The Energy Non-Crisis by Lindsey Williams
http://www.reformation.org/energy-non-crisis-ch20.htmlLindsay Williams
About the Author
Lindsey Williams, who has been an ordained Baptist minister for 28 years, went to Alaska in 1971 as a missionary. The Transalaska oil pipeline began its construction phase in 1974, and because of Mr. Williams' love for his country and concern for the spiritual welfare of the "pipeliners," he volunteered to serve as Chaplain on the pipeline, with the subsequent full support of the Alyeska Pipeline Company.
Because of the executive status accorded to him as Chaplain, he was given access to the information that is documented in this book.
After numerous public speaking engagements in the western states, certain government officials and concerned individuals urged Mr. Williams to put into print what he saw and heard, stating that they felt this information was vital to national security. Mr. Williams firmly believes that whoever controls energy controls the economy. Thus, The Energy Non-Crisis.
Because of the outstanding public response that has been generated by this book, Lindsey Williams is in great demand for speaking engagements, radio, and TV shows.
(Addition to the fourth printing of the second edition.)
Please keep in mind when you read this eye-opening book that BAPTIST John D. Rockefeller BOUGHT the U.S. government after the Supreme Court decision to outlaw his monopoly in 1911.
The Energy Non-Crisis is available for sale here
Forword
The content of this manuscript is only as valuable and useful to the reader as the credibility of the authors.
The honesty, integrity, and therefore the credibility, of the authors of this book is unquestionable to the limit of their combined facts and knowledge.
I can personally attest to many of the facts, and certainly many of the conversations quoted in the book, as I spent a week with Chaplain Lindsey on the North Slope of Alaska during the construction of the Trans-Alaska pipeline. I was privileged to talk with high officials of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. For reasons unknown to me, I was given access to private information that apparently very few outsiders were ever given. I moved among the men at work and in the baracks. My week on the North Slope was a liberal education.
The motivation for this book is to bring facts to the American people as the authors know them. They do not have a political ax to grind nor any personal advantage by bringing forth these facts.Our President has stated that our energy problem is the equivalent of war. Yet he has embraced policies that have continually discouraged and hampered the development of our oil industry.
Nearly ten years ago President Nixon warned of a pending energy shortage unless our domestic production be drastically increased, but Congress insisted on restrictive price controls.
Congress has been urged—and sometimes threatened—by special interest groups to take a negative stance on energy production, but they have miserably failed to take proper action to increase our domestic production. In fact, as you read this book you must come to the realization that energy production has been fiercely stifled by "Government Bureaucracy, " and Congress has sat on its collective hands.
You, the reader, will be left to make your own conclusions as to why this set of facts and circumstances conflict many times with what we have been told by the news media—which is fed its information by Government Agencies and Departments.
It is with great pride and pleasure that I endorse this manuscript and compliment the authors for taking time to do the research and make it available to all of us.
March 19, 1980 Hugh M. Chance
Former Senator of
The State of Colorado
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Please keep in mind when you read this eye-opening book that BAPTIST John D. Rockefeller BOUGHT the U.S. government after the Supreme Court decision to outlaw his monopoly in 1911:
CHAPTER 1
The Grest Oil Deception
There is no true energy crisis. There never has been an energy crisis . . . except as it has been produced by the Federal government for the purpose of controlling the American people. That's a rather dramatic statement. to make, isn't it? But you see, at one time I too thought there was an energy crisis. After all, that was what I had been told by the news media and by the Federal government. I thought we were running out of crude oil and natural gas. Then I heard, I saw, and I experienced what I am about to write. I soon came to realize that there is no energy crisis. There is no need for America to go cold or for gas to be rationed. We shall verify these statements as we provide the facts for you. You might be surprised to find that we will also show why the price of gas will remain high, and in fact will go higher than it is now.
You've read about the controversy. You've heard the statements, the claims, the counterclaims. You've read about the problems of environmental protection, such as the need to protect birds whose species are becoming extinct. What you haven't heard is that $2 million dollars was spent to go around the nest of one species. On your property, you'd have moved the nest—not so on the Alaska Pipeline. Not true? Questionable? We'll give you the facts.
You've read about the objections of the native Alaskans whose territory is being exploited by those giant corporations that can never be satisfied. You've heard about the excessive profits made by the oil companies. But you haven't heard about the incredible regulations that forced the costs of the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline up from a projected $2 billion dollars to beyond $12 billion dollars. We'll tell you more about that.
I became convinced of the fact that there is no energy crisis when Senator Hugh Chance visited me on the Pipeline. As well as being a former Senator of the State of Colorado, he is also an outstanding Christian gentleman. He came to the Pipeline at my invitation, to speak in the work camps for which I was re sponsible as Chaplain, on the northern sector of the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline.
While I was there I arranged for him to have a tour of the Prudhoe Bay facility. Senator Chance was shown everything he wanted to see, and he was told everything he wanted to know. The Senator was given information by a number of highly-placed responsible executives with Atlantic Richfield, and these were cooperative with him at all times. He especially gained information from one particular official whom we shall call Mr. X, because of the obvious need to protect his anonymity.
After Senator Chance had talked at length with Mr. X, we came back to my dormitory room at Pump Station No. 1 and sat down. Senator Chance said to me, "Lindsey, I can hardly believe what I have seen and heard today."
I waited to see what it was that was so startling. Remember, as yet I had no inkling that there was, in fact, no true energy crisis.
Senator Chance was very serious. He was obviously disturbed. He looked up at me as he said, "Lindsey, I was in the Senate of the State of Colorado when the Federal briefers came to inform us as to why there is an energy crisis. Lindsey, what I have heard and seen today, compared with what I was told in the Senate of the State of Colorado, makes me realize that almost everything I was told by those Federal briefers was a downright lie!"
At that point Senator Chance asked if I could arrange for another interview with Mr. X on the following day. I did arrange for that interview, and the Senator and Mr. X sat in Mr. X's office. I was allowed to be present, as Senator Hugh Chance asked question after question after question.
