NYT/Reuters: Congress Aims to Probe BP Shutdown

Congress Aims to Probe BP Shutdown
By REUTERS
Published: August 10, 2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders of the U.S. Congress on Thursday called for hearings and probes into oil giant BP Plc.'s decision to begin shutting down the Prudhoe Bay oilfield in Alaska, the nation's biggest.

The U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee set a September 7 hearing on how pipeline corrosion at the 400,000 barrel per day Prudhoe Bay field got so bad that London-based operator BP decided to shut it down.

In the Senate, the top members of the Energy Committee urged federal pipeline regulators to probe the corrosion. They hinted that more hearings or legislative actions were in store if they do not get satisfactory answers.

Congress has recessed until September. But lawmakers concerned about U.S. gasoline pump prices above $3 a gallon were voicing concerns about Prudhoe Bay, where pipeline corrosion threatens to shutter about 8 percent of U.S. crude oil production.

House Energy Committee Chairman Joe Barton, said his hearing will focus on BP's "management of its corrosion control in its oil-transit lines.''...

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-energy-congress-bp.html

Are we out of Flag Burning, Gay Marriage and Drugs in Baseball topics? Oh, come now there must be something more important than gasoline prices that ripple through the entire economy?