Andex out of Nenana basin 12/16/2007
Doyon seeks new partner for Alaska gas exploration, looking to drilling in '09
The possibility of a large gas find in the Nenana basin in Alaska's interior, just 35 miles southwest of Fairbanks, has intrigued people for a number of years. But Andex Resources, the operator of an...

Conoco: ULSD facility won't be built 12/02/2007
State of Alaska's tax changes blamed; Revenue Commissioner Pat Galvin says facility wouldn't have qualified under 2006 PPT
A proposed upgrade to a North Slope topping plant to produce the ultra-low-sulfur diesel required to meet federal government standards of no more than 15 parts per million of sulfur has been canceled...

Administration wins on tax increase 11/25/2007
Gov. Sarah Palin gets 25% tax requested in ACES, Democrats get standard deduction; level of continuing investment the worry
An expected Nov. 16 knuckle-biter finish to the Alaska Legislature's 30-day special session never materialized. The Senate completed most of its work on the bill changing state's oil and gas producti...

Industry less and less happy with ACES 11/18/2007
Companies tell Senate Finance that more taxes will lower, not raise, investment levels; bill includes more than two increases
Industry representatives were glum when they testified at Senate Finance Nov. 14. They'd had less than 24 hours to look through the committee substitute for Senate Bill 2001, the evolving bill that be...

House coalition passes 25% bill 11/18/2007
Senate Finance amends its CS from 22.5% to 25%, refuses to let Revenue write leasehold expenses regs, sunsets audit masters
The 30-day special session of the Alaska Legislature ends at midnight, Friday Nov. 16, more than a day after this issue of Petroleum News goes to print, with a nail biter of a finish expected. The is...

Alaska gets poor marks 11/18/2007
Two consulting firms tell Alaska legislators state's oil take already high with PPT
Now attractive is Alaska for oil company investment? And how will the proposed changes in the state's production tax - Gov. Sarah Palin's Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share bill, or ACES, now before t...

Investment at risk 11/18/2007
Oil company execs says consequences dire if Alaska hikes taxes again
Investment in Alaska is in jeopardy if the state's oil production tax is overhauled in such a way that it significantly increases the State of Alaska's take, oil company executives told attendees of t...

ANGDA promotes in-state gas options 11/11/2007
Far from special legislative session debates over the troubled PPT, the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority is quietly focused on making North Slope natural gas available to Alaska residents, uti...

This isn't Amerada Hess 11/11/2007
Disputes under a net tax don't involve first impression issues; state the sovereign
One of the issues that raises concern with a net production tax is litigation - the possibility that disputes between the State of Alaska and oil companies will generate lengthy legal disputes and end...

Econ One: industry costs up 11/11/2007
Consultant says Revenue used 2002-05 information; steep rises began in '05
The Alaska Department of Revenue used publicly available cost data from 2002-05 when it assembled a fiscal note on expected North Slope production and operating and capital costs for the legislation t...

Two tax bills now in play 11/04/2007
Alaska governor's PPT rewrite, ACES, departs first committees with major changes
The first committee substitutes are out for Gov. Sarah Palin's proposal to increase oil production taxes, the ACES bill, and the Alaska House and Senate are talking such different approaches that it i...

Small independent on board with ACES 10/28/2007
Thompson: ACES train has left station, AVCG wants five things to remain in Palin's bill, four to be changed, favors 22.5% rate
By mid-2008 Alaska Venture Capital Group and its partners will have invested more than $100 million in their oil and gas properties in Alaska, including drilling two exploration wells last winter, one...

ACES' hearings in Juneau intense 10/28/2007
Legislators question past, current consultants, administration, industry: tax rate, proposed floor, exempt auditors, ethics aired
A special session of the Alaska Legislature gaveled in Oct. 18 to consider Gov. Sarah Palin's proposal to change the petroleum profits tax lawmakers enacted in August 2006 under the previous administr...

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...

Corruption trials are painful, but necessary 10/21/2007
The recent jury verdicts in the public corruption trials of former Alaska legislators have been disturbing, to say the least. As a strong supporter of the legislative process in our democratic system...

Alaska oil tax forum set for Oct. 11 10/07/2007
On Oct. 11 in Anchorage, leaders from the private and government sectors will gather for a panel on proposed changes to the State of Alaska's production profits tax, better known as PPT (see related s...

Administration releases ACES draft 10/07/2007
Revenue Commissioner Galvin says no unexpected difficulties encountered - bill reflects principles governor outlined in September
Information and auditors, along with an increased tax rate, are key aspects of the draft bill for a new production tax - "Alaska's clear and equitable share" or ACES - introduced by the administration...

BP protests proposed tax 09/30/2007
Suttles says Palin's plan makes Alaska less competitive when investment needed for existing fields, new developments
A study of government take by Wood Mackenzie released in June ranked Alaska among the least fiscally stable regimes in the world, BP Exploration (Alaska) President Doug Suttles told the Alaska Support...

State of Alaska determining value of its oil 09/16/2007
Excited and grateful to tackle the issue, my administration and the 25th State Legislature owe it to Alaskans to determine the value of Alaskan-owned resources, declare that value and move the state f...