Senator Chance's first question was, "Mr. X, how much crude oil is there under the North Slope of Alaska, in your estimation?"
Mr. X answered, "In my estimation, from the seismographic work and the drillings we have already done, I am convinced that there is as much oil under the North Slope of Alaska as there is in all of Saudi Arabia."
Senator Hugh Chance's next question was perhaps an obvious one. "Why isn't this oil being produced, if there is an oil crisis?" He went on to point out that private enterprise has always come to the rescue of the American people when there have been times of need.
Mr. X then made the startling observation that the Federal government and the State government of Alaska had allowed only one pool of oil on the North Slope of Alaska to be developed.
Senator Chance then asked, "Mr. X, do you think that there are numerous pools of oil under the North Slope of Alaska?"
Mr. X replied, "Senator Chance, the government has allowed us to develop only one 100-square-mile area of this vast North Slope. There are many, many 100-square-mile areas under the North Slope of Alaska which contain oil. There are many pools of oil under the North Slope of Alaska."
The Senator then asked, "Mr. X, what do you think the Federal government is out to do-what do you really think the government has as its ultimate goal in this business?"
Mr. X's answer was highly controversial in its implications. He stated, "I personally believe that the Federal government is out to declare American Telephone and Telegraph a monopoly. In so doing they will be able to divide the company and to break the back of the largest private enterprise on the face of the earth. Secondly, they want to nationalize the oil companies. I believe that these two objectives merge." As Mr. X continued to elaborate his point of view, it became clear that the objectives, as he saw them, were of dramatic import for the economic welfare of this country and indeed for the whole world.
Senator Chance asked one last question, "Mr. X, if what you say is true, then e by don't you as oil companies tell the American people the truth and warn them? "
"Senator Chance," Mr. X replied, "we don't dare tell the American people the truth because there are so many laws already passed and regulations on the books that if the government decided to impose them all on us and enforce them, they could put us into bankruptcy within six months."
In light of what Mr. X stated in that conversation with Senator Chance, it would seem that the stakes are even bigger than money. They would involve power and domination—initially under the guise of government ownership and control of not only the essential commodities and services, but then progressively beyond that. We would call it socialism. Others would give it different names. In the light of Mr. X's statements, that is the direction in which America is being led post-haste today. This book is an attempt to awaken the public to the facts before it is too late.
Mr. X is a man whose observations must be taken seriously. He was one of the numerous executives with Atlantic Richfield who was given the responsibility of developing the entire East side of the oil field at Prudhoe Bay. His credibility cannot be denied. Mr. X has developed numerous oil fields for Atlantic Richfield throughout the world and has built numerous refineries. He is an expert in this field.
So far we have given you just a few side observations. But there is more. Much more. We have a story that must be told. There are tremendously important matters involved—matters of principle and the concepts highly important to our whole way of life. They involve politics, economics, and our American way of life.
Keep reading!
CHAPTER 2
Establishing Credibility
In this book we will at first give only observations and not opinions. This will set the stage for others to arrive at informed conclusions. At the summation of the book, however, we will allow ourselves the luxury of expressing some opinions—where they are clearly justified by the observations we have made. My primary objective is to report observations, factual material that often could not otherwise be known. Some of it is startling and highly controversial, in that it relates to decisions of policy and high prices, and it is certainly highly relevant
to America's national interests—which, of course, makes it of dramatic importanceto the rest of the world, as well.
Such statements might seem to be sweeping-some people will even regard them as outrageous. Nevertheless, they're made with the knowledge that they are accurate and vital, and with the conviction that they ought to be told. That being so, why should they not be taken seriously? Plenty of people have said there is no true energy crisis, but almost always they make those statements based on rumors and hearsay; seldom are they able to back up their statements with solid facts.
That is where this book is different. At the risk of being misunderstood, it is necessary to demonstrate that the observations that follow come from a reputable and unprejudiced witness. Credibility must necessarily be established.
Probably it should first be stated that I am an ordained Baptist Pastor and have been a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for over 20 years. In fact, that is an important reason why I received access to the information presented in this book—first, because I was a Chaplain to the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline; second, because that position gave me executive status, and with it access to a great deal of information that would not be available to the "man on the street." On the other hand, I have not revealed anything of a confidential nature. At no point have I been asked to withhold any of the information that is presented in this book. Officials have talked to me freely, have shown me technical data, and have explained the intricacies of their highly complex operations at every point that I showed interest. They have never embarrassed me because of my original lack of knowledge about their field, but have been courteous and have led me to an in-depth understanding of the workings of the total oil field. They carefully went through all sorts of detail when I was there with Senator Hugh Chance,
explaining from their own model of the field where the wells were, what their depth was, how much oil was available in the areas where they had drilled—and so much more. I saw their seismographic information, discussed with them their ideas as to how much oil was at one point and another, and asked all those questions which might be asked by any intelligent observer with an interest in this, the greatest project ever undertaken by private enterprise in the whole of the history of the world.
I learned that there were two ways to know how much oil was in a particular area—by seismographics and by actually drilling right into the oil field itself. I had free access to the jobs where the men were working, even on the rigs themselves, and I was able to watch them drilling. Later we shall see that this is highly relevant to some of the important conclusions that many will draw after reading this book.
I always had access to the technical data in the offices; it was made readily available to me. It was open and aboveboard; there was no question of confidentiality being breached, and indeed after my eyes had been opened to the fact of a non-energy crisis, the cooperation was even greater than it had been before. Many officials are likewise concerned at what the government was and is doing to oil companies, and to the supply of oil to the people of America.
