MINING NEWS: 'Barren Lands' delivers wild ride 11/25/2007
Chronicle of North American diamond exploration sparkles with suspense, intrigue, adventure amid rare gems of history, geology
If you ever wondered how Canada's diamond mining boom got its start, then taking the time to read "Barren Lands: An Epic Search for Diamonds in the North American Arctic" by Kevin Krajick is a good id...

Climate change takes U.S. center stage 11/25/2007
Consultant: Climate change, energy security concerns setting the agenda for U.S. government energy policy; could favor NS gas line
There was a time not too long ago when the forces that guided what passed for a U.S. energy policy in the corridors of Washington, D.C., could be summed up as a three-statement mantra: maximize supply...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: Union Energy takes Kavik leases 11/18/2007
A new company won three leases in the State of Alaska's annual North Slope areawide lease sale on Oct. 24, 2007. Union Energy (Alaska) LLC, which gave the Division of Oil and Gas a contact address in...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: Alaska gets $2 million from lease sales 11/18/2007
An Alaska investor group and a new company dominated the State of Alaska's annual North Slope and Beaufort Sea areawide lease sales. When bids were read Oct. 24 in Anchorage by Acting Director of the...

Numbers will hurt proposal to lock up ANWR 11/11/2007
The latest bid by Congressional Democrats to permanently block energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge stands no better chance of success than earlier efforts to open the refuge's co...

Alaska gets $2M in bids 10/28/2007
Bidders at Beaufort, North Slope sales fill in around prospects, only 2 big bidders
An Alaska investor group and a new company dominated the State of Alaska's annual North Slope and Beaufort Sea areawide lease sales. When bids were read in Anchorage Oct. 24 by Acting Director of the...

ARCTIC ENERGY SUMMIT: High Arctic: industry's last oil and gas frontier 10/14/2007
There's one thing industry hopefully can look to when the Earth's offshore oil and gas resources south of the giant Arctic icecap are exhausted. Many geologists now believe this vast and frigid region...

30 STRONG: A vanishing footprint 10/14/2007
Use of ice-based infrastructure minimizes impact of winter exploration activity
Ice roads, winter byways that disappear with breakup in spring, are efficient and indispensable aids to oil and gas exploration on the North Slope. These ribbons of frozen water have paved the way for...

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. ...

Superior Court decision on Point Thomson out by end of year, says judge; then likely on to Alaska Supreme Court 10/14/2007
An Alaska Superior Court decision on the termination of the Point Thomson unit should be out by the end of the year. It's clear to everyone that the probability of an appeal to the Alaska Supreme Cou...

Oil Patch Insider 09/23/2007
Effort scaled down, but Arctic Power still carrying ANWR banner in D.C. for Alaska
If you're wondering whether the State of Alaska is asleep at the wheel regarding ANWR, the answer is no: Dozing maybe, but not asleep. In May, $750,000 previously appropriated to Arctic Power for educ...

Caribou thrive near Alaska's largest oil fields 09/16/2007
When the Alaska Department of Fish and Game last took a count in July 2002, the Central Arctic caribou herd was thriving. The results of an aerial photo census pegged the herd population at 31,857 ani...

Technology aids quest for happy caribou 09/16/2007
After 30 years of study, much has been learned about North Slope's Central Arctic herd as industry adapts to accommodate animals
Both government and industry scientists acknowledge that the question of caribou in the oil fields of the Arctic is a very complex topic. "It has been a challenge for us to try and study it and to mak...

Frozen byways offer vanishing footprint 08/26/2007
Use of ice-based infrastructure minimizes impact of winter exploration activity on environmentally sensitive North Slope
Ice roads, winter byways that disappear with breakup in spring, are efficient and indispensable aids to oil and gas exploration on the North Slope. These ribbons of frozen water have paved the way for...

NPR-A in limbo 08/26/2007
Draft EIS for Northeast NPR-A out, earliest lease sale after 2008 election
The federal government's plan to open the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to oil and gas development has officially been derailed for at least two years, starting with a September 2006 court order t...

Oil Patch Insider 08/05/2007
Oil sands grind down doubter BP; Alaska exploration buzz baseless, says BP; Palin calls PPT special session
BP likes spreading the message that its initials stand for Beyond Petroleum. How about Behind our Peers? Well, that was the case until this year when the global supermajor decided to clamber aboard th...

Touring the North Slope 07/29/2007
Myers, Houseknecht, Mull join in show and tell with industry, state, federal geologists
The annual North Slope show-and-tell tour, organized by Alaska's Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, has become something of an institution among North Slope geologists. And this year's to...

Judy Brady gets the magic wand at her final AOGA-chamber luncheon 07/01/2007
The oil and gas luncheon hosted annually by the Alaska Oil and Gas Association and the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce was several magic wands short this year. Traditionally, AOGA Executive Director Jud...

Oil Patch Insider 06/24/2007
Prank involving Reggie's 'remains' inflames GO-Expo organizers; Ehm named president of Fowler Oil and Gas (Alaska), moving ahead with coalbed methane in Mat-Su
It was the oil and gas show of the year in Canada. More than 600 exhibitors and 21,000 visitors from 54 countries registered for the three-day Gas and Oil Exposition 2007 (GO-Expo) in Calgary. Fertile...

Palin freezes energy lobbying, ad contract 06/03/2007
Questions about how Pac/West Communications spent funds raised; no-bid $3M award an issue for some from the beginning
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has frozen the contract of a firm originally hired with a no-bid contract to push for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to petroleum drilling. Palin at first supporte...

BIF out for 2008-17 North Slope lease sales 04/29/2007
Two substantive changes in mitigation measures: bear interaction plans required; pipelines must be elevated minimum of seven feet
In order to hold areawide oil and gas lease sales the State of Alaska's Division of Oil and Gas director has to make a best interest finding every 10 years for each of the geographical areas in which...

Oil Patch Insider 04/29/2007
Alaska governor's office seeks new D.C. lobbyists
After nearly three decades of working with the same firm in Washington, D.C., the State of Alaska is advertising for new lobbyists to help drive home its messages in Congress. In a request for proposa...

Umiat appraisal wells in the works 03/11/2007
New independent formed by Renaissance, Rutter and Wilbanks, Arctic Falcon to appraise Alaska oil field, will drill in 2007-08
Renaissance Alaska, Rutter and Wilbanks and Arctic Falcon have formed a limited liability company to evaluate and, if all goes well, develop the Umiat oil field on the northern edge of the Brooks R...

Oil Patch Insider 03/11/2007
Nabors builds exploration rig for Chevron; Brooks Range group acquires Bachner acreage; Hints of success from Talisman/FEX's NPR-A drilling
Nabors Alaska Drilling is building a lightweight, high-tech AC drilling rig at the request of Chevron, which plans a multi-year drilling program on the North Slope starting next winter. Nabors Rig 10...

Odds against ANWR reserve 02/25/2007
Consultants: Making refuge part of U.S. emergency petroleum stockpile impractical
Consultants in Alaska most familiar with the controversial debate over drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge applaud the notion of considering all avenues to find a viable path to de...