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...

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...

EPA proposes approving Shell air permit 01/10/2010
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposes to approve an air quality permit for Shell's planned exploration drilling operations in the Chukchi Sea, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conser...

Tugboat hits Bligh Reef 01/03/2010
Coast Guard probes collision with infamous rock; Alaska oil tankers delayed
A tugboat used to help manage oil tankers at Valdez ran aground two days before Christmas, spilling diesel fuel into Prince William Sound and mildly disrupting Alaska crude shipments. The mishap has g...

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...

Response continues at Lisburne spill 12/06/2009
Quarter acre of frozen discharge remains while team waits for engineers to ensure that pressure has dropped in leaking pipeline
The spill response crew has removed about 80 cubic yards of oil-misted snow from a half-acre area around the site of a pipeline leak in the Lisburne field on Alaska's North Slope, and is waiting for t...

Oil Patch Insider: Miscommunication delays Chukchi drilling decision; Fire Island wind farm still a go 11/29/2009
Nov. 20 came and went without an eagerly awaited decision by the U.S. Minerals Management Service on Shell's 2010 exploration plan for the Chukchi Sea - a decision that MMS now says will be forthcomin...

Mining News: DEC takes lead on water pollution rules 11/22/2009
EPA formally OKs four-phase authority transfer to state to administer wastewater discharge permitting under Clean Water Act
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally approved Alaska's application Oct. 31 to administer the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program. The approved state program is called...

AAEP to hear storm water program changes 11/15/2009
The Alaska Association of Environmental Professionals will hear a presentation at 11:45 a.m. Nov. 18 from William Ashton, section manager for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation's stor...

Beaufort plan comment period extended 11/15/2009
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has for the second time extended the deadline for public comments on the Alaska Coastal Management Program consistency review of Shell's 2010 Beaufort Sea ex...

Oil Patch Insider: TransCanada on Arctic gas; RDC conference Nov. 18-19; Buffett cash to build Alaska gas line? 11/15/2009
TransCanada, with a financial stake in the Mackenzie Gas Project and the prospect of operating the main gas pipeline to southern markets, but no ownership position, is ideally situated to tell it stra...

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...

BP plans backup tankers for Valdez use 10/18/2009
North Slope oil producer submits spill plan for charters; would fill in when regular ATC vessels unavailable; watchdogs have concerns
BP has submitted a spill prevention and response plan for backup tankers it might charter on short notice to haul Alaska North Slope crude oil out of the port of Valdez. The submission of the plan, wh...

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...

Oil Patch Insider: Canada takes delivery of two Arctic submarines 10/04/2009
The Canadian government has taken delivery of two remote-controlled submarines that will be used in mapping the Arctic seabed. The program's purpose is to document Canada's territorial claims in the A...

Alaska, BP sign $1.7 million settlement 09/27/2009
State pollution regulators said company failed to provide adequate spill containment around some North Slope holding tanks
BP has paid the State of Alaska more than $1.7 million in penalties to settle oil spill containment violations at the Prudhoe Bay, Endicott and Badami oil fields. The violations generally focused on u...

Mining News: Corps gives go-ahead for Kensington Mine 08/30/2009
After years of litigation, Coeur Alaska prepares to construct tailings facility; EPA tells state agency it will not oppose permit
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Aug. 14 re-issued a long-disputed tailings permit to Coeur Alaska for the Kensington Mine. Modifications to the permit extend its expiration to 2014, offsetting the fo...

The winds of change in Arctic Alaska 08/30/2009
Politicians seek views on future Arctic policies in the face of climate change, industrial development and environmental protection
As the Arctic warms, the summer sea ice retreats and evolving weather patterns disrupt communities in northern Alaska, opinions on how to respond to the changes sweeping across the northernmost part o...

Fuel removed from CI supply vessel 08/23/2009
Stirling Salvage and Global Diving have successfully completed an operation to remove all recoverable fuel from the Monarch, a 166-foot offshore supply vessel that sank in Alaska's Cook Inlet in Janua...

Going major on the OCS 08/23/2009
Shell opts for major air quality permits for its Alaska offshore drilling operations
After several years of unresolved litigation over minor air quality permits that Shell had obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency for planned exploration drilling in the Beaufort Sea, offsh...

Drift River terminal restarting operations 08/09/2009
Following successful modifications to the Drift River Oil Terminal on the west side of Alaska's Cook Inlet, to bypass the terminal's storage tanks and thus allow oil to flow directly from the Cook Inl...

Mining News: Teck expects Aqqaluk permits by 2010 07/26/2009
Red Dog expansion will extend mine's life 20 years; Native Elder says gaining permission for adjacent deposit should be simpler
RED DOG MINE – Teck Resources Ltd. and NANA Regional Native Corp. are waiting, with cautious optimism, for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide final approval for development of a huge...

Mining News: EPA eyes new rule for U.S. gold mines 07/26/2009
After clearing state hurdles, Nevada mine may find path blocked by federal restrictions; agency seen as pushing anti-mining agenda
Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. is working to bring on line its new mercury-emission control equipment in compliance with state-mandated mercury emission limits and resume gold production at the Jerritt Canyo...

Drift River restart 07/19/2009
CIPL to restart oil terminal, bypassing the tank farm to offload inlet oil
Following three months of speculation about the future of the Cook Inlet oil industry after the April 4 shut-in of most western Cook Inlet oil fields, after an explosion at the erupting Redoubt Volcan...