We headed our chapter with a reference to credibility. Another aspect that must be stated is that I did not have the proverbial ax to grind, either with the oil companies or with the government. The oil companies never asked me to be a Chaplain on the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline—indeed, the opposite is true. It took six months of pleading my case, of being shuttled from official to official, of being given a regular runaround, before I managed to obtain status as a Chaplain. Eventually, the personnel relations official with Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, Mr. R. H. King, gave me authorization to work directly under the auspices of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company as a Chaplain. The company that was formed by a consortium of nine major oil companies of America was called Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. The Pipeline officials allowed me on the Pipeline as Chaplain with considerable reluctance. I was the first Chaplain appointed, and I was the only Chaplain who stayed right through the entire project. The original thinking of the officials was that a Chaplain would be out of place with the type of personnel associated with the rough and tough oil industry. After being on the Pipeline for a period of time, they realized the value of having a Chaplain. Mr. R. H. King, himself, the Personnel Relations man from Alyeska who appointed me, acknowledged that I was saving the company thousands of dollars every week through my counseling and the general atmosphere I was creating in
the camps.
At that point, because the company could not pay me, due to the original agreement at the time of my appointment, they decided to give me executive status. This meant that I had highly valued privileges, as well as access to data which was not classified confidential, but nevertheless was highly important in the national interest. In lieu of monetary payment, they decided to compensate me by giving me executive privileges.
In going to the Pipeline, I had no intentions of being (or becoming) involved in political issues. Indeed, my whole motivation was to help the men spiritually. I totally believe in my work as a Baptist Minister, and here was a tremendous challenge. I have always been ready to see a challenge and to fight for what I believe. When I found that the idea of a Chaplain to the Pipeline was almost anathema to the Pipeline officials, it. made me, realize even more than ever before that this was a real mission field. I regarded those men on the Pipeline as sheep without a shepherd, and simply stated, my heart went out to them.
It was only after my eyes were opened at the time of the discussions with Senator Chance and Mr. X that I was led into a totally different understanding of a troublesome situation—which I realized must be faced and presented to the American people. Hence this book.
I submit that my credibility is established. I worked on the Pipeline for two and one-half years. I was not paid by either the oil company or any government agency for all of that time, and I believe that I am entitled to claim in sincerity that I had no bias and no particular pleading. I was simply put into an unusual position of seeing and hearing facts firsthand, bringing with it the responsibility to do my part in awakening the American people to the situation—as it really is.
CHAPTER 3
Shut Down That Pipeline
I have already said that the first time I realized there was no true energy crisis was when Senator Hugh Chance visited me in Alaska. However, like many other Americans, I had heard the rumors and hearsay many times before that. In fact, I first became aware of the supposed "energy crisis" in 1972 when I was riding on roundup in Wheatland, Wyoming, on a 32,000-acre ranch. That day as we rode in the high country looking for cattle, I noticed a big pump—it was, in fact, a large pipeline that was running across the Rockies. I was curious (that is my nature). I said to the man with me, "Sir, what is that big pipeline running across your property?"
I should explain that because I am a Baptist preacher, I am often called "Brother Lindsey." I suppose it's a courtesy title. My friend answered, "Well, Brother Lindsey, that's one of the major cross-country pipelines carrying crude oil from the West to the East."
"Ah," I answered, "That's rather interesting. I've heard there's a possibility of an energy crisis. I'm sure glad those pumps are running full speed ahead."
That was in 1972. You will remember that 1973 was the first time we were told there was really an energy crisis. The East Coast was used as a test for that energy crisis, and there were long lines of people waiting, burning fuel while they waited in line for gas they couldn't get.
In 1974, I was again in Wyoming and went to that same ranch. I remember that Fall as we rodeo roundup over the Rockies, I saw something that startled me. I had just come rrom the East Coast where I had numerous speaking engagements, and, with the rest of America, I had been told we needed to conserve energy—for if we didn't, we were going to run out of fuel. Crude oil was in low supply and natural gas would soon become a scarce commodity. Imagine my surprise that Fall, as we rode back over that same high country, to find that the big pump was closed down. The pipeline didn't seem to be running.
As we rode the high country on horseback, I asked the gentleman who managed the ranch, "Sir, why isn't that big pump running? You don't mean to tell me that they have closed down a major cross-country pipeline? Back on the East Coast I have seen people standing in line waiting on fuel. What's the story?
"Well," that old Westerner said, "Brother Lindsey, here a few months ago they came through and started to close down that pipeline, and you know, that thing went right across my property and I believe I had a right to know why they were closing it. After all, I received money from the oil that was flowing through that line across my property, and so I went up to the man and asked him why they were closing down the pipeline. I said to them, "Don't you know that on the East Coast where that oil is supposed to be going, they have an energy crisis? Don't you know that there are people waiting in line to get fuel and we've got an energy crisis? Man—why are you closing that line down?' "
I listened intently, for I was vaguely wondering if this pointed to some sort of manipulation for a purpose that was unknown to me. The old Westerner went on. "Well, they didn't want to tell me. Brother Lindsey, you know how we Westerners can get sometimes. cowboys are known for being a little bit mean and ornery, and I decided to use some of that orneriness and persuade that man to tell me why he was closing that pipeline down. So I went up to the boss man and got a little bit rough with him. I told him I wanted to know why that pipeline was being closed down, because after all it was going across my property. I let him know that I was an honest American and that I had thought that back on the East Coast they were having an energy crisis, even though we had plenty of fuel out West. Well, the man finally recognized that I was getting a little bit indignant and he said, "well, mister, if you really want to know the truth, the truth is the Federal government has ordered us to close this pipeline down." The old Westerner went on and told how he stood up to the boss man, "Why man, I can hardly believe that. After all, we've got an energy crisis." The boss man answered him, "Sir, we're closing it down because we've been ordered to."
The old Westerner turned in his saddle and he said to me, "That rather startled me. Actually, I had heard there was an energy crisis. It really shook me up. I sure couldn't understand it at all." I confess that I too was shaken. The oil was no longer flowing, and there seemed to be no reason why it should not flow. We were being told that we must conserve energy. The point was being made very strongly even as we were allowed to wait in line for fuel.
