New Nicolai Creek gas well goes on line 01/10/2010
Aurora Gas has brought no. 11 well into operation and company applies for new PA and unit expansion at west Cook Inlet gas field
Independent gas producer Aurora Gas has brought on line a new well, the Nicolai Creek No. 11, in its Nicolai Creek gas field, at the northern end of Trading Bay, on the western coast of Alaska's Cook...

Salazar launches 'major reforms' for onshore leasing program 01/10/2010
Secretary of the Interior says reforms include new guidance to field managers, new reviews
Citing pushback from the public on the level of onshore oil and gas leasing under the Bush administration, President Obama's Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, said in a Jan. 6 press conference t...

Corps working on EIS for standalone line 01/03/2010
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working on a draft environmental impact statement for the State of Alaska's proposed standalone in-state gas pipeline project. The corps is the lead federal agency;...

Noah tells legislators time to choose 01/03/2010
Says Legislature funding too many options, confusing market; Irwin says information isn't in for standalone or AGIA line to market
Alaska legislators heard two different views in mid-December of what they should do about gas projects in the state: Harry Noah, the outgoing project manager for the state's in-state gas project, said...

ANGDA resolves EIS project description 12/27/2009
Authority's board approves moving ahead with Beluga to Fairbanks gas line permitting work, exclusive agreement on propane project
The Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Land Management appear to have come to an agreement on a project description of ANGDA's Beluga-to-Fairb...

ANGDA, agencies, at odds on EIS process 12/06/2009
Corps of Engineers has issues with description of Beluga-to-Fairbanks gas line; BLM doesn't think ANGDA has authority to go north
Federal agencies are butting heads with the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority over its project description for the proposed Beluga-to-Fairbanks or B2F gas line and over its authority to permit...

NPR-A lease sale set for August; both northeast, northwest tracts 11/29/2009
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Nov. 24 that the Bureau of Land Management will hold a National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska oil and gas lease sale on Aug. 11, 2010. The sale will include tr...

Mining News: Parnell lauds Alaska permitting process 11/22/2009
"The state will continue to defend our permits that we issue, and our permitting process. That is the least I can do as governor"
Alaska Governor Sean Parnell reflected on Alaska's rich mining history and vowed to defend the state's mining regulatory process and to oppose unjust attacks on the industry during an address to miner...

ANGDA advancing propane, gas co-op 11/22/2009
Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority asks for discussion of synergy with FNG, Alaska Gasline Port Authority LNG project
The board of directors of the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority got one meeting it's been asking for - a closed-door session with Gov. Sean Parnell - and asked for another, this one with the Co...

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: 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...

BLM increases oil and gas processing fee 11/15/2009
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said Nov. 6 that on Nov. 2 it began charging a $6,500 processing fee for new oil and gas applications for permits to drill. BLM said the fee increase from $4,000 wa...

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...

Ready at Umiat 09/13/2009
Renaissance says field development will depend on sustained oil prices
The Umiat oil field, adjacent to the Colville River on the eastern side of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, has remained a tantalizing puzzle since the U.S. Navy discovered oil there in 1946 and...

October target for ROW applications 09/06/2009
State's standalone gas line project will permit two routes, one along Parks Highway, one along Richardson and Glenn highways
A state-directed team working on costs and feasibility for a standalone Alaska gas pipeline aims to have a summary of alternative routes complete by early September, including a Parks Highway route wh...

Conoco bags Bear Tooth 09/06/2009
Firm keeps some expiring NPR-A leases; one new unit, one expansion
Faced with a looming expiration date on dozens of federal leases, ConocoPhillips worked out a deal with the Bureau of Land Management to form a new exploration unit called Bear Tooth and expand an exi...

Senate confirms Abbey as BLM director 08/23/2009
A former state director of the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada, who worked to cool rhetoric and build partnerships for managing public lands, was confirmed Aug. 7 as national director of the agenc...

Seventy-nine NPR-A Conoco leases set to expire Aug. 31 08/23/2009
Seventy-nine leases operated by ConocoPhillips in the northeast sale area of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska are set to expire on Aug. 31. Neither the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, nor ConocoP...

Mining News: 260,000 abandoned mines still mar West 07/26/2009
GAO: States assess functional royalties on hardrock mining; Murkowski urges caution as U.S. Senate debates modernizing mining law
Though Alaska has more than 7,300 abandoned hardrock mine sites, most of which are located on federal lands, the state's problems are relatively small potatoes compared with the estimated 260,000 aban...

Colville production expands westward into NPR-A 07/26/2009
Production from Alaska's North Slope continues to move west, with ConocoPhillips Alaska applying to expand the Colville River unit on the western edge of existing production to the west and southwest,...

Feds, Colo. hash out agreement on rules 07/12/2009
Colorado's new oil and gas rules now apply to federal land as well as private and state land after state and federal officials struck a deal. Legislators and state regulators approved stricter oil an...

BLM to convey almost half-million acres 06/28/2009
Transferring more than 150 million acres from federal to state and private ownership taking longer than originally thought
The federal Bureau of Land Management has filed public notice to convey more than 554,000 acres to a handful of Alaska village and regional Native corporations. Included are 233,000 acres near Minto,...

Hamilton, Abbey nominated for DOI posts 06/14/2009
Nominees to fill two top jobs at the Department of the Interior were announced June 9: Sam D. Hamilton as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bob Abbey as director of the Bureau of L...

Courts likely to see another PT appeal 05/31/2009
Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission denies ExxonMobil reconsideration request on Point Thomson compulsory unitization
With the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission denying a reconsideration application from ExxonMobil, another part of the state's dispute with ExxonMobil and the other former Point Thomson unit o...

Denali updates legislators on gas line 05/17/2009
Responding to request from Ramras, Johnston, BP-ConocoPhillips project outlines expenditures, 2008 accomplishments, 2009 plans
The administration of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin provided an update April 30 on the TransCanada Alaska gas pipeline project licensed last year under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. Reps. Jay Ramras,...