Oil And Gas Exploration In The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: The Real Story

This was sent to me by friend. This is not the kind of information about drilling for oil in ANWR you will find in the mainstream media. He included the following pictures and text about ANWR.

"Pete, You know all about the oil business. What's your scope on
all of this? When will Saudi Arabia run out of oil?" Jim

This is my reply:

Jim,
The information and photos in this message about ANWR is all basically true. I studied and explored for oil and gas in all of Northern Alaska, from the Mackenzie Delta in Canada on the east to Pt. Barrow and the Chukchi Sea on the west. The area is bounded by the Brooks Range and the Sadlerochit Mountains on the south. Oil and gas is rarely found in mountains that have been uplifted, folded, faulted metamorphosed, and eroded. This general rule applies all over the world.

Traversing northward in Alaska from the mountain ranges, you would cross a geologic feature called the Colville River Basin, named after the dominant river in northern Alaska that flows northward and empties into the Beaufort Sea. This basin was first formed during the Jurassic Period, about 100 million (?) years ago and filled with sediments, primarily sand, silt, clay and mud rich in organic matter. In the deepest part of this huge basin, (think of the Gulf Of Mexico) these sediments may be as much as 30,000 feet thick. They contain a lot of oil, gas and coal. The western half of northern Alaska is owned by the Federal Government and was established as the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska, (NPRA) in the 1920's. Geologists have known for a long time about the oil, gas and coal there. It is a forbidding environment and until fairly recently it has never been economically viable to do much exploration up there. But that is what I did for almost ten years. Of course the largest oil and gas field ever found in North America is there, and called the Prudhoe Bay Field. It was initially thought to contain 10 Billion barrels of oil, and I think it will eventually produce more than that.

So geologists pretty much know where the oil and gas is, or is likely to be. Only a very small portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has oil and gas potential. Yes it is a fragile environment; yes it is easy to damage the delicate tundra, especially in the wet, soft, boggy summer. However, it has been demonstrated that oil exploration and production can be conducted in the Arctic with minimal environmental damage. The question is, is 5 to 10 Billion barrels of oil worth going after? I think it is, and of course nobody will know until someone actually drills some wells.

Good information, I'm saving it. Thanks,
Peter

FIRST… do you know what ANWR is?

ANWR = Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.


Now… A comparison

And some perspective…

NOTE WHERE THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AREA IS…
(it’s in the “ANWR Coastal Plain”)

THIS IS WHAT THE DEMOCRATS, LIBERALS AND “GREENS” SHOW YOU WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT ANWR
…and they are right… these ARE photographs of ANWR

ISN’T ANWR BEAUTIFUL? WHY SHOULD WE DRILL HERE (AND DESTROY) THIS BEAUTIFUL PLACE?

WELL… THAT’S NOT EXACTLY THE TRUTH


Do you remember the map?

The map showed that the proposed drilling area is in the ANWR Coastal Plain

Do those photographs look like a coastal plain to you?


WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?

THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE…

THAT IS NOT WHERE THEY ARE WANTING TO DRILL!

THIS IS WHAT THE PROPOSED EXPLORATION AREA ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE WINTER

AND THIS IS WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE SUMMER
HERE ARE A COUPLE SCREEN SHOTS FROM GOOGLE EARTH

AS YOU CAN SEE, THE AREA WHERE THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT DRILLING IS A BARREN WASTELAND.

OH… AND THEY SAY THAT THEY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE EFFECT ON THE LOCAL WILDLIFE…

HERE IS A PHOTO (SHOT DURING THE SUMMER) OF THE“DEPLETED WILDLIFE” SITUATION CREATED BY DRILLING AROUND PRUDHOE BAY*…DON’T YOU THINK THAT THE CARIBOU REALLY HATE THAT DRILLING?


HERE’S THAT SAME SPOT DURING THE WINTER.

HEY, THIS BEAR SEEMS TO REALLY HATE THE PIPELINE NEAR PRUDHOE BAY*…
*The Prudhoe bay area accounts for 17% of U.S. domestic oil production


NOW, WHY DO YOU THINK THAT THE DEMOCRATS ARE LYING ABOUT ANWR?

REMEMBER WHEN AL GORE SAID THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD WORK TO ARTIFICIALLY RAISE GAS PRICES TO $5.00 A GALLON?

WELL…
AL GORE AND HIS FELLOW DEMOCRATS HAVE ALMOST REACHED THEIR GOAL!

NOW THAT YOU KNOW THAT THE DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN LYING,WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

YOU CAN START BY FORWARDING THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW…SO THAT THEY WILL KNOW THE TRUTH.