Alaskan Pipeline Restarts after Leak

By Richard Gibson
Jan 12 2011

Workers announced this morning that the Alaskan pipeline, that is responsible for 45% of all US crude oil, has been restarted after it was shut down for a minor leak.

Crews were working around the clock to seal the minor leak that could cost the companies millions in lost funds from the lack of oil. Several refineries announced that they had suspended production of gasoline after the pipeline was taken down for repairs.

However, the pipeline is still not working at capacity. The crews have the oil flowing through at low pressure as they fear that it could freeze up and cause a blockage. Officials believe that it could be a week or more before the pipeline is back to full capacity.

The decline in US oil inventories has driven the price of crude oil up over the past several days. According to the latest reports, crude oil is moving closer to $100 per barrel, the point when US gas prices hit $4 per gallon in 2008.

With the gas prices continuing to rise, there are many in the US government that fear what the rising prices will do. The economic structure of the US has recently started to strengthen but that could all change if the price of gas starts to rise once again.

Speculation on the future of crude oil is the main reason why gasoline prices have started to rise and OPEC has called for a meeting to discuss the possibilities of slowing production to level out the prices.