Feb 12 2008
Tid Bit Tuesday, continued
Okay, so last week we only touched the surface of Prudhoe Bay. We talked about the camps, life inside them, working hours, etc. Now… lets talk about life outside the camp.
In addition to the many “fields” or “operating areas” in Prudhoe Bay, we also have the “city” of Deadhorse. Deadhorse is an area that is not owned by oil companies and is open to the public. That is where the airport is, which is where the Charter crew change plane flies into, in addition to Alaska Airlines (and I think a couple smaller airlines as well) fly into. It’s not exactly “large and in charge”, but it’s an airport nonetheless, and they never lost my luggage!
There is also the Prudhoe Bay general store. This is where I drove on Thanksgiving Day 2002, with my co-worker Todd, to get a pregnancy test!
There is full story of the store here: http://www.colvilleinc.com/store.html
Another part of Prudhoe Bay is the wildlife. TONS and TONS of wildlife. For all of the environmentalists that say the oil production is destroying the lives of the wildlife, I have to disagree. They seem completely content co-mingling, and appear to have no problems keeping up their production numbers!
Here are the cute little caribou grazing in the field.
We have TONS of bears…. who LOVE to get into trouble. This bear is on the THIRD floor!
This is Toby… Toby is a little too comfortable with camp life.
The soccer mom of Prudhoe Bay?
Didn’t these little ones know that perms went out in the 80s?????
And last but not least… the Polar Bear. If you ever see a Polar Bear, make sure you head in the other direction. Polar Bears are the only species, besides humans that hunt for FUN. They look pretty, but they are mean and nasty buggers.
Another topic of discussion is oil production from Prudhoe Bay. Since this is the stuff I deal with every day, blogging about it is like asking me to shove bamboo under my fingernails. To spare me the pain, I’ll include a little “production facts” fresh from the big boys offices for your enjoyment (which subsequently gives you the pleasure of being able to pass right over that link, in the event oil production is as exciting to you as shoving bamboo under your fingernails!) http://www.dec.state.ak.us/SPAR/PERP/response/sum_fy06/060302301/factsheets/060302301_factsheet_PB.pdf
So, there you have it. This concludes Prudhoe Bay 101. Are you ready to jump onto the crew change and start your first hitch?