Alyeska plans pipeline bullet-hole drill 01/17/2010
Exercise will involve field testing hydraulic clamp designed to quickly seal high-pressure oil leak; 2001 shooting caused big spill
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. is planning a field exercise this year to test a hydraulically powered clamp designed to stop oil squirting out of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline through a bullet hole. The...

Chukchi air permit takes Shell closer to 2010 drilling program 01/17/2010
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Jan. 7 decision to propose an amended air quality permit for Shell's planned exploration drilling in the Arctic Alaska outer continental shelf of the Chukchi...

Alaska approves spill plan for BP tankers 01/10/2010
Prevention and response outline covers backup tankers chartered to haul North Slope crude; state officials can't promise it'll work
Alaska officials have approved an oil spill prevention and response plan for extra tankers BP might charter to help haul North Slope crude out of the port of Valdez. The approval from the Department o...

Olgoonik, UIC to support Shell operations 01/10/2010
Shell is partnering with Olgoonik Corp., the Native village corporation for the Chukchi Sea coast village of Wainwright, and Ukpeaegvik Inupiat Corp., the Native village corporation for Barrow, to ope...

Prudhoe spill maybe 100 gallons of oil 01/03/2010
Using an assessment of the amount of liquid likely to have been in the well bore and its surface flow line at the time that the line ruptured in the Prudhoe Bay drill site six oil spill incident on De...

Shell goes for reduced OCS footprint 01/03/2010
Macrander says using advanced technologies to minimize environmental impacts makes business sense and protects the Arctic offshore
The use of advanced technologies that reduce environmental impacts and improve business efficiency distinguishes Shell in the oil and gas industry, Michael Macrander, Shell's Alaska lead scientist, to...

Pipe breaks, spilling oil at Prudhoe drill site 12/27/2009
At 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 21 a six-inch production line carrying oil, water and natural gas from a well head at drill site six in the Prudhoe Bay field broke apart, spraying out a mixture of oil and produ...

State, feds investigate spill at North Slope's Lisburne field 12/27/2009
Ruptured pipe in BP-operated field releases estimated 45,828 gallons of oil and water; criminal and civil probes under way by Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, US EPA
State and federal authorities confirm they're conducting criminal and civil investigations into a pipeline rupture discovered in the BP-operated Lisburne oil field on Nov. 29. Weld Royal, spokeswoman...

Lawyers debate BP motion 12/27/2009
Company fights Alaska's billion-dollar suit over '06 Prudhoe Bay pipeline leaks
A lawyer for BP on Dec. 21 urged a judge to dismiss much of the State of Alaska's lawsuit against the company seeking $1 billion or more in damages for the 2006 pipeline spills in the Prudhoe Bay oil...

Groups sue to stop Beaufort Sea drilling 12/20/2009
A group that helps manage Eskimo whaling in Alaska has sued to halt petroleum drilling proposed next year in the Beaufort Sea by a subsidiary of Shell Oil. The Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and the...

BBNC opposes offshore leasing, Pebble 12/20/2009
Native regional corporation says oil and gas leasing, mine development are too risky for fish-rich Bristol Bay; others fire back
A major stakeholder in the Bristol Bay region has come out against offshore oil and gas leasing in the North Aleutian basin. The Bristol Bay Native Corp. announced Dec. 11 its board passed a resolutio...

Produced water spill at R pad 12/13/2009
In an incident unrelated to the oil spill from the Lisburne field pipeline, about 7,000 gallons of produced water were spilled from a 34-inch produced water flow line inside a manifold building on the...

Response team finds source of oil leak 12/13/2009
Overpressure from expanding ice plugs likely caused 24-inch rupture in pipeline between Lisburne drill pad and production center
In a situation analogous to the bursting of a frozen water pipe during the winter, it appears that pressure from expanding ice plugs inside the 18-inch pipeline that carries three-phase fluids from Li...

Shell's Chukchi exploration plan gets conditional MMS OK 12/13/2009
The Minerals Management Service has conditionally approved Shells' proposed Chukchi Sea outer continental shelf 2010 exploration plan. But it's basically approval for data gathering - drilling won't...

Icy spill easier to clean, scientists say 11/22/2009
Research funded by oil interests conflicts with conventional wisdom, based on research done in Barents Sea above northern Europe
Scientists funded by Shell and six other oil companies say that cleaning up oil spills in Arctic ice is in many respects easier than cleaning it from open water. The reason, they said Nov. 17, is tha...

The Explorers 2009: ExxonMobil 11/15/2009
ExxonMobil is a big company with a history in Alaska to match. The company owns the largest share of the Prudhoe Bay unit and helped bring the trans-Alaska oil pipeline into operation in 1977 but also...

Beaufort leasing in state's 'best interest' 11/15/2009
Finding supports 10 years of planned sales in nearshore seas extending from Barrow to Canada; Native groups claim slight from state
Alaska oil industry regulators have cleared the way for a series of lease sales over the next decade along a vast swath of coastal waters in the Beaufort Sea. The state's oil and gas director, Kevin B...

Drilling mud-line cellars for OCS drilling 11/08/2009
A blowout preventer, a tall stack of valves and other devices designed to rapidly shut down a well in the event of an oil blowout, is an essential piece of safety equipment that has to be installed at...

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...

A new Arctic paradigm 11/08/2009
Moving farther north in Arctic offshore stimulates drilling safety innovation
The potentially huge but largely untapped oil and gas resources of the Arctic offshore have become a major focus of attention, as access to new resources in traditional petroleum provinces has become...

Shell puts Burger at top in Chukchi 11/01/2009
Company want to drill up to three wells in three prospects, but known Burger gas pool will get priority treatment in 2010 program
With $105 million placed on the table at the Chukchi Sea lease sale in February 2008 for just one of the tracts around the old Burger well, some 80 miles offshore the western end of Alaska's North Slo...

Watching the offshore drilling from afar 11/01/2009
Any drilling that Shell does in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas would be closely scrutinized, not just by personnel on the drillship, but by multiple, expert eyes, thousands of miles from the drilling o...

Preparing and planning for the OCS 11/01/2009
Shell engineer describes the complex, multiyear process required to bring an oil field online in the Beaufort or Chukchi Seas
As Shell waits behind the starting gate, champing at the bit, ready to move ahead with exploratory drilling on the Alaska outer continental shelf of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, it may be tempting t...

Risk analysis gets low marks from NAS 10/25/2009
National peer review recommends Alaska take a top-down look at oil and gas failures costliest to state, get industry cooperation
An oil and gas infrastructure risk assessment methodology developed by a contractor for the State of Alaska has received failing marks in a review by the National Academy of Sciences. After Prudhoe B...

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...