Exploration credits holding steady 12/20/2009
Proposed FY 2011 budget has $180M for tax credits, funds in-state and out-of-state gas, variety of other resource-related projects
The $10.5 billion budget proposed by Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell on Dec. 14 continues to fund many resource development projects started under the Palin administration, and creates several new projects,...

Remote basin exploration moves forward 12/13/2009
Independent Trio Petroleum plans to drill first well in Selawik basin in late 2010, permitting for both oil and gas
A Bakersfield, Calif., independent is preparing to drill an oil and gas well next year in one of North America's last unexplored basins - northwest Alaska's Selawik basin, in more recent years referre...

Logistics key to Point Thomson project 12/06/2009
Last year's ice road only available to move materials for four weeks; barges used in summer; rolligons moved significant amounts
ExxonMobil has been fighting a running battle with the State of Alaska over development of its North Slope Point Thomson field - but it has also been waging a logistics battle to get equipment and sup...

TG World positive on NS exploration 12/06/2009
BRPC JV partner spells out some details of seismic and drilling program across the North Slope; sees value of exploration credits
As the only outfit engaged in exploration onshore or offshore northern Alaska this winter, Brooks Range Petroleum Corp., operator for a joint venture of small independents, looks like having a lonely...

The Explorers 2009: Northern Alaska and Arctic offshore 11/15/2009
In 1968 the discovery of the giant Prudhoe Bay field, the first field to be discovered on Alaska's North Slope and among the 20 largest oil fields ever discovered worldwide, triggered a northern Alask...

The Explorers 2009: Chevron Alaska 11/15/2009
Chevron is one of the largest players in Alaska, but sometimes gets overshadowed by companies that operate more units or run higher profile exploration campaigns. Chevron arrived in Alaska more than 1...

The Explorers 2009: Armstrong affiliate 70 and 148 top bidder at North Slope lease sale 11/15/2009
It was déjà vu all over again as Alaska Division of Oil and Gas Director Kevin Banks read 93 bids for 80 tracts in the state's 2009 areawide North Slope oil and gas lease sale in Anchorage Oct. 28. A...

The Explorers 2009: Developing resources off Alaska's northern coast reduces reliance on foreign energy 11/15/2009
The Resource Development Council (RDC) has been at the forefront of efforts to convince the Obama administration to provide for a seamless transition to new oil and gas leasing programs in the future...

Beaufort leasing in state's 'best interest' 11/15/2009
Finding supports 10 years of planned sales in nearshore seas extending from Barrow to Canada; Native groups claim slight from state
Alaska oil industry regulators have cleared the way for a series of lease sales over the next decade along a vast swath of coastal waters in the Beaufort Sea. The state's oil and gas director, Kevin B...

Oil Patch Insider: TransCanada on Arctic gas; RDC conference Nov. 18-19; Buffett cash to build Alaska gas line? 11/15/2009
TransCanada, with a financial stake in the Mackenzie Gas Project and the prospect of operating the main gas pipeline to southern markets, but no ownership position, is ideally situated to tell it stra...

Renewable energy investments recommended 11/08/2009
Draft report from Senate Resources, Energy committees also recommended 'staying the course' on AGIA state-supported gas project
The draft of a report on the state's energy situation, released Oct. 19 by members of the Alaska Senate energy policy group, provides a wide-ranging look at proposals from energy-efficient buildings t...

70 and 148 top bidder 11/01/2009
Armstrong affiliate puts down $7.8 million for 68 North Slope sale tracts
It was déjà vu all over again as Alaska Division of Oil and Gas Director Kevin Banks read 93 bids for 80 tracts in the state's 2009 areawide North Slope oil and gas lease sale in Anchorage Oct. 28. A...

OK for Shell plan 10/25/2009
MMS approves Beaufort Sea 2010 drilling if permitting requirements met
On Oct. 19 Shell passed another major milestone in its multiyear quest to start exploration drilling on Alaska's Arctic outer continental shelf, when the U.S. Minerals Management Service approved the...

Stevens: State needs 'incentive climate' 10/11/2009
Alaska must unite to tout its natural resource potential to world industry and Washington, ex-senator tells Alliance crowd
Citing the spirit and drive of statehood proponents 50 years ago, former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens said Alaskans today must unite in a bipartisan effort to "encourage global industry to invest in our stat...

Oil will hit $150 again 08/23/2009
Herrera, Simmons: The question is when, not if, but too many variables in play to predict
Hoping for higher oil prices? Be careful what you wish for. Longtime oil industry observer Roger Herrera is convinced that high oil prices, though often omitted in current economic and political deba...

2 into 1 - a nonstarter; Kvisle scuttles idea of combined line 08/09/2009
It's a bit like the unwelcome party guest who just won't go home, no matter how direct the hints. Whenever the daunting costs of getting gas from the Arctic to southern markets surface, it doesn't tak...

Murkowski places gas line amendments 06/14/2009
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee accepted provisions proposed by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to the Senate energy bill. Murkowski, the ranking Republican on the energy committee,...

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...

Elton: offshore will be 'balanced' 04/19/2009
New director of Alaska affairs stays abstract in first Alaska speech, promises combination of traditional, new sources of energy
The federal government will balance many viewpoints as it decides how to manage offshore resources, but the final plan will most likely not seem perfect to any particular group, according to the new d...

Donkel and Cade get Stinson-area leases 04/19/2009
State OKs transfer of five leases surrounding the Stinson No. 1 exploration well drilled north of ANWR in 1990 by ARCO Alaska
State land managers have approved a transfer of working and royalty interest in a plot of acreage in the waters north of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the North Slope. The transfer gives fiv...

Congressional delegation, governor object 03/29/2009
Meeting requested with president to discuss Alaska's management of Arctic; Palin says request based on 'false premises'
Alaska's congressional delegation and its governor have registered strong objections to a letter from 67 House Democrats, urging President Obama to make the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildli...

Salazar opens door (slightly) on ANWR 03/22/2009
Says directional drilling might resolve issue of surface disturbance, but wants to see more information about the technology
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on March 16 said he would consider tapping oil from the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if it can be done from outside the boundaries of the North S...

Murkowski: directional wells at ANWR 03/01/2009
In the latest attempt to open area to drilling, senator announces bill to drill ANWR from state lands or waters outside the area
Sen. Lisa Murkowski plans to introduce legislation to allow directional drilling into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from somewhere outside the boundaries of the area. Alaska's senior senator sai...

Oil Patch Insider 02/15/2009
NANA leases 2.2M acres; BRPC sells Stinson leases; Benchmark pulls out; Rutter bringing in rig
NANA Regional Corp. has leased 2.2 million acres onshore in the northwestern Alaska Kotzebue basin to Trio Petroleum, a Bakersfield, Calif., independent oil and gas producer. Trio, which has hired Ala...

Savant accelerates Badami drilling plan 01/18/2009
Incentives in ACES, Alaska's new production tax system, behind its investment in North Slope exploration, development
Savant Alaska isn't waiting until 2010 to complete two wells in the eastern North Slope's Badami unit - a commitment operator BP made to the State of Alaska last year as part of its seventh plan of de...