Rick Fox: Shell in Alaska for long haul 11/25/2007
Although a lawsuit has put Beaufort Sea drilling on hold in 2007 company moved ahead with Chukchi seismic and other programs
Despite the setback of a court-enforced suspension of Shell's Beaufort Sea drilling program, Rick Fox, the company's Alaska asset manager, gave an upbeat assessment of Shell's progress in Alaska at th...

Breaking through the ice 11/25/2007
Finland leading the way in evolving icebreaker designs from Baltic Sea that are opening new opportunities for marine operations in Arctic seas worldwide
The old adage of necessity being the mother of invention would certainly seem to apply to the icebreaker industry in Finland: The country depends on marine trade routes through Baltic Sea waters that...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: Small independents in high gear 11/18/2007
Five small EandP gas companies plan to drill exploration wells on Alaska's North Slope winter 2007-08
Five small independent oil and gas companies expect to drill exploration wells on Alaska's North Slope in the winter exploration season of 2007-08. In the past, the highest number of small independent...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: Shell never really left Alaska 11/18/2007
2007 Beaufort drilling plans on hold due to a court order, Odom says will continue to listen, learn, work with local people
When Shell re-entered Alaska in October 2001 with the $2.4 million acquisition of 56,000 acres on the North Slope, Alaskans watched to see what the U.S. EandP arm of Royal Dutch Shell would do next. Fo...

Seven drilling ANS exploration wells 11/18/2007
Gas target of two Anadarko's wells; four small independents to drill; Chevron starts multi-year exploratory program in Foothills
Seven oil and gas companies plan to drill exploration wells on Alaska's North Slope this winter; an eighth company is moving forward with plans to re-enter an old exploration well on an undeveloped pr...

BP agrees to $20 million for Prudhoe spill 11/04/2007
BP will pay $20 million and plead guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the federal Water Pollution Act for the largest oil spill ever on the North Slope, Justice Department officials said Oct. 25. Th...

Top court to hear Exxon Valdez case 11/04/2007
During news conference in Juneau, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called the Oct. 29 decision a 'kick in Alaska's collective gut'
The Supreme Court agreed Oct. 29 to decide whether Exxon Mobil Corp. should pay $2.5 billion in punitive damages to victims of the huge Exxon Valdez oil spill that fouled more than 1,200 miles of Alas...

AOGCC reduces potential oil flow from North Slope Burglin well 11/04/2007
Following an Oct. 29 decision by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to further reduce the potential unassisted oil flow from the North Slope Burglin No. 33-1 well, Alaskan Crude Corp. says...

U.S. must boost Arctic presence 10/28/2007
Response needed due to coastal erosion, territorial claims, increased shipping, industrial activity
The Arctic seas are opening and the United States needs to ratchet up its presence in the region. That was the message conveyed by Rear Admiral Arthur Brooks, commander of the 17th U.S. Coast Guard Di...

Commission confirms Burglin decision 10/21/2007
AOGCC says well cannot be classified as gas well; based on DEC reinterpretation of regulations, reduces likely flow to 600 bpd
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has confirmed its determination that the Burglin 33-1 well in the Arctic Fortitude unit on the North Slope cannot be classified as a gas well. Alaskan Cr...

30 STRONG: Corrosion battle began on Day 1 10/14/2007
Ongoing campaign slows aging in trans-Alaska oil pipeline, yields technology dividends
In the beginning, it was an occasional skirmish. Thirty years later, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. is embroiled in a full-scale war on corrosion and destructive forces attacking the trans-Alaska oil pi...

30 STRONG: Prevention fuels best practices hunt 10/14/2007
SERVS, terminal benefit from Alyeska's commitment to doing it right, best technology
Unquestionably, the watershed event in the evolution of oil spill prevention and response technologies used by Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. was the Exxon Valdez oil spill. In a little over 11 1/2 year...

30 STRONG: A tale of two leaks 10/14/2007
Emergency response quicker, more effective in 23 years between oil spills at Alyeska
In 30 years, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. has only had to respond to oil spill emergencies caused by acts of sabotage against the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. The first incident occurred in the Steele C...

30 STRONG: Better mousetraps for inland spills 10/14/2007
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. scored big with recent advances in emergency preparedness
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., operator of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, has assembled a diverse collection of tools to aid in its ongoing efforts to improve its emergency response capabilities. Empl...

30 STRONG: TAPS: Young after 30 years 10/14/2007
Over past 10 years Alyeska achieved 99.5% pipeline mechanical reliability rate
It is an unrivaled engineering marvel compared by some with the Great Wall of China. It has safely and reliably delivered incomparable wealth in petroleum riches to the American people over three deca...

30 STRONG: Mega-line drives industry technology 10/14/2007
30-year old trans-Alaska pipeline adopts best new technology for safe, reliable operation
In the 30 years since operators moved the first barrel of Prudhoe Bay oil down the trans-Alaska pipeline in 1977, improvements in technology have illuminated the path forward on Alaska's North Slope. ...

Improving the mouse trap 10/14/2007
MMS requires capability to respond to an oil spill; research is finding improved ways to trap and remove oil from the Arctic offshore
While continuing research is improving the efficiency of cleanup techniques for oil spilled in ice-laden water, existing techniques for oil spill response in Arctic offshore waters have been proven to...

New oil spill response barge in Valdez 10/14/2007
The Alyeska Ship Escort-Response System has added a new oil spill response barge to its Valdez fleet of vessels that stand ready to respond to an oil spill emergency at the Valdez Marine Terminal, or...

BP, lagging its peers, restructures 10/14/2007
Tony Hayward outlines plan to simplify its structure, increase safety and accountability, listen more closely to front-line staff
BP outlined a plan to streamline its structure, cutting the number of business units and stripping out management layers, as it acknowledged Oct. 11 that its poor financial performance and safety reco...

Way cleared for Sakhalin-2 funding 10/14/2007
A massive oil and gas project on the Pacific Russian island of Sakhalin complies for the most part with environmental, health and safety standards - though some problems persist, says a report release...

U.S. Gulf to get first FPSO 10/14/2007
Contracts include two oil shuttle tankers for 'ultra-deepwater' Cascade, Chinook discoveries; five years since MMS approved methods for use of floating production, storage, offloading systems
Some five long years have passed since the U.S. Minerals Management Service approved controversial rules and regulations governing the use of floating production, storage and offloading systems, known...

MINING NEWS: Seawall fails, but Kivalina battles back 09/30/2007
Kivalina residents chased away by flood warnings began trickling back home early Sept. 14 after the season's first storm died down, ending its assault on a frail seawall guarding the northwest coastal...

Aging Icebreakers slow U.S. in Arctic 09/30/2007
When Coast Guard Adm. Thad W. Allen imagines a melting Arctic, it's not a pretty sight: Cruise ships collide with icebergs. Oil tankers and ore ships run aground. Foreign fishermen sneak into American...

Hayward promises shake-up at BP after worst financial performance in 15 years 09/30/2007
Shares in BP PLC fell Sept. 25 after a newspaper reported that the oil company's chief executive had warned staff of poor third-quarter results. The Financial Times said CEO Tony Hayward told a staff...

Shell: proven techniques 09/30/2007
Given the amount of research being done on Arctic oil spill response, Petroleum News asked Shell, a participant in the SINTEF Arctic oil spill response joint industry program, to comment on the viabil...