by Tanada » Sat 07 Nov 2015, 14:35:01
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'W')e can safely assume North Slope production must grind to a halt in a year or two as insufficient oil movement in the Trans Alaskan pipeline causes paraffin to settle out and clog the flow. Additional production (and flow) from the Chukchi Sea is doubtful for the next ten years. So when we loose 300,000 barrels per day, the world loses 300,000 barrels per say.
Not necessarily. For one thing they have the ability to store oil if they need to, but ultimately if the pipeline ceases to be viable I believe they will extend the Alaska Railroad from Fairbanks north to Prudhoe and haul the oil that way, or in the worse case scenario use trucks. None of the oil producers nor the State of Alaska wants to see that 300,000 bpd of income screech to a halt and they will do everything they can to keep that income stream flowing. They could even build a limited refining capability in Prudhoe and upgrade the crude by removing the distillates like Paraffin that will cause the problems at a lower flow rate. Or they could build a methane to diesel plant and make up the necessary volume with kerosene or diesel fuel produced from the huge quantities of natural gas they have reinjected to keep up the field pressure.