It is relevant now to go back to the earlier conversations I had with Mr. X, who was responsible for developing the entire East side of the Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska. He was there right through the entire project, even though others came in from time to time. He was an honest man with a fine reputation, and what was most important to me was that he was a Christian gentleman. He did not only say he was a Christian, but he lived what he said, and he and I set up quite a friendship. Mr. X was very definite that the only reason there was an energy crisis is because one had been artificially produced.
When I arrived back in Alaska at Prudhoe Bay in 1974, I said, "Mr. X, let me relate to you what I saw in Wheatland, Wyoming, just a few weeks ago. There was a pipeline going from West to East across the Rockies, on the property of a friend of mine. I was riding the range with him in the Fall of 1972 on roundup and the pipeline was flowing full speed ahead, with all pumps going. The following year of 1973, in the Fall, there was supposed to be an energy crisis, and I found that the pipeline going across the Rockies, one of the main West-East pipelines, had been closed down. In 1974, the pumps were not running, and at that time the man who managed that 32,000-acre ranch told me that the oil companies had told him that they had been ordered to close down that pipeline by the Federal government. Mr. X, if there is as much oil at Prudhoe Bay as in all Saudi Arabia, as you have stated, and if there really is an energy crisis, why was that cross-country pipeline through Wyoming closed down? You must know something about it."
Mr. X. said to me, "Chaplain, I will try to be honest with you today, and I hope it doesn't get any of us in trouble. We are both Christian men, and we can only tell the truth. We, as oil companies, were ordered by the Federal government in 1973 to close down certain cross country pipelines and to reduce the output of our refineries in certain strategic points of America for the purpose of creating an energy crisis. That really began the first of the control of the American people."
I was astonished at what I was being told. Mr. X showed me the wells and let me know details about the size of the oil pool and the amount of oil that was there. He made the statement that the Prudhoe Bay oil field is one of the richest oil fields on the face of the earth. He said that it could flow for over 20 years with natural artesian pressure, without even a pump being placed on it. He told me that this was one of the only fields in the world where this is true, and that oil would come out of the ground at 1,600 pounds pressure and at 135'-167 °F. He said quite clearly that this was one of the richest oil fields on the face of the earth. He also said that there was enough natural gas, as distinct from oil, to supply the entire United States of America for over 200 years, if that also could be produced.
As I have said, I was astonished. This was during the first year and a half of the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline, and the oil companies were supposed to build a natural gas pipeline down the same corridor to supply natural gas to the lower 48 states. The natural gas was to have flowed from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, been liquefied in Valdez, and transported by tanker to California, Washington, and Oregon, and from there it was to have been distributed across the United States by pipeline.
This was the plan that had been promised the oil companies when they first began the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline, and now Mr. X was saying that there was plenty of natural gas here, as well—and as much oil as in all of Saudi Arabia! Yet the media and the Federal government were consistently and continually saying that there was an energy crisis.
I have already shown in Chapter 1 how my eyes were opened. My experience in Wyoming suddenly was seen as part of a widening scope of information. Those experiences in Wyoming—and now my involvement with Senator Chance and Mr. X-added tip to a clear picture of deception and scheming that was hard to understand.
CHAPTER 4
An Important Visit by Senator Hugh Chance
During the summer of 1975, Senator Hugh Chance visited with me seven days on the pipeline in Alaska. During the three days Senator Chance was at Prudhoe Bay, I arranged for him to be given a tour of the oil field and facilities. Because of his position in government, he was given an extensive tour. All questions that he asked were readily answered by the oil company executive conducting the tour. Senator Chance was taken everywhere he requested to go and was shown all data that he asked to see. The Prudhoe Bay oil field, from which crude oil is presently being produced, was explained in detail, and the entire North Slope of Alaska was discussed.
On one of those days we went to one of the drill sites. Senator Chance asked for more and more technical data and by the time we returned that afternoon to our starting point, we were totally astonished at what we had seen and heard. Senator Chance had been taken to places that even I as a Chaplain had not previously been allowed to go. However, I stress that I did have executive privileges and could go to any point on the field I wanted to, as well as look at any documents I desired. As I have said, this had been conceded to Chaplains, after about nine months on the Pipeline we were then given executive privileges. We were allowed an executive dormitory and were allowed to see certain things that others could not. Nevertheless, that day I was shown things with the Senator and told things by Mr. X that I had not learned before.
We have already explained that Senator Chance made it clear that the things he had seen that day were in direct opposition to the facts that had been presented by the briefers who came from Washington, D.C. to inform State Senators as to the supposed facts of an energy crisis. I myself was very surprised when I heard the Senator expressing himself, and I said, "Surely a government official would not lie to us about the energy crisis." Senator Chance answered, "Chaplain Lindsey, we were told something about the Prudhoe Field, and we were told that there was an energy crisis. Today I have found out that there is no energy crisis." It was at that point that he asked me to arrange a further interview with Mr. X the next day, which I did.
When I contacted Mr. X and told him that the Senator would like to talk to him again that day, he said, "By all means. I'll have some time this afternoon, and I'll be glad to give you as much time as you need."
We walked into the office of Mr. X at Atlantic Richfield's facility that afternoon and Senator Chance began to ask questions. Mr. X was at first a little reluctant to answer the questions, and then the Senator said, "Sir, I want to ask you these questions as a gentleman to a gentleman. I would appreciate very much your direct answers. I promise you that the answers you give will be answers that I would like to use in trying to wake up the American people." Then Senator Chance went on asking questions. He asked, "Mr. X, what is it that the Federal government is out to do? Why is it that they are not allowing the oil companies to develop the entire North Slope of Alaska? Why is it that private enterprise cannot get this oil out? Mr. X, will you please tell me the whole story?"
What followed included some of the most astonishing answers I have ever heard in my life. This is not opinion, but is actually what I heard from a man who was one of the original developers of the Prudhoe Bay oil field. He said, "Senator Chance, there is no energy crisis! There is an artificially produced energy crisis, and it is for the purpose of controlling the American people. You see, if the government can control energy, they can control industry, they can control an individual, and they can control business. It is well known that everything relates back to crude oil."
