THE EXPLORERS 2007: XTO more than doubles oil reserves 11/18/2007
XTO Energy, operator of the Middle Ground Shoal field in Alaska's Cook Inlet basin, is a good example of what an independent oil company can achieve in prolonging the life of an aging oil field. Midd...

Court nixes drilling 08/19/2007
9th Circuit order kills Beaufort drilling this year, Shell reviewing options
Shell has crossed several major hurdles in its attempt to start an exploration drilling program in the Beaufort Sea during the 2007 open water season. But the latest obstacle, an Aug. 15 court order f...

Swift: Alaska will likely develop into 'significant play area' 04/01/2007
In March 2006, Aurora Gas and Houston-based independent Swift Energy, then new to Alaska, announced a joint venture for Aurora's Cook Inlet acreage, a deal that earned Swift an average working interes...

Palin to consider all gas pipeline proposals; preliminary meetings with 12 firms, agencies held; state negotiating team being formed 12/10/2006
The new administration has had initial meetings with those involved in - or wanting to be involved in - an Alaska North Slope gas commercialization project, and came away with information to assimilat...

Drilling CI Jurassic? 11/19/2006
Chevron considering testing pre-Tertiary under known Cook Inlet oil pools
In John Zager's speech at the Resource Development Council's 27th annual conference in Anchorage on Nov. 15, he said Chevron is planning a multi-year investment program to stabilize and increase produ...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - Welcome to The Explorers 2006 11/12/2006
The 2006-07 winter drilling season north of the Brooks Range in Alaska promises to be the busiest in at least a decade. Thirteen exploration wells are scheduled to be drilled - and possibly as many as...

Shell: Greenhouse gases policy needed 09/17/2006
Hofmeister says debate is over, policy makers needed to address science of global climate change by keeping fuel prices high
Touting the importance of a "culture of conservation" and investment in alternative fuels, John Hofmeister sounded less the leader of the world's third-largest oil company as much as a speaker at an E...

DEC moves on Escopeta's air quality permit to use jack-up to drill Inlet wells 08/06/2006
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has announced its intention of issuing an air quality permit to Escopeta Oil and Gas Corp. for the operation of a jack-up drilling rig in four offsh...

They got it! 07/16/2006
Stevens: Escopeta has its Jones Act waiver to bring jack-up rig to Alaska
Escopeta Oil has received its Jones Act waiver to bring a jack-up drilling rig into Cook Inlet. U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, made the announcement in Anchorage on July 7. Escopeta Oil President Da...

Kaktovik's Native village corporation, unlike village, will work with Shell 06/18/2006
Kaktovik's Native village corporation has distanced itself from a village government resolution denouncing Shell Oil for pursuing oil exploration in whaling grounds offshore northern Alaska. The Kakt...

Kaktovik accuses Shell of insincerity 05/21/2006
North Slope community authorizes mayor to defend village from company's 'hostile and dangerous' intentions
The village of Kaktovik has issued a stinging rebuke to Shell Oil, which is planning to conduct seismic work in nearby whaling waters this fall. In a strongly worded resolution, passed unanimously by...