms that is under way in earnest in Juneau.
Getting more oil produced from state-owned lands is vital for Alaska, where oil revenue is by far the leading source of state government’s income.
Some people scoff at the governor’s optimism and his pipeline goal. Is 1 million barrels per day a pipe dream? Maybe. Maybe not.
Alaskans should look past the naysayers when it comes to oil production. And they can look to President Kennedy’s goal of putting man on the moon for assurance that thinking big really can lead to a big reward.
The oil co-s are selling that crude at probably 5 times the their cost to get it to the refineries [which the probably own].
I seems to me, I read some where the Oil co's profit from the sale of Alaska crude was around 7 billion dollars.
Since they are making that amount of profit, they have a very strong vested interest in increasing production. Keep in mind any taxes they pay to AK are tax deductions off their federal and state income taxes.
At 200K barrels/day x 36 years total production is 262 billion barrels.
Out of a deposit which we were told only held 9? barrels. [been along time since I saw the number of barrels they expected to recover]
The other problem is we sell off the resource, what do we do when it runs out?
And the money has all been spent on education which has little long term value when it comes to support our socialist state. You can't eat education and you can't tax it.
"The long-term trend has been downward since the high point of 2.1 billion barrels per day in the late 1980s."
I saw this in the print addition too.
Please note there is a one thousand fold difference between 2.1 BILLION barrels and 2.1 MILLION barrels.
TAPS should have been a gasline since 1970-77..
google: horse manure crisis
100% of all hydrocarbons in ALASKA can be moved to in-state and export market much more efficiently when converted to light-alkanes.
All petrochemical operations can be designed to produce very little waste heat and emissions..
..infrared imagery should monitor industry for compliance.
Every carbon atom that has gone down TAPS since 1977 without being attached to at least 3.5 hydrogen atoms has been a waste of an expensive pipeline. Carbon works best as a hydrogen-carrier. Hydrogen is DC-electricity at rest.. [basic electrochemistry]
Everything made from CRUDE can be made from GAS much more efficiently.
[except asphalt]
Big Earl's CRUDE technology wastes over 50% of the BTU's between wellhead and consumer.
GAS technology can be nearly 100% efficient.
100% of CRUDE and COAL and GARBAGE and SEWAGE and BIOMASS can be gasified into hydrogen-rich alkanes using a combination of microwaves, plasma, nanotech, and electrolysis.
--This can be done with much less effort than messing with CRUDE !!
Yes, it takes some effort to switch from riding a rusty old tricycle to learning how to ride a nice new bicycle.
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory
...pay careful attention, yes you can increase the total effective-value of Alaska's remaining hydrocarbons by more than 10-times your most optimistic estimates.
~~the other half of the global energy/econonutz crisis is how the consumer market utilizes the hydrocarbons we buy.. 99% of our gas-guzzlers are still wasting 85% of the energy we put into the fueltanks. Our transportation and architecture efficiency is very-very sucky!!
Big-Govt bailed out Big-Auto with mega-billions of your hyperinflated dollars..
..and now I still wonder why we all aren't driving new cars like this today ??
http://www.valentintechnologies.com/
I pity Big Earl and Big Govt because they are braindamaged and hopelessly Stuck on Stupid.
What we are talking about is the continued removal of our resources (not just oil) at less than they are worth and now our Governor wants to give them away for even less.
Just like the goal of "energy independence". Without a realistic plan, it will never be achieved. If Alaska were producing 1 million barrels per day, 600 000-700 000 barrels of that oil would be burned as transportation fuel. We need some fuel for transportation, but using two-thirds of a non-renewable, critical resource for transportation is unwise. The Congress could write and pass a transportation bill to decrease our energy dependence; instead, House members like Don Young are busy drafting energy-guzzling bills. Like Parnell, Don Young needs to go. He is not serving the interests of the nation.
Our oil company lobbyist/governor is consumed with the thought of giving big oil about 10 billion dollars but not really interested in what is best for Alaska. His days are numbered.