Speakers highlight oil's importance 12/13/2009
Goldsmith, Langland, Samuels urge more attention for oil industry if Alaska is to have vibrant economy, avoid state budget crisis as production declines in next few years
An economist, a banker and a politician sounded a familiar alarm Dec. 8 at a special luncheon of the Resource Development Council for Alaska: The state's vital oil production is running out, the indus...

Logistics also an issue at Pioneer's Oooguruk 12/06/2009
Point Thomson isn't the only North Slope field to face logistics challenges. Getting supplies to Oooguruk was one of the issues addressed by Ken Sheffield, president of Pioneer Natural Resources Alas...

Logistics key to Point Thomson project 12/06/2009
Last year's ice road only available to move materials for four weeks; barges used in summer; rolligons moved significant amounts
ExxonMobil has been fighting a running battle with the State of Alaska over development of its North Slope Point Thomson field - but it has also been waging a logistics battle to get equipment and sup...

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...

Oil Patch Bits: Ballot initiative reform 11/29/2009
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell told the Resource Development Council's annual conference Nov. 18 that his administration is fighting, and will continue to fight, to ensure the Endangered Species Act is used...

BP: More challenges than a few years ago 11/29/2009
Minge tells RDC BP's 50-year Alaska strategy a dream, not a promise; cost structure threatens light oil; costs up 4 times oil price
BP has talked in recent years about the company's 50-year future in Alaska. But that strategy is "a dream: It's not a promise," BP Exploration (Alaska) President John Minge told the Resource Developm...

Conoco won't explore this year in Alaska 11/29/2009
Company focusing on preparing for Chukchi drilling in 2012; development drilling at Kuparuk, Alpine down; focus on maintenance
ConocoPhillips Alaska is changing its exploration focus and looking to the Chukchi Sea, Helene Harding, the company's vice president of North Slope operations and development, said Nov. 18. Harding t...

Projecting the jobs 11/29/2009
AEDC CEO Bill Popp works with Petroleum News and Mining News on new project forecast
Like one of Scrooge's Christmas apparitions, a ghost of Alaska's future could portend doom, or could just prove to be a warning of the consequences of not taking appropriate action. And from the persp...

Parnell: ESA for species 11/29/2009
Governor tells RDC ESA not land-use planning tool; budgets for ESA attorney
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell gave a clear indication of focus resource issues for his administration when he opened the Resource Development Council's 30th annual conference in Anchorage Nov. 18. The gov...

Cooperation the key 11/29/2009
Mayor Itta spells out North Slope Borough expectations for OCS policy
As summer sea ice recedes and marine habitats change under the influence of a warming climate, the rapidly evolving situation in the Arctic is creating a situation where a wide variety of different gr...

The Explorers 2009: Cosmopolitan back on track 11/15/2009
Pioneer plans more appraisal work at offshore Cook Inlet prospect this year
Work on the Cosmopolitan oil prospect in Southcentral Alaska's Cook Inlet basin has ramped back up, operator Pioneer Natural Resources told Petroleum News Oct. 20. In January, Pioneer put plans to dri...

The Explorers 2009: Welcome to 'The Explorers' 2009 11/15/2009
Welcome to The Explorers, an annual magazine from Petroleum News that is released each November at the Resource Development Council for Alaska's conference in Anchorage. The Explorers was first publis...

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...

Oil Patch Insider: TransCanada on Arctic gas; RDC conference Nov. 18-19; Buffett cash to build Alaska gas line? 11/15/2009
TransCanada, with a financial stake in the Mackenzie Gas Project and the prospect of operating the main gas pipeline to southern markets, but no ownership position, is ideally situated to tell it stra...

Mining News: Fish Creek restoration earns Fort Knox operator the Tileston Award 10/25/2009
Kinross Gold Corp. subsidiary, Fairbanks Gold Mining Inc., recently received accolades for its reclamation of Fish Creek, a stream draining the Fort Knox gold mine area. The Alaska Conservation Allia...

Mining News: Miners reclaim Alaska mines as they work 10/25/2009
Property owners' intentions for land after minerals have been extracted is important element of planning for mine closures
Reclamation is a critical element of modern mining and mine planning. In Alaska, companies who wish to extract minerals from the earth must first present a plan on how they propose to return the distu...

Cosmo back on track 10/25/2009
Pioneer plans more appraisal work at offshore Cook Inlet prospect this year
Work on the Cosmopolitan oil prospect in Southcentral Alaska's Cook Inlet basin has ramped back up, operator Pioneer Natural Resources told Petroleum News Oct. 20. In January, Pioneer put plans to dri...

NMFS survey shows low beluga count 10/18/2009
Fisheries Service says Cook Inlet population still not showing signs of recovery despite subsistence hunting quotas since 1999
The latest NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service annual survey of Cook Inlet beluga whales, carried out in early June, has estimated a whale population of 321. This figure is lower than the count of...

Explorers magazine coming soon 10/11/2009
Petroleum News' annual "The Explorers" magazine, which is first released at the Resource Development Council's conference in November, has a different format this year. The Explorers 2009 is organize...

Parnell backs Alaska OCS development 09/13/2009
Governor tells RDC state must fight for Alaska's outer continental shelf; says he continues to reach out to North Slope leaders
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell focused on development of Alaska's outer continental shelf in a Sept. 3 address to the Resource Development Council, calling it "one opportunity that we must fight for." The...

Mining News: Suit worries natural resources industry 08/30/2009
Trustees for Alaska sues state, claiming DNR and the Legislature created a scheme to skirt public comment of water use permits
Alaska's resource development community is responding en masse to a civil suit filed by environmental law firm Trustees for Alaska that contends permits issued by the Alaska Department of Natural Reso...

'And' rather than 'or' 07/05/2009
Lawrence urges balance between fossil and renewable fuels in energy transition
The world needs to achieve a balance between the use of traditional fossil fuels and new renewable energy sources, as the global community transitions into its energy future, David Lawrence, vice pres...

Mining News: Finding rekindles Ballot Measure 4 fires 06/28/2009
APOC identifies more than 20 campaign violations by 'Gillam Group;' member accuses initiative opponents of similar improprieties
The opposing sides of Ballot Measure 4, the failed ballot initiative that opponents said targeted development of a mine at the huge Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in Southwest Alaska, have mov...

Elton: offshore will be 'balanced' 04/19/2009
New director of Alaska affairs stays abstract in first Alaska speech, promises combination of traditional, new sources of energy
The federal government will balance many viewpoints as it decides how to manage offshore resources, but the final plan will most likely not seem perfect to any particular group, according to the new d...

In listening mode 04/19/2009
Salazar hears Alaska perspectives on offshore oil and gas development
Hailed by the Resource Development Council as "perhaps the most important public hearing to be held in Alaska in years," preceded by a "march for jobs" involving a chanting assortment of helmet-wearin...