Make-or-break Mac budget 03/18/2007
Imperial doubles gas line cost projections, stalls work pending fiscal negotiations
The Mackenzie Gas Project is now, beyond much doubt, on the verge of put-up-or-break-up decisions by government and corporate participants. In laying out what figures to be the final working budge...

FERC legal team takes sides 03/11/2007
Shoots holes in TAPS owners' claims as tariff litigation moves toward review
A legal team at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued an opinion that owners of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline fighting in a Washington, D.C., court to justify the tariffs they would lik...

Oil Patch Insider 02/18/2007
TAPS starts first new electric pumps; Agrium writes off Nikiski; Palin slams Exxon; Petro-Canada not going to operate in NPR-A
The startup of the new electric pump system at pump station 9 of the trans-Alaska pipeline has started to bring to fruition the years of work involved in the strategic reconfiguration of the pipeline...

Pipeline operator fails to find missing pig piece 02/11/2007
An aggressive cleaning device sent through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline failed to find a 20-inch diameter metal ring that went missing in the line in December, a spokesman for the operator said Feb....

Feeling the gas crunch 02/11/2007
North American producers chase deeper targets, forego shallow drilling in bid to combat costs; Western Canada headed for decline in activity through 2014
EOG Resources is transferring its Canadian natural gas focus from shallow vertical prospects to horizontal shale gas and Apache is moving from shallow conventional and unconventional projects to deepe...

MINING NEWS: Mining and the Law: Governor picks knowledgeable expert to lead DEC 01/28/2007
While the jury may still be out when it comes to our new governor, Sarah Palin, it sure seems like she is starting off on the right foot. Every administration must wrestle with the need to recruit hig...

BP 'ready to go' on slope gas line 01/28/2007
BP America President and Chairman Bob Malone assured the Alaska Support Industry Alliance's Jan. 19 Meet Alaska conference of BP's commitment to Alaska, including heightened maintenance of existing oi...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Production begins 3 months early 01/21/2007
Kuparuk comes online in December '81 from 5 gravel drill sites in 20-mile square ARCO-owned area
Production began at the Kuparuk River oil field on Dec. 13, 1981, three months ahead of schedule. When the board gave the go-ahead in 1979 to spend $450 million for initial field development, it was...

MEET ALASKA 2007: Alaska roll call lookin' good 01/21/2007
Today 31 oil and gas companies have significant investments in Alaska; in 1996 that number was down to 7
Ten years ago Petroleum News published a "roll call" of oil and gas companies doing business in Alaska. In the five preceding years the number had dropped by more than one-half, from 19 active compani...

Two gas pipeline entities will work together 01/21/2007
Alaska Gasline Port Authority, Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, sign MOU; governor pleased with cooperation
The Alaska Gasline Port Authority and the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority have signed a formal agreement to work cooperatively on developing a natural gas pipeline. Officials with the two vot...

Mac backers still believers 01/21/2007
NWT minister: Mackenzie gas line economics strong; Imperial remains committed
Take a break from the relentless stream of doom and gloom. Two of those most closely connected to the Mackenzie Gas Project are not ready to cut and run. Northwest Territories Industry Minister Brenda...

Trans-Alaska pipeline back in operation 01/14/2007
The trans-Alaska oil pipeline was back in full operation Jan. 10, one day after a loose fitting on a secondary pipe caused a leak that shut down the 800-mile pipeline for hours, with some 900,000 barr...

Murkowski named ranking member of U.S. Senate energy subcommittee 01/14/2007
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was selected to serve as the ranking member on the subcommittee on energy for the U.S. Senate committee on energy and natural resources, Murkowski's office said Jan. 11....

Higher tariffs could cost state millions 01/14/2007
Hit on state revenues from tariffs about 50% higher under new tax, but overall new tax will still bring in more revenue than old
Increased oil shipping rates on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline could cost the state roughly $102 million a year if they stand, according to an estimate by a state petroleum economist. With the rate hi...

Alaska North Slope production breaks 800,000 bpd barrier 01/07/2007
Alaska North Slope production averaged 808,129 barrels per day in December, the first time since June it has broken the 800,000 bpd average. This is an increase of 21 percent from a November average o...

RCA rejects TAPS rate hike 01/07/2007
Alaska oil pipeline owners seek to recoup rising costs in higher tariff
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska rejected Dec. 28 revisions to tariffs filed by owners of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline that would more than double the carrier's 2007 transportation rates for North...

97 graduate from pipeliner training program 12/24/2006
Ninety-seven apprentices and beginning pipeline workers graduated Nov. 1 from the fifth annual Alaska Pipeline Joint Crafts Training Program. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development sa...

TAPS owners win in appeal 12/10/2006
FERC allows carriers to keep confidential information used in shipping bids
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has overruled an administrative law judge decision to open confidential records listing competitively sensitive data to public scrutiny in a two-year-old inter...

MINING NEWS: Mining and the Law: What if we don't get a gas pipeline? 11/26/2006
I don't know whether Alaskans will ever see a gas pipeline or not. Of course, I hope we will, but if we don't, how will we pay the cost of operating the state? We know these things. The all-Alaska pip...

Alyeska puts brakes on trans-Alaska pipeline flow as winds hold up loading 11/26/2006
The amount of oil flowing through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline has been intentionally slowed because of high winds at the marine terminal in Valdez, where oil is loaded onto tankers for shipment to W...

Anadarko, Tesoro score points 11/19/2006
TAPS owners appeal order to open confidential pre-filed tariff testimony
A federal administrative law judge has sided with plaintiffs in the first skirmish between protesters and owners of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System since hearings began Oct. 31 in a two-year-old inte...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - Alaskan Crude forms North Slope unit 11/12/2006
A tiny independent oil and gas company received state approval to form an exploration unit adjacent to Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope. If that company - Alaskan Crude Corp. - meets the financial...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - Conoco's exploration plans shaping up 11/12/2006
ConocoPhillips Alaska is gearing up to drill oil exploration wells on Alaska's North Slope during the upcoming 2006-07 winter drilling season, but because the company is not yet publicly saying how ma...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - Exxon offers 20,000 Point Thomson acres 11/12/2006
The long-simmering disagreement between the State of Alaska and the Point Thomson unit owners over development of the field might - or might not - be moving toward resolution. The state has been tryi...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - The past, the present, a new day 2006-2046 11/12/2006
The history of the oil and gas industry and the State of Alaska is the story of huge risks taken, incredible challenges met, and the promise kept to provide a secure economic base for Alaska and its p...