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accrual. See, e.g., United States v. Hughes Properties, Inc.,
supra at 601-602, 606.
Exxon argues that the combination of the DL-1 Lease
provisions, Alaska law, regulations, and oil industry
practice, as of the end of each of the years 1979 through
1982, establish the fixed and definite nature of Exxon’s
future Prudhoe Bay DRR obligations regarding the entire
Prudhoe Bay oil field. The extent of the DRR obligations to
which Exxon contends the PBU and the other oil companies
became subject upon construction of the Prudhoe Bay oil wells
and oil production facilities is summarized briefly by one of
Exxon’s experts, as follows:
PBU will have to plug all wells, close all reserve
and containment pits, remove all above-ground
pipelines and electrical lines, and remove all other
structures, such as modular flow stations and
gathering centers. The PBU Partners will have to
dismantle, transport to barges, and transport off
the North Slope the modules, pipelines, and
electrical distribution systems, and leave the land
in a clean and generally level condition. It is
expected that Exxon and its PBU Partners will
perform these DRR obligations around the year 2030.
In comparing the language of the right-of-way agreements
relating to TAPS and to the other North Slope pipelines
involved in the FERC rate-making proceedings, on the one hand,
to the language of the DL-1 Lease agreements, on the other,
Exxon’s experts sense a common denominator or “idea” in the
language of both sets of right-of-way agreements (namely, that
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