Mining News: Alaska miners face hopeful New Year 01/17/2010
State's fairly independent economic cycle and growing global demand for minerals will spawn many opportunities for industry
In my simple world of cause and effect, when I see things happen I always leap to the conclusion that there will be a related subsequent development. When I see the United States borrow untold billio...

Energy policy: a neglected stepchild? 12/27/2009
The Congressional focus on greenhouse gases and climate change is pushing U.S. energy policy into the background, lawyer says
While debate in the U.S. Congress centers on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, energy policy and U.S. energy security have become somewhat neglected, Tom Roberts, a member of Washington, D....

Obama picks Persily as new coordinator 12/13/2009
Veteran of state government, journalism will replace Pearce, lead small agency designed to streamline work on Alaska gas pipeline
President Obama on Dec. 9 announced he'll nominate Larry Persily of Juneau for the job of federal coordinator for Alaska natural gas transportation projects. If confirmed by the Senate, Persily will r...

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...

Cook Inlet gas pricing heading for Juneau? 11/22/2009
RCA responds to a legislators' state energy policy action that seeks regulatory clarity over the pricing of Cook Inlet utility gas
Could a hot potato in the form of guidelines for Cook Inlet utility natural gas pricing be heading for the Alaska Legislature? During a public meeting of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska on Nov. 12...

Pearce steps down as gas line coordinator 11/22/2009
President asked for resignation; legislative aide Persily says feds are checking his background for 'possible federal position'
Drue Pearce, the first and so far the only person to hold the position of federal coordinator for Alaska natural gas transportation projects, announced Nov. 16 she'll vacate the job at the request of...

Copenhagen summit shrinks 11/22/2009
Pacific Rim leaders give up on '09 climate-change treaty; 'rescue' effort under way; Canada insists on moving in lock-step with U.S.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries met in Singapore on Nov. 15 to seek common ground on a new climate change treaty. They found it. Leaders of the 21 Pacific Rim nations, including the...

Oil Patch Insider: A Boone worth Pickin'? Shell denies asking for decision delay; Enstar still upbeat on bullet line 11/22/2009
Canadian investors are being given a chance to find out just how shrewd T. Boone Pickens is in reading future trends in the energy industry. The one-time corporate raider and promoter of an energy pla...

Flint Hills production lags 11/22/2009
Anchorage International air carriers scramble for jet fuel due to spike in demand
A spike in demand for jet fuel at the Anchorage International Airport has led to fuel shortages and caused air carriers to dramatically increase the amount of fuel brought into the state. Fuel demand...

Tax incentives proposed for gas storage 11/08/2009
Alaska Sen. French unveils bill offering tax credits, property tax relief to encourage Cook Inlet facilities for holding natural gas
Alaska state Sen. Hollis French plans to introduce legislation to provide tax incentives for development of Cook Inlet natural gas storage capacity. French, an Anchorage Democrat who sits on the Senat...

EIA expects continuing U.S. gas demand 11/08/2009
Abundant natural gas supplies likely to drive increased use of the fuel, regardless of government policies to curb carbon emissions
In these days of recession-related doldrums, the U.S. natural gas industry may be down, but it's certainly not out. At least not according to Dr. Richard Newell, administrator of the Energy Informatio...

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...

Canada's GHG plans: Where the buck stops 11/08/2009
Provinces respond sharply to case made by study that greenhouse gas reduction goals would be met by transferring wealth regionally
Leaders of Western Canada's petroleum-fueled provinces and the Canadian government have wasted no time shredding the most detailed estimate yet of how much it will cost to meet climate-change targets....

Mining Explorers 2009: Explorer targets first Palmer resource Constantine plans to calculate estimate for copper-rich VMS deposit by year's end 11/01/2009
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. President and CEO Garfield MacVeigh and the Vancouver B.C.-based junior's Vice President of Exploration Darwin Green returned to Southeast Alaska in 2009 to explore th...

Wins and losses for sands sector 11/01/2009
Industry gets boost from study estimating employment, economic spinoffs; runs afoul of chemical producers, who demand single standard
The Alberta oil sands, as is so often the case, are being pulled in opposite directions, quietly ramping up production, while unease builds as the sector awaits greenhouse gas regulations from the Oba...

Renewables, conservation in draft plan 11/01/2009
Alaska legislators looking at energy efficiency, state goals, more money for various plans in review of state's energy situation
Members of the Alaska Senate energy policy group have taken a wide-ranging look at the state's energy situation and in a draft released Oct. 19 have proposed a variety of approaches to deal with every...

Senate passes bill with icebreaker funding 10/25/2009
The full U.S. Senate has passed the 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations conference report that includes $32.5 million in funding for enhancements to U.S. icebreaker capability, Sen. Lisa Murkowski,...

Uncertainty over Copenhagen talks 10/25/2009
Prentice suggests financial crisis trumping environmental concerns; Obama administration looking at bilateral pacts with India, China a to break developed-developing country deadlock
Hopes for a global climate-change agreement are wilting in the buildup to December's United Nations-sponsored talks in Copenhagen, with the Canadian government suggesting that the financial crisis is...

Massive OCS feedback 10/25/2009
NOAA, Natives oppose much of 2010-'15 leasing plan; drillers, lawmakers endorse
A key scientific agency is advising the Obama administration against oil and gas leasing in large portions of the nation's Outer Continental Shelf. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...

CIRI plans coal to gas 10/18/2009
Underground coal gasification could fuel power generation for Alaska Railbelt
There was almost a round of cheers at the joint meeting of the Alaska House Resources, Senate Resources and Senate Energy committees in Anchorage on Oct. 9, as enthusiastic legislators listened to exe...

EPA moves to regulate smokestack gases 10/11/2009
Industrial plants emitting at least 25,000 tons would have to use best available technology with new builds, significant changes
The Environmental Protection Agency took steps Sept. 30 to control the emissions blamed for global warming from power plants, factories and refineries for the first time. The EPA proposal would requi...

House bill requires two tugs for tankers 10/11/2009
Provision in Coast Guard bill would extend dual escorts even to ships with double hulls; similar legislation pending in Senate
Federal legislation authorizing Coast Guard appropriations for 2010 has a provision expanding the requirement for dual tug escorts of oil tankers traveling through Alaska's Prince William Sound. The C...

Stevens: State needs 'incentive climate' 10/11/2009
Alaska must unite to tout its natural resource potential to world industry and Washington, ex-senator tells Alliance crowd
Citing the spirit and drive of statehood proponents 50 years ago, former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens said Alaskans today must unite in a bipartisan effort to "encourage global industry to invest in our stat...

Two state officials move to new positions 08/30/2009
Sen. Gene Therriault says he'll become energy adviser to Gov. Parnell, while Division of Oil and Gas loses Nan Thompson to Enstar
Two public officials familiar to many in Alaska energy circles are taking new jobs. State Sen. Gene Therriault, a Republican from the North Pole community near Fairbanks, announced Aug. 21 he's accept...

USCG commandant outlines Arctic strategy 08/30/2009
The Coast Guard's mission off Alaska's northern coast is the same as its mission off the Florida Keys: making sure that laws are enforced in the U.S. economic exclusion zone, as well as providing serv...