Alaskan oil field off limits

Tourists who want to see Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, will see a “Keep Out” sign instead this summer, reports the Anchorage Daily News.

BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. has decided to bar tour companies from crossing a security checkpoint that leads through the oil fields to the Arctic Ocean. Prudhoe is the largest oil field in the U.S.

The company told the Anchorage Daily News it decided to cut off the seven-mile stretch of road last month for “unspecified security reasons” in light of Sept. 11.

About 5,000 tourists reach the Arctic Ocean every year.

But many other people gain access to the oil fields daily, including villagers in the North Slope community of Nuiqsut, delivery vehicles, and friends and family members of BP employees.