State: oil at $67 in FY 2010 12/13/2009
State expect prices to rise through 2019, production to rise slightly in 2013 before falling again; Galvin says industry spending expected to be $4.5B in FY 2010, $5B in FY 2011
When the State of Alaska released its revenue forecast in December 2008, guessing the price of oil in the coming year seemed as reliable as guessing the weather in the coming year. In the previous six...

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...

Oil Patch Insider: Alaska well drilling activity varies somewhat year-to-year 11/08/2009
On page 17 of this issue there is a chart showing the number of oil and gas wells drilled in Alaska in the January to September period for 2005 through 2009. New well numbers are almost the same for...

Oil Patch Insider: More ACES trivia: Conoco's state tax jumps from $537 million in 2005 to $3.4 billion in 2008 11/01/2009
Petroleum News recently reported that Alaska oil and gas production makes up about 12 percent of ConocoPhillips' worldwide output, but yielded more than 55 percent of the company's EandP profit in the s...

TransCanada-Exxon plan has Thomson line 06/21/2009
ExxonMobil to lead integrated Alaska pipeline project team; TransCanada will keep Alaska technical lead through open season
While TransCanada will head the management committee for the joint TransCanada-ExxonMobil Alaska pipeline project announced June 11, ExxonMobil will lead the integrated project team. "During its deve...

The Explorers 2008: ConocoPhillips searching near and far 11/23/2008
Biggest producer in Alaska focusing exploration on NPR-A and Chukchi, while pursuing gas pipeline
In its ongoing effort to develop the resources of northern Alaska, ConocoPhillips has embraced westward expansion with a dual approach: big leaps and tiny steps. On the one hand, the Houston-based me...

Licensees seek more time for Nenana 09/21/2008
Joint holders Doyon, ASRC and Usibelli ask state to extend basin exploration license to full 10-year term to continue work program
Faced with the prospect of their state license to explore the Nenana basin terminating in September 2009, joint licensees Doyon Ltd, Arctic Slope Regional Corp. and Usibelli Energy have applied to the...

TG World claimed $8.7M in PPT credits 06/01/2008
TG World Energy Corp. claimed $8.7 million in State of Alaska exploration tax credits in 2007, according to recent company filings. The Calgary-based independent claimed $3.6 million through the first...

Pioneer made $75 million from tax credits in 2007 03/02/2008
Although Pioneer does not yet have production in Alaska, the company still brought in revenue from its Alaska operations in 2007. The company earned $74.9 million in 2007 by selling and reimbursing pe...

Conoco agrees to process Oooguruk oil 03/02/2008
Historic deal gives Texas independent access to Kuparuk facilities; Crockett says could open door to other North Slope explorers
After several months of silence, the first independent operator in northern Alaska and the largest oil producer in the state have signed a precedent-setting, North Slope facilities sharing agreement,...

Message from Petroleum News publisher re. Fear Factor guide; Yonker new marketing director 03/02/2008
We delayed the print and CD publication of Dispelling the Alaska Fear Factor, a guide to Alaska's oil and gas basins and business environment, in early 2007 because a new production tax (goodbye ELF;...

Gas tax reduces progressivity 02/03/2008
ACES base tax, royalties on gas would increase revenues; lower value of gas per boe would reduce progressivity surcharge
Alaska's production tax on natural gas may need to be changed to accommodate a major gas sale from the North Slope, but as it stands now, it would benefit companies selling both oil and gas by reducin...

UltraStar soldiers on 01/13/2008
Weeks pursuing Dewline Deep despite BP's reluctance to operate; AVCG wants in
It seems that persistence is a key attribute for a small independent oil producer wanting to break into the North Slope oil scene. That's certainly the case with UltraStar Petroleum, the tiny independ...

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...