Oil prices are up, so oil companies plan to put squeeze on Alaska's heavy crude

From the Winston-Salem Journal:

Oil companies are betting that heavy oil in Alaska will result in a big payoff.

Heavy oil, which has the consistency of thick molasses, lies in sandstone above the huge reservoir of light oil that has been flowing down the trans-Alaska pipeline since 1977. With that reservoir being drawn down, BP Group PLC and ConocoPhillips Co. are turning to hard-to-pump heavy oil to extend the life of Alaska's largest oil field.