Standing Rock Turned Down 18

[3DDave]

bimr,

I think a 2000 mile wall would slow the wind down even more. Barton is going to go ballistic when he finds out who is trying to defy God.

 

[zdas04]

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"?

[bold]David Simpson, PE[/bold]
MuleShoe Engineering

In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist

 

[3DDave]

The testimony jumps the shark when it conflates shutting down pumping stations with terrorism.

 

[hokie66]

Industrial sabotage, terrorism...why quibble about the words?

 

[bimr]

Don't like the word preaching? Then use the word rant.

Competing groups are trying to define the Dakota Access pipeline debate. So where does the truth lie?

However, the actions of this same pipeline company has developed into controversies elsewhere, so they are not blameless:

http://michiganradio.org/post/questions-remain-about-controversial-natural-gas-pipeline

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."

http://ieefa.org/wp-content/uploads...hind-the-Dakota-Access-Pipeline_-NOV-2016.pdf

 

[rconner]

As I suspect most know it nevertheless appears SR has sort of turned up in last month - saw interesting photo in article a couple days ago at

http://www.reviewjournal.com/opinio...-protesters-leave-behind-ecological-disaster.

[The article at

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-en...ta-access-developer-face-off-at-house-hearing

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.

 

[3DDave]

The city of Bismark is a greater ecological disaster; it just doesn't get called that because it suits the people who live there.

 

[hokie66]

Two widely divergent videos about the shutdown of the protest camp. Not surprising.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/22/us/dakota-access-pipeline-evacuation-order/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/02/2...group-pipeline-protesters-remain-at-camp.html

 

[dik]

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.'"

Dik

 

[BigInch]

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.

 

[hokie66]

Just a bit more work for the Corps, ordered by another activist judge. Meanwhile, the oil flows.

 

[BigInch]

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.

Losses for crude oil are accelerating

Richard Feynman's Problem Solving Algorithm
1. Write down the problem.
2. Think very hard.
3. Write down the answer.

 

[dik]

Good to hear from someone actually involved with the industry...

Dik

 

[BigInch]

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.

 

[dik]

Some added information on surveillance:

https://theintercept.com/2017/06/21...-surveillance-to-array-of-progressive-causes/

Dik