Exxon wins a round 01/17/2010
For second time, judge disallows breakup of Alaska's Point Thomson unit
An Alaska judge on Jan. 11 dealt the state government a blow in its quest to wrest control of the rich Point Thomson oil and gas field from ExxonMobil and other leaseholders. Superior Court Judge Shar...

ExxonMobil joins critics of tariff hike 01/10/2010
ExxonMobil is among parties lodging concerns about Cook Inlet Pipe Line Co.'s steep tariff hike. Steven Serpati, on behalf of ExxonMobil, filed a brief public comment with the Regulatory Commission of...

New Nicolai Creek gas well goes on line 01/10/2010
Aurora Gas has brought no. 11 well into operation and company applies for new PA and unit expansion at west Cook Inlet gas field
Independent gas producer Aurora Gas has brought on line a new well, the Nicolai Creek No. 11, in its Nicolai Creek gas field, at the northern end of Trading Bay, on the western coast of Alaska's Cook...

Oil Patch Insider: Gazprom CEO: U.S. firms lack knowledge for Arctic projects 01/10/2010
Alaskans need help from Russians with projects in the Arctic, the CEO of Russian energy giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller, has told Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, Gazprom said in a release Dec. 25. Mil...

State Beaufort Sea sale set for Feb. 24 12/27/2009
The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas said Dec. 20 that it will hold a Beaufort Sea areawide oil and gas lease sale Feb. 24. Bid opening will begin at 9 a.m. in Suite 240 at the Atwood Building, 550 W. 7...

Oil Patch Insider: Banks offers Davis no state guarantees for Cook Inlet wells 12/27/2009
On Dec. 22 the top executive of Escopeta Oil and Gas received a polite, but "absolutely not" reply from the State of Alaska's oil chief in response to his Dec. 16 request that the state guarantee no "...

Plenty of gas 12/27/2009
DNR assessment points to more than a decade of Cook Inlet gas reserves
In the light of widespread concern about the capacity of Alaska's Cook Inlet gas fields to continue to supply sufficient natural gas to meet the needs of local gas and power utilities, the Alaska Depa...

Legislators want heavy oil discussions 12/20/2009
Heavy oil is thick as honey and hard to pump out of the ground. That's where most of it has stayed while lighter crude is available. But heavy oil may be the future of Alaska's petroleum development,...

Savant ahead of schedule 12/20/2009
Vigil: ACES works for small explorers, producers; hires lobbyist to make sure Alaska legislators aware of independent's position
Savant Alaska is ahead of schedule on the construction of its ice road to the eastern North Slope's Badami unit, where the company plans to finish an oil exploration well it began last winter. The wel...

Oil Patch Insider: Davis asks State of Alaska for guarantee Escopeta's leases can be drilled in beluga habitat 12/20/2009
In light of the imminent creation by the federal government of a critical habitat for beluga whales in upper Cook Inlet, Escopeta Oil and Gas President Danny Davis has asked the State of Alaska for as...

Cook Inlet Energy's ready 12/20/2009
Tennessee's Miller Energy brings $4.5M to buy, re-start abandoned Alaska assets
Managers for Cook Inlet Energy say they've wrapped up the purchase of a package of formerly abandoned oil and gas properties on the inlet's west side and are moving toward a production re-start. The c...

State reverses Holitna license decision 12/13/2009
Overturning a 2006 decision, DNR finds that a gas exploration license in Southwest Alaska is in the best interest of the state
Alaska officials have again decided that an exploration license in the Holitna basin is in the best interests of the state, returning in a 2005 ruling that had previously been overturned. In a decisi...

DGGS publishes CI research findings 12/13/2009
Alaska's Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys has published the preliminary results of it 2006-07 research into the geology of the Homer and Kachemak Bay area of Alaska's Cook Inlet. The pri...

Info call out for state's spring sales 12/06/2009
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas is requesting new information on its proposal to offer available state acreage in areawide lease sales for the Alaska Peninsula and C...

TG World positive on NS exploration 12/06/2009
BRPC JV partner spells out some details of seismic and drilling program across the North Slope; sees value of exploration credits
As the only outfit engaged in exploration onshore or offshore northern Alaska this winter, Brooks Range Petroleum Corp., operator for a joint venture of small independents, looks like having a lonely...

Statoil opening Alaska office, plans Chukchi seismic shoot 11/22/2009
Statoil USA EandP is looking for office space in Anchorage to house the company's first Alaska-based employee, Karin Berentsen. Berentsen, who will be moving to the state from Norway in January, is work...

Flint Hills production lags 11/22/2009
Anchorage International air carriers scramble for jet fuel due to spike in demand
A spike in demand for jet fuel at the Anchorage International Airport has led to fuel shortages and caused air carriers to dramatically increase the amount of fuel brought into the state. Fuel demand...

Cosmo change OK 11/22/2009
DOG approves well workover and new schedule for appraisal well drilling
On Nov. 10 the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas approved Pioneer Natural Resources' proposed changes to the fourth plan of exploration for the joint state-federal Cosmopolitan unit, offshore the souther...

The Explorers 2009: Northern Alaska and Arctic offshore 11/15/2009
In 1968 the discovery of the giant Prudhoe Bay field, the first field to be discovered on Alaska's North Slope and among the 20 largest oil fields ever discovered worldwide, triggered a northern Alask...

The Explorers 2009: Interior Alaska basins 11/15/2009
Although analysts think that the majority of Alaska's oil and gas resources lie within the major basins of northern Alaska, Cook Inlet and the Bristol Bay area, there are several other basins around t...

The Explorers 2009: Cook Inlet basin 11/15/2009
Cook Inlet, a major sea inlet between the Kenai Peninsula and the mainland of Southcentral Alaska, lies over part of a deep sedimentary basin that has formed between the Kenai Mountains and the mounta...

The Explorers 2009: Armstrong affiliate 70 and 148 top bidder at North Slope lease sale 11/15/2009
It was déjà vu all over again as Alaska Division of Oil and Gas Director Kevin Banks read 93 bids for 80 tracts in the state's 2009 areawide North Slope oil and gas lease sale in Anchorage Oct. 28. A...

Hasty Cook Inlet auction 11/08/2009
Sale set as part of Pacific Energy plan to recoup, liquidate assets it abandoned
The fate of some oil and gas assets Pacific Energy Resources Ltd. abandoned in Alaska's Cook Inlet remained in limbo as the company worked to regain control of the properties and sell them at auction....

70 and 148 top bidder 11/01/2009
Armstrong affiliate puts down $7.8 million for 68 North Slope sale tracts
It was déjà vu all over again as Alaska Division of Oil and Gas Director Kevin Banks read 93 bids for 80 tracts in the state's 2009 areawide North Slope oil and gas lease sale in Anchorage Oct. 28. A...

Orion pool rules expansion in works 10/25/2009
Prudhoe Bay field operator BP Exploration (Alaska) has applied to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for an amendment of pool rules for Orion, a Schrader Bluff oil reservoir and one of the...