The frozen tundra of ANWR

I live in Republican land... granted I live in a Democratic oasis in my town, but I digress - and, therefore, all I am exposed to (and my fellow Knoxvillians) are rightwing radio.

The new "meme" is that the land on which "we" want to drill for oil is frozen tundra, and, therefore, no use to anyone but caribou. Heck... it's not even PRETTY, according to my republican congressman, John J. Duncan, Jr. (who, btw, was one of the few republicans to vote against the Iraqi War - but he's still a wingnut shill).

I know, it's not all about beauty, but about environment, but folks are so overly-consumed with "well, it's a waste." No.... it's not. These wingnut shills say that "those damn LIBS" only show a few hundred acres of the PRETTY side. Not the area where "we" want to drill.

Here's what that "frozen" tundra looks like. Look damn PRETTY to me:







Oh... lookie!!! LIFE!! (Pro-life, are ye? Not so much.)







Let them know of the 68,000 acres the oil companies are leased that they currently AREN'T drilling on... and get back to me.

using it as an abstract campaign theme.

I mean... I know that MY marriage has been threatened because gays have been allowed to marry....



NOT!

They're always going to do something in the future about some real or imagined "immediate" problem. The problem will be fixed right after the election.

.....means a WHOLE LOTTA PROFITS (vs. prophets) for oil, gas interests :-( (whadda they gonna 'do' afta that?

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:Lce_4kcBj8Jb5M:

The report is owned by the Indians, its proprietary, not in the public domain. THe USGS has only used seismic data in its studies. Seismic data that shows a very fragmented field.

Back to the EIA
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/anwr/results.html

Quote:
ANWR Production Uncertainties

There is much uncertainty regarding the impact of opening ANWR on U.S. oil production and imports, due to several factors:

* The size of the underlying resource base. There is little direct knowledge regarding the petroleum geology of the ANWR region. The USGS oil resource estimates are based largely on the oil productivity of geologic formations that exist in the neighboring State lands and which continue into ANWR. Consequently, there is considerable uncertainty regarding both the size and quality of the oil resources that exist in ANWR. Thus, the potential ultimate oil recovery and potential yearly production are highly uncertain.
* Oil field sizes. The size of the oil fields found in ANWR is one factor that will determine the rate at which ANWR oil resources are developed and produced. If the reservoirs are larger than expected, then production would be greater in the 2018 through 2025 timeframe. Similarly, if the reservoirs are smaller than expected, then production would be less.
* The quality of the oil and the characteristics of the oil reservoirs. Oil field production rates are also determined by the quality of oil found, e.g., viscosity and paraffin content, and the field’s reservoir characteristics, i.e., its depth, permeability, faulting, and water saturation. This analysis assumes oil quality and reservoir characteristics similar to those associated with the Prudhoe Bay field. If, for example, the oil discovered in ANWR has a considerably higher viscosity than the Prudhoe Bay field oil, e.g., over 10,000 centipoise, then oil production rates would be lower than projected in this analysis.


Thats what you get from KIC#1, drilled in 1985, results never made public.
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/ern/01aug/arctic.php

Remember Badami ? Turned out to be a a fragmented field, with heavy oil
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=fk6&pwst=1&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=Badami+arctic+oil&spell=1

And Badami is what 30 miles from ANWAR ? Low porosity and heavy oil means low production.

Badami 8 rsevoir penatrations:

http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/369854151.shtml
BP said they would get 35kbpd

newsbank - really long url
But Badami produced 5k bpd, then declined to 1350bpd, then shut down

http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/369854151.shtml

Only 30 miles away Anwar is supposed to produce 1.4bpd ? Based on a USGS survey that never pushed a drill bit 5 inches.....frick brilliant citation.

This is why I laff my ass off when someone mentions Anwar as some sort of cure all, I'll start with Aurora.

http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/abstracts/2005pacific/abstracts/keller.htm

http://www.dog.dnr.state.ak.us/oil/products/slideshows/stratigraphic/alaska_stratigraphic_test_well.pdf

As you can see Aurora was an off shore well, quite close to KIC.

Quote:
However, since ANWR was established in 1960, exploration in the region has been restricted to surface geological investigations, aeromagnetic surveys, and two winter seismic surveys (in 1983-84 and 1984-85). No exploratory drilling has been accomplished in the area except for one well commenced in the winter of 1984-85 on Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation and Arctic Slope Regional Corporation lands southeast of Kaktovik on the Coastal Plain.
http://www.anwr.org/backgrnd/potent.html


The only drilling data the USGS claims to have is from slant or offset drilling, because the only 2 wells ever drilled in Anwar, are private, the USGS cites recent offset drilling in the 1999 report. Your guess is as good as mine which off shore rig they used. Warthog, Stimson Aurora, I dont know. I cant find any indication any of these rigs are even still there.

Its clear Anwar at best is fragmented, and of low quality, API as low as 19.
http://www.dog.dnr.state.ak.us/oil/products/slideshows/stratigraphic/alaska_stratigraphic_test_well.pdf

Compounding production problems are the numerous fractures, meaning water injection cannot be used, as the water will follow the cracks and destroy the ability to any reasonable production.

The case for drilling is that the same formations at Prudhoe Bay continue into area 1002.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/arctic_national_wildlife_refuge/html/overview.html#background


Fractured anticlines and fingering says this isnt so. Badami maybe an example of this.

But it's downright gorgeous to the creatures that happen to live there!

It's also essential to their well-being...

*sigh*

I spent two long nightless summers living in the bush, searching by helicopter for Uranium for Los Alamos for 18 hours a day.. Chased by bears, when the caribou bunched together to leave we flew over them at over 100 miles an hour and for a full 20 minutes I literally could not SEE the tundra, only horns, heads, backs and rainbows in the mist of their collective breaths..

I saw the entire Earth ALIVE from horizon to horizon.

I've written a book about it, in the hopes of bringing attention to that pristine, unraped part of the planet, called, "The Jesus Bolt" that I'm trying to get published - the Jesus bolt is that bit of metal at the top of a helicopter that keeps all the blades from flying off, as the Vietnam Vet pilots used to say to me, "when you lose that, the next person you'll be talking to is Jesus Himself..."

:)

Don't let these Rapist Liars fool you. Fact: During the caribou's stay there is NO other place on earth with so much Biomass, and its not just them, wolves, bears, foxes, vermin or all sorts, BIRDS fly there from Every State in the USA, as well as the rest of the planet..

Its not a deadly ice cube, its brimming with life, and More than Starkly Beautiful. I know, I lived there, as in HAD a Life in that part of the world, unlike these shitheads pushing to kill everything for money..

In my Book, the Jesus Bolt is a metaphor for what keeps Everything from flying apart, the Universe, the Ecosystems, the Protaganist Himself..

We don't want the Earth to lose its Jesus bolt, my friends.. Hope I can sell it, its wild west Alaska during the Pipeline, and I've got a couple of liberal movie star types with copies in their hands, at least one was impressed with the Concept.. Sell a movie, sell a book, maybe open a few hearts and minds, eh?