The Senator then asked, "Would you please tell me what you yourself think is going to happen?"
Mr. X answered, "Yes, by Federal government imposing regulations, rules, and stipulations, they are going to force us as oil companies to cut back on production, and not to produce the field. Through that they will produce an energy crisis. Over a period of years the intention is that we will fall so far behind in production that we will not have the crude oil here in America, and will be totally dependent on foreign nations for our energy. When those foreign nations cut off our oil, we as Americans will be helpless.The intention is to create this crisis over a period of time."
Senator Chance asked, "Mr. X, if you developed the entire North Slope of Alaska as private enterprise what would happen?" Mr. X looked at the Senator and answered simply, "If we as oil companies were allowed to develop the entire North Slope oil field, that is the entire area north of the Brooks Range in Alaska, producing the oil that we already know is there, and if we were allowed to tap the numerous pools of oil that could be tapped (we are tapping only one right now), in five years the United States of America could be totally energy free, and totally independent from the rest of the world as far as energy is concerned. What is more, sir, if we were allowed to develop this entire field as private enterprise, within five years the United States of America could balance payments with every nation on the face of the earth, and again be the great nation which America really should be. We could do that if only private enterprise was allowed to operate freely, without government intervention."
I stress that I am not giving a personal opinion, but I am simply quoting what an expert in the field said.
The Senator was obviously very angry, and he looked back at Mr. X and said, "Sir, in light of all that you've told me, you've set me thinking today that after being a State Senator for four years, I would like to know something. Sir, will you please tell me what you think the American government is out to do?"
It was at that point that Mr. X revealed his, opinion that the government was out to declare American Telephone and Telegraph a monopoly, and secondly, to nationalize the oil companies.
Senator Chance almost gasped at that point and asked, "You mean to tell me that you're convinced that the Federal government is out to nationalize the oil companies?" Mr. X said that was so, in his opinion, and that the Federal government would continue to put such rules and stipulations on the oil companies until fuel prices would go sky high.
That conversation was in 1975. Already Mr. X was predicting over $1.00 a gallon at a time when the American people were reluctantly paying something like 50 cents a gallon. Mr. X told the Senator and me that the Federal government would force oil prices to over $1.00 agallon, and in doing so would make the
oil companies look like villains, and the American people would request the Federal government to nationalize the oil companies.
Mr. X gave facts and statistics that day, and in the last six months of the construction of the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline, it became clear that he certainly knew what he was talking about.
Senator Chance had another question. "Mr. X, if you're convinced that the Federal government is out to nationalize the oil companies, undoubtedly you have a target date?"
Mr. X said, "Yes, Senator, we do. As oil companies we have already calculated that with present government controls and regulations, we as oil companies can remain solvent until 1982." Those were Mr. X's exact words.
The Senator said, "Sir, I'm amazed at what I've heard, because it falls in line with what I've believed for years, in what the Federal government and its agencies are really attempting to do to the American people."
Senator Chance was obviously very upset, and as he discussed it all with me in the dormitory room later that day, he said that when he went to the lower 48 states he would attempt to have somebody publish the truth of this matter and use it in their election campaign. He wrote a personal letter to Ronald Reagan and received a personal reply—Senator Chance wanted Ronald Reagan to go to the North Slope of Alaska and see the truth as he had seen it, and make the energy crisis a major platform in his campaign. He believed that if he did so, he would be elected.
Ronald Reagan wrote back to Senator Chance and said, "Sir, I'd like to, but I don't have the time—my schedule will not permit." Senator Chance attempted to get others to know the truth about the Prudhoe Bay oil field and the fact that there was no true energy crisis, while something could still be done before the created crisis became even more severe. It was artificially produced, of course, but many of the American people were becoming convinced that there really was an oil crisis, while the oil companies themselves were constantly being hamstrung.
Senator Chance could not get anyone willing to stick their necks out far enough to tell the truth because this was becoming a major issue. The American people were being affected, gasoline tanks were empty, crude oil was in short supply, and even natural gas in certain of our East Coast cities was cut back that year to such a low level that homes were going cold. By creating an artificially induced energy crisis, the American people in large numbers became convinced that our energy really was short.
In our last chapter, we told about that pipeline in Wyoming. The oil was available, but the pipe was shut down. As we proceed, we shall see that huge quantities of oil were available in Alaska, and could readily be made available to the outside world, provided the pipeline itself was available. We shall see that intensive efforts were made to hinder that work to slow it down, to increase its costs, and all the time to hoodwink the American people.
What was behind it all? It is not enough simply to say that the current President is at fault. These regulations were proceeding before he was President, indeed, during the term of a President who represented another Party. This scandal I am exposing is something that leads to the bureaucratic controls behind—and yet beyond—government political leaders, as such. I shall have more to say about that as we proceed . . . and about important financial operations.
What was the involvement of the New York banker and of those Arab Sheiks who had to help bail out the oil companies when they faced bankruptcy? These are questions to which we must have answers. At the appropriate point we shall give you more of the facts, but first we turn aside to give you some information about the oil fields themselves and how they work, and then (in Chapter 7) give some typical examples of the wasteful expenditures forced on the oil companies.
These examples could be multiplied. We shall refer to the problems with the Unions, but those were relatively minor. The oil companies could have lived with those frustrations, but we shall still give an illustration of that problem area, so that the whole picture is brought into clearer focus. Then we shall go on to the far greater problems involving the ecology.
CHAPTER 5
Amazing Facts About the Oil Fields
To get a clear understanding of what we shall present in later chapters, we need to have a clear picture of the oil fields themselves and of the working arrangements with the oil companies.
Alaska is a huge state. It is one fourth the size of the entire lower 48 states. We Alaskans refer to the lower 48 as the original 48 states, and we also refer to it as "The Outside." If you took a picture of the State of Alaska and superimposed it over a picture of the lower 48 states in proportionate size, the State of Maine in the northeast corner of the United States would be in the northeast corner of Alaska and the State of Texas—and everybody knows where Texas is (just ask a Texan!) would be on the southeastern coast of the State of Alaska. Alaska is the largest state in the United States, yet 60% of the population of Alaska is in the one city of Anchorage.
