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...

New Chukchi lawsuit schedule proposed 01/03/2010
The plaintiffs and defendants in an appeal in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska against the February 2008 Chukchi Sea outer continental shelf oil and gas lease sale have filed a propo...

State Beaufort Sea sale set for Feb. 24 12/27/2009
The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas said Dec. 20 that it will hold a Beaufort Sea areawide oil and gas lease sale Feb. 24. Bid opening will begin at 9 a.m. in Suite 240 at the Atwood Building, 550 W. 7...

New briefing schedule for Chukchi lawsuit 12/27/2009
Plaintiffs and defendants in an appeal in U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska against the February 2008 Chukchi Sea outer continental shelf oil and gas lease sale have agreed to establish a...

BBNC opposes offshore leasing, Pebble 12/20/2009
Native regional corporation says oil and gas leasing, mine development are too risky for fish-rich Bristol Bay; others fire back
A major stakeholder in the Bristol Bay region has come out against offshore oil and gas leasing in the North Aleutian basin. The Bristol Bay Native Corp. announced Dec. 11 its board passed a resolutio...

Shell's Chukchi exploration plan gets conditional MMS OK 12/13/2009
The Minerals Management Service has conditionally approved Shells' proposed Chukchi Sea outer continental shelf 2010 exploration plan. But it's basically approval for data gathering - drilling won't...

Seeking answers 12/13/2009
15 lawmakers ask Parnell if state oil tax policy helps or hurts Alaska investment
A group of leading state legislators on Dec. 4 asked Gov. Sean Parnell for a raft of information they want to use to evaluate whether the 2007 oil tax reform is helping or hurting industry investment...

Info call out for state's spring sales 12/06/2009
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas is requesting new information on its proposal to offer available state acreage in areawide lease sales for the Alaska Peninsula and C...

DOI still reworking lease sale assessment 12/06/2009
The U.S. Department of the Interior is still reworking its environmental analysis for its 2007-12 program of oil and gas lease sales on the outer continental shelf of the Beaufort Sea, the Chukchi Sea...

Climate change legal impacts heat up 12/06/2009
U.S. legislation, regulation and litigation will all have far-reaching impacts on the Alaska oil and gas industry in coming years
In one sense it makes no difference who is right and who is wrong in the debate over the effect of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases on the Earth's climate: The legal fallout from a broad view...

Beaufort dispute boiling over 12/06/2009
The Canadian government has filed a formal protest with Washington over Alaska's plans to auction exploration rights in a disputed portion of the Beaufort Sea and is being urged to raise the issue at...

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...

Plaintiffs eye Shell Chukchi drilling 11/22/2009
The Native village of Point Hope, the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope and 12 environmental organizations, plaintiffs in an appeal in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska against th...

Statoil opening Alaska office, plans Chukchi seismic shoot 11/22/2009
Statoil USA EandP is looking for office space in Anchorage to house the company's first Alaska-based employee, Karin Berentsen. Berentsen, who will be moving to the state from Norway in January, is work...

The Explorers 2009: FEX – Talisman Energy 11/15/2009
FEX is the Alaska subsidiary of Canadian independent Talisman and is responsible for some of the most remote wildcats recently drilled in Alaska. Talisman arrived on the North Slope in 2003 and began...

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 11/15/2009
Armstrong Resources introduced a new business style to Alaska in late 2001, going after larger prospects passed over by the majors BP and ConocoPhillips, the North Slope's only producer-operators at t...

The Explorers 2009: Alaska Peninsula and North Aleutian basin 11/15/2009
The North Aleutian basin, also known as the Bristol Bay basin, extends more than 200 miles along the north side of the Alaska Peninsula and out into the southern Bering Sea shelf. The southeastern por...

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...

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...

Savant reacquires Beaufort Sea acreage 11/08/2009
Vancouver, B.C.-based Enterprise Energy Resources Ltd. has agreed to sell all the shares of its wholly owned subsidiary Bordeaux Alaska Holdings Inc. to Denver-based Savant Alaska LLC for US$700,000,...

Rules for wells deeper than 1,000 feet 11/01/2009
AOGCC says its regulations will apply to wells in the Bristol Bay area because of likelihood of unexpected oil, gas encounters
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has determined that there is "sufficient likelihood" that wells drilled in designated townships in the Bristol Bay area would "encounter oil, gas or othe...

Shell puts Burger at top in Chukchi 11/01/2009
Company want to drill up to three wells in three prospects, but known Burger gas pool will get priority treatment in 2010 program
With $105 million placed on the table at the Chukchi Sea lease sale in February 2008 for just one of the tracts around the old Burger well, some 80 miles offshore the western end of Alaska's North Slo...