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With the upcoming debate about ANWAR I thought I could give you some inside information. I've worked in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska for thirteen years, three weeks on, three weeks off. To start with, the oilfield is a small community. Most of the people I work with have worked in other oilfields and in other countries. Between myself and the people I work with, we've worked in them all. Prudhoe Bay is the cleanest oilfield in the world. To begin working on the slope you need two days of classes on the environment and safety. Maximum speed limit is 45mph, my drivers license was checked four times just last hitch and two random UA's last year with a chance of a least four more this year. My truck has a drive-right recorder that records speed and abrupt stops and is downloaded every month to be analyzed. The drilling rigs for the most part run on electricity unless they are on remote exploratory wells. Exploratory wells are only drilled during the winter and early spring months when ice roads can be made from snow and water to reach remote locations. In the summer you can't tell that they were out there. The trucks and heavy equipment wear what we call diapers to keep any oil drips from the roads and drilling pads. Smaller vehicles must put drip pans under the motor blocks when parked. During refueling there must be a spill containment placed under the nozzle. Spills of one gallon or more of any kind of fluid but fresh water must be reported ASAP. This includes seawater which is used in well displacement. Drilling pads are built like a saucer so any major spills will flow to the center of the pad. Before the rig is moved in, a thick spill containment pad called herculite is placed on the ground. There is more pollution run off in your local Wal-mart parking lot after a good rainstorm than spilled on the North Slope. Safety meetings are held everyday and before every new task that is about to take place with reviews of the procedures and hazards of the task. Wildlife has the right of way no matter what. I've seen two rigs one coil tubing unit, one E-line unit, and two slickline units be shut down because a polar bear walked on pad. We couldn't start any activity until the bear was clear of the location. The porcupine caribou herd migrates through Prudhoe Bay every summer, some ten thousand animals walk through the field without any trouble or human harassment. Risk job loss if you feed or harass any wildlife. I've seen them all; they go about there business as though we're not there. Mosquitoes harass them more than any human or human activity. My point is if every oilfield in the world worked under the same restrictions and guidelines, the worlds environment would not only be cleaner, oil in the US would be $50.00 a barrel. I should also tell you I am not an oil company employee I work for a service company. I could go on and on about the rules and regulations but this letter would be too long. If you have any questions about this feel free to ask.
HB: Favorite Line: "My point is if every oilfield in the world worked under the same restrictions and guidelines, the worlds environment would not only be cleaner, oil in the US would be $50.00 a barrel"
Yeah, and if those conditions were met, the same tree huggers would be complaining about gas prices! ROTfFLMm- fAO!
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