THE EXPLORERS 2007: Chevron: working across the state 11/18/2007
White Hills exploration to begin this winter, company continues to look at Cook Inlet opportunities
Chevron, an oil and gas explorer and producer in Alaska for decades, will begin exploration drilling this winter at its White Hills prospect in the Brooks Range foothills on the southern edge of the N...

Seven drilling ANS exploration wells 11/18/2007
Gas target of two Anadarko's wells; four small independents to drill; Chevron starts multi-year exploratory program in Foothills
Seven oil and gas companies plan to drill exploration wells on Alaska's North Slope this winter; an eighth company is moving forward with plans to re-enter an old exploration well on an undeveloped pr...

AAEP to hear about proposed Alaska regs 11/04/2007
The Alaska Association of Environmental Professionals Nov. 14 brown bag lunch features a talk on proposed revisions to Alaska contaminated site regulations, 18 AAC 75. The presentation, by Earl Crapp...

MINING NEWS: DEC closer to issuing NPDES permits 10/28/2007
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Water said it submitted a revised application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Oct. 15 for authority to permit wastewater dis...

MINING NEWS: A conversation with Steve Borell 10/28/2007
Longtime Alaska Miners exec says busy mining industry brings good jobs, significant public revenue and excitement to state
Steve Borell, longtime executive director of the Alaska Miners Association, sat down to discuss the state of the industry recently. Borell expressed optimism and excitement about the industry's future...

FEX puts NPR-A drilling on pause 10/21/2007
Independent remains committed, but concerned about land access, high costs, fiscal regime, postpones drilling for two years
FEX L.P.'s decision to put its Alaska drilling program on pause for two years came as a surprise to everyone except those paying attention to the federal government's cancellation of National Petroleu...

Commission confirms Burglin decision 10/21/2007
AOGCC says well cannot be classified as gas well; based on DEC reinterpretation of regulations, reduces likely flow to 600 bpd
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has confirmed its determination that the Burglin 33-1 well in the Arctic Fortitude unit on the North Slope cannot be classified as a gas well. Alaskan Cr...

30 STRONG: The drilling waste dilemma 10/14/2007
Hardrock mining technology adapted for modern grind-and-inject disposal
When oil and gas explorers converged on the North Slope in the 1950s and 1960s, they brought industry practices from the Lower 48. These customs included constructing berm-enclosed pits beside new wel...

30 STRONG: A vanishing footprint 10/14/2007
Use of ice-based infrastructure minimizes impact of winter exploration activity
Ice roads, winter byways that disappear with breakup in spring, are efficient and indispensable aids to oil and gas exploration on the North Slope. These ribbons of frozen water have paved the way for...

30 STRONG: Mega-line drives industry technology 10/14/2007
30-year old trans-Alaska pipeline adopts best new technology for safe, reliable operation
In the 30 years since operators moved the first barrel of Prudhoe Bay oil down the trans-Alaska pipeline in 1977, improvements in technology have illuminated the path forward on Alaska's North Slope. ...

MINING NEWS: Railroad pressed to control coal dust 09/30/2007
State environmental regulators say the Alaska Railroad is proposing insufficient measures to prevent black dust from spreading from its coal loading facility in Seward. The Alaska Department of Enviro...

Renaissance stakes 10 Umiat wells 09/09/2007
At the end of August, Renaissance Umiat LLC staked 10 wells on two of its leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska's Umiat oil field, which straddles the eastern border of NPR-A on the northern...

AOGCC reconsidering Burglin well assessment for Jim White 09/09/2007
At a Sept. 6 Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission hearing John Norman, AOGCC chairman, said that the commission would reconsider its recommendations on the oil spill response requirements for th...

Frozen byways offer vanishing footprint 08/26/2007
Use of ice-based infrastructure minimizes impact of winter exploration activity on environmentally sensitive North Slope
Ice roads, winter byways that disappear with breakup in spring, are efficient and indispensable aids to oil and gas exploration on the North Slope. These ribbons of frozen water have paved the way for...

Permitting for Mat-Su CBM in progress 08/26/2007
Public hearing scheduled for borough permit for Fowler Oil and Gas coalbed methane prospect; drilling planned for the spring
The old adage of the devil being in the details seems applicable to any oil and gas development project. And Fowler Oil and Gas (Alaska)'s proposal to drill for coalbed methane in farmland between Pal...

Target North Slope gas? 08/19/2007
2007-2008 exploration plans in early stages, expect busy season, gas wells
If Anadarko Petroleum drills the undeveloped Gubik gas field this winter it will be the first explorer in northern Alaska to target natural gas instead of oil, betting a gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay...

AOGCC decision on Burglin well appealed 08/12/2007
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has tentatively scheduled a Sept. 6 hearing to reconsider its decision on the Burglin 33-1 well, which is in the North Slope Arctic Fortitude unit south...

Two steps closer 08/05/2007
Shell, whalers sign agreement, Beaufort Sea ACMP determination final
Shell can check two more items off its to-do list for its planned 2007 Beaufort Sea drilling program. On July 24 the company finally signed a conflict avoidance agreement with the Alaska Eskimo Whalin...

MINING NEWS: Agencies approve Fort Knox heap leach 07/29/2007
Stringent monitoring and prevention measures, including the use of technology developed for cold climates, should make facility safe
Alaska's Department of Natural Resources issued permits July 3 for Fort Knox gold mine's heap leach project, which will have a total capacity for leaching 161 million tons of ore. The heap leach facil...

Chevron back again 07/29/2007
Plans to drill up to 6 wells this winter at North Slope White Hills prospect
Chevron - and Unocal, which it acquired in 2005 - have held leases on Alaska's North Slope since before production began there in the late 1970s. While some of that acreage is part of producing fields...

Low sulfur diesel plant up to the task 07/15/2007
New $64M distillate desulfurization unit at Tesoro's Nikiski refinery can be expanded in event of increased demand in Alaska
With the startup at the end of May of the new $64 million distillate desulfurization unit at Tesoro's Nikiski refinery on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska now has an in-state source of low sulfur diesel. T...

Borrowed tool offers down-hole solution 07/01/2007
Operators adapt hardrock mining technology to perfect grind-and-inject disposal of drilling waste and reduce industry footprint
When oil and gas explorers converged on the North Slope in the 1950s and 1960s, they brought industry practices from the Lower 48. These customs included constructing berm-enclosed pits beside new wel...

Ruling lifts cloud over state authority 07/01/2007
U.S. Supreme Court upholds federal approach to transferring permit-granting power to DEC over wastewater discharge permits
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling June 25 lifted a cloud of uncertainty from a federal plan to convey to the State of Alaska powers under the Clean Water Act governing oversight of wastewater discharge perm...

MINING NEWS: Red Dog mine faces new challenge 06/24/2007
New discharge permit heads to EPA internal review board, while DEC prepares to certify it under state water quality standards
The Red Dog Mine, 17 years after startup, is unquestionably the economic and human resources success story of the Northwest Arctic Borough. Zinc and lead prices are strong, and production is up at the...

Shell gets EPA air permits for Beaufort 06/24/2007
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued air quality control minor permits for Shell's planned drilling program in the Beaufort Sea. There are separate permits for operations by the Kulluk...