Alaska has three major mountain ranges; the Rockies, the Kuskokwin, and the Brooks Mountains. As you travel northward over each mountain range, there is a climatic change. The southeastern coast of Alaska is known as the Osh Kosh, and this area of Alaska is very mild in winter. The Japanese current which warms Washington and Oregon also keeps this area of Alaska mild. Immediately after crossing the Rocky Mountains into the first interior area of Alaska the winters become severe, going to 50° and 60° below zero. After crossing the second mountain range you come to the Arctic Circle area. The Arctic Circle is an imaginary line around the face of the earth, north of which there is at least one day per year when you have 24 hours of sunlight and another day when the sun never appears above the horizon.
Just north of the Arctic Circle are the Brooks Mountains, and north of the Brooks Mountains is the area to which we are referring in this book as the North Slope of Alaska. This North Slope is a vast Arctic plain, many hundreds of square miles. Generally speaking, it is a flat and very desolate land where there are no trees. The Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline transverses the entire North Slope from north to south.
When we refer to Prudhoe Bay in this book, we are referring to the area from which the oil companies are presently producing oil. The North Slope is the entire area north of the Brooks Mountains; Prudhoe Bay is a very small spot in this vast area. Prudhoe Bay is located adjacent to the Arctic Ocean, and the Prudhoe Bay Field is developed under the auspices of two major oil companies. Atlantic Richfield was responsible for the developing of the entire east side of the oil field at Prudhoe Bay. B. P. Oil Company, which is a British company, under the authorization of Sohio (which is an American company), developed the entire west side of the oil field.
There were seven other oil companies participating in the development of this field, under the auspices of these two companies.
Remember at this point that Alyeska was a company formed by a consortium of nine major oil companies of America for the express purpose of contructing and maintaining the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline. The Alaska Pipeline is the biggest and most expensive project ever undertaken by private enterprise in the history of the world.
When the oil companies began to develop the pipeline route north of the Brooks Mountains, there were no people, no roads, and no towns. There was nothing but a vast Arctic wilderness. This is especially relevant to the problems forced on the oil companies by the Federal and State officials in regard to the whole matter of ecology and environmental protection.
At tremendous cost to the oil companies, entire self-contained cities were flown in by Hercules aircraft and then constructed to house three to five thousand workers each. As there were no people, no roads, and no airstrips, the huge Hercules aircraft landed on frozen lakes in the winter time. The equipment was assembled, gravel pads were built, and the housing units and all life support systems were constructed on the gravel pads. Everything was brought together right there—all electrical systems, water systems, sewage systems—everything had to be constructed on the actual sites.
Hercules aircraft are huge four-engine turbo-prop aircraft, capable of carrying tremendous loads. The entire rear section of the aircraft opens and very large objects can be placed inside. In fact, the Hercules was designed by the military during the last World War for the purpose of driving tanks and other military craft directly on board. Again, as we proceed, we shall see that these huge aircraft were at times used in ways that can be best described as frivolous, adding huge costs to the oil company expenses, and ultimately adding to the price that you and I, the consumers, will be paying at the gas tank.
In 1974, the cost to the oil companies of one Hercules was $1,200 per hour to rent. Remember, not one penny of government money was used for construction of the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline. It was entirely financed by private enterprise.
Animals north of the Brooks Mountains on the pipeline corridor had never seen human beings. The caribou, bear, and Arctic wolves had never seen man and had no fear of man. Almost every day you would see a survey team sitting in one of the few trees while a bear went by.
North of the Brooks Mountains the ground is known as permafrost, because it is perpetually frozen all year round. In the area of Prudhoe Bay the ground is frozen for 1,900 to 2,100 feet down from the surface. Yet to the depth at which the oil is produced, which is approximately 8,700 feet, the oil will come out of the ground at 135 °F.
Most oil fields in the lower 48 states have to be pumped from the time of their original production, and we are often told that this is a major reason why America imports oil from such places as Saudi Arabia. The argument is that because the Arabian oil is so readily available and so much easier to bring to the surface, it is ultimately less expensive to import the oil than to take it from our own ground. However, that is not the case at Prudhoe Bay; indeed it is not the case on the entire North Slope of Alaska. After 20 years of production at natural artesian pressure, the oil companies will inject treated water into the pool of oil, and then they can continue production at natural artesian pressure for many years to come.
One of the leading news magazines recently stated that the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field will run out of oil within five years. This is totally contrary to all technical data that I saw. In fact, the Prudhoe Bay Field will produce well over 20 years without any artificial methods, and then for many years to come at a rate of approximately 2 million barrels of oil every 24 hours. We stress that this is oil available from only one pool of oil; keep in mind that there are many, many proven pools of oil on the North Slope of Alaska. At the end of this book we will tell of one field that has already been drilled into, tested, and proven. Yet the Federal government ordered that no oil be produced from that new-found field. We shall elaborate on this in detail later.
There is an interesting point to mention in passing. Though the ground is frozen for 1,900 feet down from the surface at Prudhoe Bay, everywhere the oil companies drilled around this area they discovered an ancient tropical forest. It was in a frozen state, not in petrified state. It is between 1,100 and 1,700 feet down. There are palm trees, pine trees, and tropical foliage in great profusion. In fact, they found them lapped all over each other, just as though they had fallen in that position.
What great catastrophe caused this massive upheaval, and then led to such dramatic changes in the climate? We stress again that everything is frozen—not petrified—and that the whole area has never once thawed since that great catastrophe took place. So what could possibly cause these dramatic happenings? Most Bible scholars would come to one of two conclusions. Some would argue that it is tied in some way to a great ice age which they believe occurred between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, when many events took place that are not thoroughly understood. Others would point to the catastrophic effects (and after effects) of the Biblical flood of Noah as the case, suggesting that this is evidence of a sudden overtaking by the flood waters and sediments. The breaking up of a great canopy of water that once surrounded the earth, as well as the breaking up of the great "fountains of the deep" referred to in Genesis, could easily account for the tremendous volume of water that since then encompasses the globe. It is believed that the resulting atmospheric and geologic changes were the cause of the drastic changes in climate.
