bimr,
Every single assertion of fact in that article is verifiable from independent sources. Every one. Some of the discussion on internal conversations within the company cannot be verified and can be ignored and the rest stands up to any scrutiny that you apply to it. How is that "preaching"?
Most importantly, it appears that the pipeline is no longer needed:
"Moreover, if oil prices remain low, as projected, Bakken oil production will continue to decline, and existing pipeline and refinery capacity in the Bakken will be more than adequate to handle the region’s oil production. If production continues to fall, DAPL could well become a stranded asset — one that was rushed to completion largely to protect favorable contract terms negotiated in 2014."
from a House hearing a few days ago said project is going ahead - and reported representatives of both parties now saying the government is responsible for the tense debate on this subject.
From the Associated Press, "A U.S. federal judge has handed a lifeline to efforts to block the Dakota Access pipeline, ruling Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers didn't adequately consider the possible impacts of an oil spill where the pipeline passes under the Missouri River.
District Judge James Boasberg said in a 91-page decision that the corps failed to take into account how a spill might affect 'fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice, or the degree to which the pipeline's effects are likely to be highly controversial.'"
I think he's right. USA gas pipelines usually do a far more detailed EIA than the minimal amount that was done here, yet they are likely to have far less damaging consequences should a leak develop. MO is the EIA work done here was very much well below the level normally expected in the international theater for similar projects.
BTW, the recent executive order requiring American-made pipe for American pipelines only applies to future projects. No existing project will be affected.
Richard Feynman's Problem Solving Algorithm
1. Write down the problem.
2. Think very hard.
3. Write down the answer.
The producers might turn it off themselves after their curent contracts expire. WTI price fell to $43.25. Down 20% from this year's high. Hedgers say upper 30's in view. New drilling wouldn't be happening at all, if drilling efficiency didn't increase and drilling prices hadn't been cut in half. Lots of the drilling that is being done right now is in the very low cost Permian Basin. Initial output of shale wells has been increased, but production falloffs are still as much as 50% during the first year. Shale oil isn't turning out to be a renaissance nearly as much as it is a retirement party.
I'm not directly involved with the production side, but ... you see and hear things, plus there's lots of data on the net, if you know where to look .. and you do look.
Future gas prices curently below gas spot prices are forcing hard decisions. There must be a number of companies facing this dilema right now. Should we lock in today's low prices on long term contracts and have some certainty of barely scraping by during the next few years, or not lock in any long term contract price and take the risk of going broke, if spot prices actually follow futures prices. Oil futures prices are still slightly higher than today's spots, but that might change now that this pipeline ups deliveries of crude to market. The USA is displacing Saudi Arabia as the swing producer controlling spot price.
Richard Feynman's Problem Solving Algorithm
1. Write down the problem.
2. Think very hard.
3. Write down the answer.