Richard Fineberg, an Ester analyst and longtime oil industry critic, recently completed a study in which he calculated that the state is losing $404 a minute due to excessive charges on the oil pipeline, amounting to billions of dollars over the life of the pipeline.
He said a 1985 legal settlement between the state and the pipeline owners establishing a method for setting pipeline tariffs — a deal that’s now at the center of the legal fight — was a big mistake for the state.
The state has a long legacy of battling with oil companies over pipeline tariffs, royalties and taxes, and this latest struggle isn’t likely to end soon.
These are the same folks that we are going to partner with to build a gas pipeline?
Not only have they apparently cheated the State of Alaska out of nearly a billion dollars, but they have overcharged other smaller businesses as well. They didn’t even invest those ill gotten gains back into the pipeline which led to the pipeline being shut down due to corrosion. If that wasn’t bad enough we can add the millions spent on legal proceedings. Then they have the nerve to say that Alaska is an “unstable when it comes to taxing oil companies“.
Also, lets not forget that Exxon is still fighting paying the court ordered judgement from their spill nearly 20 years ago.
Why would we want to go into yet another venture with these people that have a long history of lying, cheating, stealing and stone walling. At what point is enough and enough? For me, I ‘m at that point. I think it’s time to look at ways to revoke their leases and take back complete control of the oil and gas fields.
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