It is interesting to notice that tropical ferns have also been found at the Antarctic, and the evidence from these two areas, considered together, certainly suggests that there has been a dramatic change from a worldwide tropical climate to an Arctic climate within datable times.
It is also interesting to remember that the great Arctic explorer, Admiral Byrd, reported seeing tropical growth in nearArctic regions. Most write this off as being some sort of a mirage, or maybe even an hallucination, but perhaps we have to reconsider. Just as there can be a beautiful grand oasis in the middle of the desert of Egypt (such as the Fayum Region), perhaps there have been oases in this other kind of vast expanse in the Arctic Ocean area, where these subterranean tropical plants are (for some as yet unknown reason) still growing on the surface.
The finding of underground tropical growth is not hearsay, for I have personally watched these palm trees and other types of tropical plants being brought to the surface. Let me give you two examples. One day I watched as a pine cone was brought up from a well (although not considered tropical, they apparently grew together in historic times), and when we first saw it, it looked just exactly as it would look on a young pine tree today. It was closed, and we put it in an office on the premises of Atlantic Richfield. We simply put it on the desk and left it. The next day we came back and the pine cone had opened up. You could quite clearly see the seeds on the inside of the cone. This was obviously after thousands of years of being in a frozen state, hundreds of feet beneath the surface.
I personally have palm fronds in my home which were brought up from some 1,700 feet below the surface. Again I would like to make an observation, without necessarily giving an opinion, because I do not regard myself as expert in this area. I simply want to state that consistently this tropical forest was between 1,100 and 1,700 feet beneath the surface. The actual base of the perpetually frozen ground is approximately 200 feet below the depth of the frozen tropical forest. The oil is found at a depth of 8,700 feet, average, and it is amazing to realize that it comes from that depth
without artificial pumping.
I want to tell you a second incident that you will find hard to believe. As it cannot be documented, it might not be true, but I shall simply report it as it was told to me. One day I actually watched an operation proceeding at Pump Station 3, but did not take any special interest. After all, proceedings were going on all the time. However, on this particular day a man whom I personally know to be very reliable came to me and said something like this: "Chaplain, you won't believe this, but we were digging in this gravel pit on the Sag River, quite a number of feet under the surface depth. We brought to the surface what looked like a big Louisiana bull frog. We brought it into the building and allowed it to thaw out."
As I say, what was then told to me is hard to believe. However, let me point out that the frog is a cold-blooded mammal, and that in the winter season it does go into a virtual state of deep freeze much like the hibernation associated with bears and other Arctic animals.
This his man described the way in which the frog was left there and then thawed out. He claimed they actually watched as it totally thawed, and that it then quite perceptibly moved—in fact it appeared to be alive, with those perceptible movements taking place for several minutes. Then the movement ceased, and the men threw the frog away. Of course, it would have been better if they had kept it and had the story both witnessed and properly authenticated. Nevertheless, I mention it as an incident that was accepted by others as actually taking place. I have no reason to doubt it.
This then is the setting for the North Slope of Alaska. It is a land of extremes, and that is well-illustrated by its temperature. At Prudhoe Bay I have seen it go, with the chill factor, as low as -130°F (130 degrees below zero). I have also seen it go higher than 90°F in the summertime (this being above zero and quite hot, of course). It is a beautiful land—a land that I have learned to love. In fact, during the months of July and August, the area of Prudhoe Bay is one of the most fabulously beautiful areas of the world. It looks like one great vast golf course, stretching for hundreds and hundreds of miles.
Anyone for golf?
CHAPTER 6
The Workings of An Oil Field
We have said that the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company was a consortium of nine major U.S. oil companies. Each of these sent a certain number of their executives to Alyeska for the contruction phase of the Pipeline. This meant that we had men from each of the nine oil companies who had been placed in management positions spread all across the North Slope of Alaska. These men would work so many weeks on the job, then work a number of weeks back home— and then they would return to the job in Alaska again. This meant that there was a continual rotation of executive officers, and, in practice, it was a very effective system. A man was not subjected to the rigors of the Arctic all the time, but would come back refreshed and able to perform with top efficiency while his alternate was relaxing in the lower 48 states or at Anchorage.
Most of the relaxing was done at Anchorage, rather than taking the arduous trip to the south at very regular intervals. It is relevant to point out that the top executives in the oil company worked one week on and one week off in rotation. The further down the ladder you went, the longer they stayed on the job and the less time they had at home. By the time you got to the ordinary worker on the Pipeline, he was expected to stay on the job for six or seven weeks at a time, to go home for one week, and then to come back for a further six weeks.
The top executives would always overlap each other for one day, so that there was constant briefing and debriefing. It was thereby insured that the work would proceed without undue problems. It was at these briefings that I constantly gained a great deal of information. I spent a lot of time in the offices, and at no time did the executives object to the fact that I was present when they were talking about activities that were proceeding at that particular time. It was not my goal or purpose to be there to "gain information," and indeed if I had been there for that purpose, I would have taken very much more notice and kept much more elaborate records. At that time I did not even realize just how pertinent the information really was.
Neither did I ever think that our own Federal government would go this far in producing an energy crisis. As the Pipeline was nearing completion, I then personally realized just how critical all this information really was. The total picture did not fit together until the end, and in fact it has not yet all fitted together. I confess that there are aspects that I simply cannot rationalize. I do not profess to have all the answers. This is one of the reasons why I have deliberately set out to report first what I know to be fact, before I briefly set forth my own opinions or speculations. Of one thing I am convinced. Somewhere, some place, there definitely appears to be a conspiracy.
