FERC: Lifespan no longer an issue 09/20/2009
Federal regulator rejects request from shippers, state to reconsider ruling that Alaska oil pipeline's usefulness ends in 2034
The federal agency that oversees interstate shipments of crude through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline has rebuffed efforts by some shippers and the State of Alaska to keep alive the question of the rem...

Did FERC underestimate life span? 06/07/2009
Shippers, state seek rehearing of federal regulator's conclusion that the trans-Alaska oil pipeline's usefulness will end in 2034
Shippers on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and the State of Alaska have asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reconsider recent rulings in which it concluded that the useful life of the 800...

FERC acts on 2009 rates for TAPS 05/10/2009
Federal regulator orders public hearing on state, shipper protests once earlier challenge to 2008 interstate tariffs is resolved
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has ordered an administrative law judge to help trans-Alaska oil pipeline carriers and shippers resolve a new dispute that is brewing over interstate shipping...

FERC ruling refunds $440 million to state 05/03/2009
An April 16 ruling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will result in an estimated $440 million in additional oil production tax and royalty payments flowing to the State of Alaska later this...

FERC accepts 2007 rates 05/03/2009
Orders refunds; sets rates; urges owners, shippers to settle remaining disputes
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued another major decision in a long-running dispute between owners of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and unaffiliated shippers on the line that appears...

Petro-Canada major Alaska leaseholder 03/29/2009
There is an Alaska impact from the Suncor Energy merger with Petro-Canada announced March 23. While not an operator in the state, Petro-Canada is a major oil and gas leaseholder on both state and fed...

State, carriers settle tariff dispute 03/15/2009
Alaska reserves right to pursue recovery of strategic reconfiguration costs if FERC ruling is overturned, from 2007 and 2008 rates
The State of Alaska told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission March 11 that it was close to settling its differences with owners of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline regarding claims that the carriers...

No interstate rate hikes 01/04/2009
Carriers propose no '09 TAPS rate increases; FERC rejects rehearing arguments
As the dispute over interstate shipping rates for the Trans Alaska Pipeline System before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission heads into a fifth year of contention, attorneys for the owners and s...

Kempthorne appoints council members 12/28/2008
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has appointed one new member and reappointed four members to the BLM Alaska Resource Advisory Council. The council advises the Bureau of Land Management on public la...

BLM accepts all NPR-A sale high bids 12/21/2008
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said Dec. 16 that it has accepted all high bids submitted at the Sept. 24 National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska oil and gas lease sale and will issue leases by Jan. 1. ...

Busy winter ahead 09/21/2008
Companies pursue multiyear oil, gas exploration programs across North Slope
This could be one of the busiest winters on the North Slope in recent memory, as some companies follow promising finds and others work to bring fields online. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. appears to be e...

Experience, constitution would guide Parnell in leadership role 09/07/2008
Gov. Sarah Palin will continue to handle state affairs during her campaign for vice president, state officials said Aug. 29, the day Republican presidential nominee John McCain named Palin as his runn...

Storm danger looms in Gulf 08/31/2008
Platforms, drilling rigs evacuated as Gustav bears down; 80% of Gulf production could be shut down
Companies began evacuating workers and shutting down oil and gas production platforms and drilling rigs ahead of Gustav, which was expected to strengthen from a tropical storm into a full-blown hurric...

TAPS owners respond 08/24/2008
Say shippers falsely criticized efforts to follow FERC order to lower rates
In a spate of filings Aug. 14 and 15 in response to shipper protests, owners of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline defended their proposals for lowering the line's 2005 and 2006 interstate tariffs and th...

Shippers protest new tariff proposals 08/10/2008
FERC compliance filing, rehearing requests by TAPS pipeline owners draw objections from Flint Hills, Anadarko, State of Alaska
Shippers on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline filed a flurry of protests and comments Aug. 4-5 in response to an earlier filing by the pipeline's owners in compliance with a June 20 Federal Energy Regulat...

Williams seeks rehearing; says FERC overlooked inequitable dismantlement fees collected from shippers by TAPS owners 07/27/2008
Williams Alaska Petroleum Inc. is asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to take another look at one aspect of its June 19 decision overturning interstate rates charged on the Trans-Alaska Pi...

Oil Patch Insider 07/06/2008
Sheffield to lead AOGA for 2008-09; Craig Bieber novel 'Saylor's Triangle' makes Anchorage debut
The Alaska Oil and Gas Association named Ken Sheffield, president of Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska Inc., as its new president, effective July 1. The association's other officers are first vice pre...

FERC lowers tariff 06/22/2008
Commission upholds '07 TAPS ruling; outlines basis for reasonable rates
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission June 19 affirmed a May 2007 administrative law judge ruling that interstate rates charged on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in 2005 and 2006 were not just an...

Deepwater rig market tightens; U.S. offshore drilling firms ink contracts exceeding $3.5 billion 04/06/2008
U.S.-based Pride International, Transocean, Ensco International and Rowan Cos. have entered into lucrative rig contracts totaling more than $3.5 billion with some individual rig leases surpassing a ha...

Savant, Anadarko spud new wells 04/06/2008
Well, well. That's the recent news as spring descends on northern Alaska as Savant Alaska LLC and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. spud new exploration wells. Savant spud the Kupcake No. 1 well March 26, beco...

The long unrealized Gubik gas line 03/30/2008
Enstar-Anadarko stab at bringing foothills gas to Anchorage comes from long line of development ventures dating back 60 years
If Enstar Natural Gas Co. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. successfully build a bullet line from the foothills of the Brooks Range to Anchorage, it would prove up an old oil patch theory. On and off again...

Timely bullet line could save Agrium plant 03/23/2008
Could Enstar's concept of a bullet line to deliver natural gas from northern Alaska to Southcentral Alaska bring salvation for Agrium's fertilizer plant at Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula? Agrium has m...

Enstar looks at foothills bullet line 03/16/2008
A 500 million cfpd pipe would connect to future Anadarko gas field; utility hopes to avoid a natural gas shortage in the Cook Inlet
Hoping to avoid a supply crunch predicted for Cook Inlet, Enstar Natural Gas Co. is planning a bullet line to deliver natural gas from northern Alaska to Anchorage, the Anchorage-based utility told me...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: Anadarko to drill first ANS gas well 11/18/2007
Has two rigs under contract, drilling 2 Brooks Range gas prospects, going back to finish Jacob's Ladder
Anadarko Petroleum and its partners in the Brooks Range Foothills, BG Alaska and Petro-Canada, plan to drill the first two natural gas exploration wells in northern Alaska this winter. Gas discoveries...

Nikaitchuq OK'd 10/21/2007
Expansion approved; Eni applies for royalty reduction, needs project sanction
Eni US Operating Co. has received state approval for expansion of its Nikaitchuq unit and has applied for royalty modification for a dozen leases in the expanded unit. The Alaska Department of Natura...