hold on

This from the New York Times Sunday edition,

"In a sudden blow to the nation's oil supply, half the production on Alaska's North Slope was being shut down Sunday after BP Exploration Alaska, Inc. discovered severe corrosion in a Prudhoe Bay oil transit line... That's close to 8 percent of U.S. oil production as of May 2006 or about 2.6 percent of U.S. supply including imports, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration."

Some annalists are saying we can expect a $10 rise in the price of a barrel of oil. Others are saying the U.S. is well supplied and this will have little effect on price. If I were a betting man I'd go with the former. The real question however is how long this last will. No word on that from BP.

The volatility of the peak of oil is here. If you don't think so watch what a little corrosion in a pipe in Alaska does to the price of the fuel Suburban America is desperately dependant on.