Because there were, of course, numerous high officials, and each of these was rotating with his alternate, obviously a great deal of discussion took place. Statistics and figures were thrown around like confetti, and some of it landed on my shoulders. Perhaps we should change that and suggest it was thrown around like a basketball. Sometimes the ball landed in my lap, and I took it and ran with it.
Despite the implementation of rules and regulations in ways that were unbelievable, the major development of the Pipeline took place so rapidly that at times information was available which was quickly withdrawn. One outstanding example of that was the whole matter of Gull Island, of which we shall give full details in a later chapter. We shall see that the information relating to Gull Island was ordered to be sealed by the government authorities within days after proof of the find.
It is not our purpose to give all sorts of details as to the day by day administration of the Pipeline, or of the human nature of the men. There were, of course, the common problems such as theft, with the usual attitude of, "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." That is in all big business and government operations, wherever human beings are found working—around the face of the globe. Human nature does not easily change, whether those concerned are in Alaska or in the lower 48 states.
The sort of graft that so often is associated with private enterprise and big companies is prevalent in many areas. In fact, ultimately human ambition demonstrates itself in ways that have similar roots, if only we can get back and understand the scheming behind various operations. Some people are anxious for financial gain; others are more interested in a power structure; and when it comes to the political arena, that power structure might go way beyond mere money. It is possible to relate this to the oil fields, and to see some semblance of comparison with what is taking place in Canada.
Canada has already nationalized its oil companies. That is an actual fact of history, and this was often referred to by executives of the oil companies working for the Pipeline. Often I heard it related that the same patterns that were used by Canada for the nationalization of their oil companies, appeared to be the pattern that the United States government was following in its dealings with oil companies today. The oil company officials in the top echelons have suggested that the Federal government wishes to nationalize the oil companies of America. We will elaborate on this in detail in a later chapter of this book.
The heading of this chapter is "The Workings of an Oil Field." It is relevant to emphasize that the United States government, as such, did not own anything —equipment, machinery, buildings, or anything else—on the oil fields. Not one penny of government money was invested in the Pipeline, yet the government exerted all sorts of pressures as they implemented their multitudinous rules and regulations. Neither did the oil companies own all of the equipment, for in many cases the work was subcontracted, and often the machinery was owned by the company to whom the work was contracted.
One official was responsible for all the subcontracting of heavy machinery on the east side of the oil field. At one point I heard him state that in a 30-day period he gave out as much as $2 million dollars in contracts for lease of equipment. That man's work is uniquely different from anything else, anywhere on the face of the globe, and that is true of so many jobs associated with the oil fields on the North Slope of Alaska. Because of the Arctic climate, many positions have been created and developed that have no parallel at all in any other project. Very often there is no available training, such as with university degrees, for the job requirements are unique to the Alaska oil fields, and there certainly is no university found out in the tundra on the North Slope!
I know of one man who was a sheep herder in Wyoming, and he operated a huge ranch. He came to Alaska because he heard of the exorbitant wages on the Pipeline, and he wanted a slice of the cake. He started as a general worker at the very inception of the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field, and today he is an invaluable executive with Atlantic Richfield (ARCO). He had no specific training—he was trained on the field, and I personally heard him say that he cannot be transferred because there is no other job like his at any other place on earth. This man is so unique that he virtually knows where every nut and bolt is at Prudhoe Bay, and he is quite irreplaceable. Mr. X remarked to me one day that if he ever wanted anything, he would simply go to this particular man. He seemed to always know where everything was.
Such a man is invaluable, if only because of the high turnover of the labor force on the Alaska North Slope. Many of those who had been there for comparatively short periods of time had no idea as to what had gone on before they had arrived, or as to the way certain activities developed. Over and over again the very nature of the field demands training that is simply not available anywhere else. This can be found only in the "University of Hard Knocks." The Alaska oil fields certainly is one big branch in that University!
The dorms in which the men lived in the camps were very well appointed. There were two men in each room in a 52-room section. Men shared common baths in these common dormitory areas. As that executive stated, the food was the best you would find anywhere in the world. During the first year of pipeline construction, it was not unusual to have steak and lobster twice a week. I sat one evening and watched a man eat two steaks, and then he put one in his lunch sack so that he would be able to carry it off to eat on the job the next day. Nowhere but on the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline would you see a welder heating up his steak out on the job with a welding torch, while the steak was on a big piece of metal. He was actually heating the steak from the bottom side of the metal!
The food was always in plentiful supply, being available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The men did not pay for their food, nor did they pay for their candy bars or pop. They simply took all they wanted.
Another thing the general public does not know is that everything the men earned (after taxes and deductions) they could take home with them, because their dorms and all food were free. It was not unusual to see a weekly take-home paycheck of $1,000 after all taxes and deductions had been taken from the salary. In fact, the largest paycheck I saw for seven days of work was actually over $3,000 for an ordinary working man. Workers on the oil field did not exactly starve—in fact, most people would consider that their conditions were very desirable.
CHAPTER 7
Toilet Paper Holder for Sale Cheap—Only $375.00!
We said we would mention problems. We do not wish to major on Union difficulties, so we shall give only one example to keep the picture in true perspective.
I was sitting with Alyeska's field engineer in the office, simply shooting the breeze before getting down to more important business. In walks one of the workers and says, "The toilet paper holder is falling off thewall in the commode stall over yonder in B dorm."
"Okay," said the manager, and he called in a carpenter. The carpenter came in, dressed for work, of course."Hey Jim, I'd like you to go over and fix the toilet paper holder in B dorm." "Okay," said Jim and off he went. I watched him go out and vaguely thought that he looked a capable man, really dressed for the part. I thought of some of the carpentry jobs around my home I'd like him to do. Surely he would be a lot quicker than I would be, although before very long my opinion on that was drastically changed.
The manager and I went on discussing our business, and had forgotten about that unimportant toilet paper holder over in B dorm. Forty-five minutes went by, and Jim, the carpenter, returned. "Hey," he said, "I can't do that job over there. That's a metal wall and it has to have a screw put in it. That's not a carpenter's job—you ought to know tha
