What Is The Cost Of The Alyeska Pipeline

The pipeline is 1,172 mile long and it will transport approximately 470,000 barrels of oil per

The pipeline is about 75% done but has been stop because of the the Standing Rock Sioux Indian tribe. The pipeline is supposed to go under the cannonball river and

Considering the potential negative effects this pipeline would have on the environment if a leak

Vectren Corp. (Underground Construction, 2014) The Author explained in the article, that the plan is to spend some $865 million dollar on the construction of the 1000 mile pipeline. It is said that is will be checked and examined, with the highest federal and state regulations of safety in my in mind. (Underground Construction, 2014) It has been stated that they will install new pipes, to ensure the safety of the plant given the amount pipe that will need to be installed. (Underground Construction,

The Keystone XL Pipeline will provide a secure and reliable source of oil for the United States. The southern portion of the pipeline alone can “ transport 830,000 bpd of crude from Cushing, Oklahoma to Gulf Coast refineries” (Kalen). The Keystone XL pipeline is necessary to keep up with consumer demand as the supply from Mexico and Venezuela decreases continually. The oil imports from Mexico and Venezuela are unreliable and are continually declining; therefore, the Keystone XL Pipeline will provide a reliable source of oil for

The environmental consequences, of drilling and other related to the activities of this new pipeline not to mention the nature that is being destroyed. Not to mention the protected forests and other sorts of landmarks that this pipeline will damage.

Innovative thinkers and large minds of industry have decided that building a massive pipeline running through many rivers, cities, and one of the largest freshwater reserves in the United States is a good business idea. They will be able to transfer giant amounts of oil across a set distance very easily. This section from an informative website explains the project, "The Keystone XL Pipeline Project is a proposed 1,179-mile (1,897 km), 36-inch-diameter crude oil pipeline, beginning in Hardisty, Alta., and extending south to Steele City, Nebraska. It is intended to be a critical infrastructure project for the energy security of the United States and for strengthening the American economy."(TransCanada). These are factors of why building this pipeline will be useful. Many costs of transportation will be easily avoided and the time is takes will be shortened significantly.

Pipeline transportation has been around for many years and is very contributory to the United States transportation system. According to Pipeline101 (2016d), the use of pipelines for oil transport has been around since the 19th century (p. 1). The first pipes only went a short distance, and delivered oil from drill holes directly to tanks or refineries (Pipeline101, 2016d, p.1). As the demand for products increased, so did the pipeline industry. During the 1860s, pipe material changed from cast or wrought iron to steel (Pipeline101, 2016d, p.1). In the beginning of the 20th century, the oil business shift from kerosene lamp oil to gasoline in an effort to keep up with the rise of automobile production (Pipeline101, 2016b, p. 1). After some successful years of business, the Federal government felt the need for involvement and passed the Valuation Act in 1913 as their first attempt in the ratemaking (Pipeline101, 2016b, p. 1). Within twenty years’ crude oil pipes were running across most of the nation (Pipeline101, 2016b, p. 1). Just as things were going well, oil production declined throughout the lower states and the petroleum supply was mostly derived from Canada and overseas (Pipeline101, 2016c, p. 1). Companies in the Gulf Coast, California, and the Mid-West, quickly assisted (Pipeline101, 2016c, p. 1). In 1968 another concern arose, how to transport oil through the frigid mountains of Alaska. After much research and work, in 1977, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was

One of the big issues is farmers in Iowa are concerned about the damage to the land and groundwater if the pipeline had a leak and went into the ground or water. This pipeline is 1170 miles long and it could carry 500,000 barrels of oil a day. The big problem is it has to go through the river and if the pipeline leaked any oil it could contaminate that river and people drinking water. According to the USA, The Bakken oil company sends some of their oil by rail if they build this pipeline they can move corn quicker on rail and not have problems, But if they move corn quicker the price of grain will go down and it will hurt the farmer. Another problem is the farmer put tile in the ground to drain water off their land the company putting in the pipeline does not care about the farmers tile The pipeline would cost 3.8 billion dollars. This concludes that the environment and farm are affected by this big time.

The approximate 1,172 mile, 30-inch diameter, would connect Bakken and Three Forks production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois. The pipeline would allow oil to be moved in a “More profitable and environmentally safer manner.” Yet, any leak would cause immediate and irreplaceable

The pipeline belongs to the Texas-based company, Energy Transfer Partners. The Dakota Access pipeline is a one thousand one hundred and seventy-two mile pipe that will transfer about 470,000 to 570,000 barrels of crude oil a day through four states, North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois, and Iowa. The pipe is thirty inches in diameter and “will connect the rapidly expanding Bakken and Three Forks production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois” (Energy Transfer Partners). This pipeline is hoped to help the US become less dependent on foreign oil and is a safer and cheaper way to move crude oil compared to rail car or trucks. It is also estimated to bring additional revenue and jobs to states the pipeline runs through. Using new advanced pipeline technology, they are confident that the pipeline will be safe and reliable (Energy Transfer Partners).

Its original route plan crossed the Sand Hills, say that a major leak could ruin drinking water and devastate the mid-western U.S. economy. After opposition for laying the pipeline in this area, TransCanada agreed to change the route and skip the Sand Hills. A university professor from the University of Nebraska claimed that from his independent investigation he found that at the Ogallala Aquifer it is to be expected that no fewer than 2 major spills per state during the 50-year projected lifetime of the pipeline. These spills could release as much as 180 thousand barrels of oil each, causing much

In the wake of Flint’s water crisis it was realized that their aging pipeline infrastructure needed an extreme update. Flint is not the only CIKR catastrophe caused by being too tightly coupled, almost every community around the country has experienced some type of catastrophic infrastructure failure that has led to a “large-scale service interruptions, significant property damage, and human injury” as a result of being tightly coupled (Van Leuven, 2011, pp.40). A lot of the nation’s aging pipeline infrastructure is still in need of renovations or replacement because it has exceeded its planned operating life (Van Leuven, 2011, pp.40).

Its infrastructure was designed to last until 1987. However, BP still used the outdated equipment well into the twenty-first century. It was obviously cheaper for the company to mine for oil rather than replace the aging equipment. According to Frontline, BP had only hired around three hundred contractors to inspect the pipes on the immense oil field. However, even with so few contractors to survey the pipes, the results were appalling: most if not all the pipes were dangerously corroded and unsafe for oil transport. In a Washington Post article, BP Alaska Remains at Risk, Frontline co-reporter Abrahm Lustgarten went into detail about the severity of pipeline corrosion and BP’s disregard for safety on the North Slope. BP pipe examiners had found that over eighty percent of the pipes could rupture. Some pipes were so corroded that they were a few thousandths of an inch from leaking. Most of the pipes carried highly reactive hydrocarbons, risking explosion should there be a rupture. Even with so much old pipes, BP never renovated them. Mark Kovac, a BP engineer, depicted BP’s zealous cost cutting and safety ignorance by saying, “They 're going to run this out as far as they can without leaving one dollar on the table when they leave” (qtd. in Lustgarten).

The oil business is one of the most lucrative as well as the most highly debated topics around the world today. It is no surprise that countries around the world depend on the importation and exportation of oil to keep their factories and societies running. In particular the United States consumes around 18.8 million barrels of oil a day, which is more than the next four countries combined. This means that United States alone consumes 22% of the worlds oil supply(U.S. Energy Information Administration). The United States is continuously searching for new ways to satisfy its need for oil to keep its economy booming. It is here that the Keystone Pipeline has been pushed into the spotlight of American politics and society. The pipeline is now