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...

Energy Committee lays out draft bills 12/27/2009
Policy bill includes energy efficiency; omnibus bill includes Energy Department to give cabinet-level focus to Alaska energy issues
The Alaska House Special Committee on Energy is preparing two bills for introduction in next year's session of the Legislature: a state energy policy bill and an energy omnibus bill which incorporates...

Energy policy: a neglected stepchild? 12/27/2009
The Congressional focus on greenhouse gases and climate change is pushing U.S. energy policy into the background, lawyer says
While debate in the U.S. Congress centers on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, energy policy and U.S. energy security have become somewhat neglected, Tom Roberts, a member of Washington, D....

Alberta's chance to 'get it right' 12/06/2009
Government to release interim findings of competitiveness review; industry leaders say results key to business, government future
Aware, after more than two years of meddling with its oil and natural gas royalties, that it has lost the confidence of industry and investors, the Alberta government has one last chance to "get it ri...

Cook Inlet gas pricing heading for Juneau? 11/22/2009
RCA responds to a legislators' state energy policy action that seeks regulatory clarity over the pricing of Cook Inlet utility gas
Could a hot potato in the form of guidelines for Cook Inlet utility natural gas pricing be heading for the Alaska Legislature? During a public meeting of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska on Nov. 12...

Unifying the power grid 11/22/2009
Plan for Alaska Railbelt power generation and transmission company takes shape
The tight energy supply situation in Southcentral Alaska is reaching a point where some major decisions need to be made, given the increasing threat of a shortfall in the rate at which Cook Inlet natu...

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...

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...

Renewables, conservation in draft plan 11/01/2009
Alaska legislators looking at energy efficiency, state goals, more money for various plans in review of state's energy situation
Members of the Alaska Senate energy policy group have taken a wide-ranging look at the state's energy situation and in a draft released Oct. 19 have proposed a variety of approaches to deal with every...

Uncertainty over Copenhagen talks 10/25/2009
Prentice suggests financial crisis trumping environmental concerns; Obama administration looking at bilateral pacts with India, China a to break developed-developing country deadlock
Hopes for a global climate-change agreement are wilting in the buildup to December's United Nations-sponsored talks in Copenhagen, with the Canadian government suggesting that the financial crisis is...

Salazar says he's in no hurry on decision 09/27/2009
Public comment period closes Sept. 21 on Department of Interior's five-year OCS plan; Parnell pushing for Alaska OCS development
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Sept. 17 he's in no hurry to make a decision on whether to allow offshore drilling in federal waters off Alaska and other states, a remark that disappointed advocat...

Gas prices, availability, now and then 09/27/2009
Alaska Oil and Gas Congress hears pessimistic, optimistic views on future for Arctic gas; told it can't be highest-priced commodity
Natural gas prices are low and supply is plentiful. What does that mean for a proposed Alaska gas pipeline which could begin shipping gas in 2018? The 5th Annual Alaska Oil and Gas Congress, held in An...

Two state officials move to new positions 08/30/2009
Sen. Gene Therriault says he'll become energy adviser to Gov. Parnell, while Division of Oil and Gas loses Nan Thompson to Enstar
Two public officials familiar to many in Alaska energy circles are taking new jobs. State Sen. Gene Therriault, a Republican from the North Pole community near Fairbanks, announced Aug. 21 he's accept...

MMS grants Alaska $700,000 to test fish 08/09/2009
The U.S. Minerals Management Service has awarded a $700,000 grant to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources for a project to test fish throughout the state for contaminants such as heavy metals an...

ANGDA works on route decision criteria for in-state pipeline 07/26/2009
Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority board works on list of items it will consider in providing public process for route; Michael Baker Jr. wins $5 million contract from DNR
The Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority board welcomed two new members when it met in Anchorage July 16 - Bill Jeffress of Anchorage and Brian Rogers of Fairbanks - and continued work on evaluati...

Refiners move into alternative fuels 06/28/2009
Oil companies shop for discounted ethanol plants forced into bankruptcy by economy, frozen credit, wildly swinging corn prices; of some 200 U.S. plants, about two dozen in bankruptcy
When Sunoco closed in mid-June on the acquisition of a bankrupt ethanol plant in Fulton, N.Y., for pennies on the dollar, it became just the latest oil refiner to step into the alternative fuels marke...

FERC clarifies Kenai LNG plant order 05/31/2009
In response to request from owners, commission acknowledges site, design, construction grandfathered; requires semiannual reports
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has revised in part and confirmed in part its requirements for Kenai LNG facility reporting. In a January order FERC said the liquefied natural gas terminal a...

Elton: offshore will be 'balanced' 04/19/2009
New director of Alaska affairs stays abstract in first Alaska speech, promises combination of traditional, new sources of energy
The federal government will balance many viewpoints as it decides how to manage offshore resources, but the final plan will most likely not seem perfect to any particular group, according to the new d...

In listening mode 04/19/2009
Salazar hears Alaska perspectives on offshore oil and gas development
Hailed by the Resource Development Council as "perhaps the most important public hearing to be held in Alaska in years," preceded by a "march for jobs" involving a chanting assortment of helmet-wearin...

Lawmakers propose Energy Department 04/12/2009
Bill would re-align several Alaska government agencies, programs into one department with hope of streamlining energy planning
State lawmakers have proposed legislation to create a Department of Energy. The bill introduced April 6 would bring two public corporations into a single department with the aim of increasing coordina...

Pushing an Asian option 04/12/2009
Canadian industry, Alberta government seek alternative outlet for oil sands crude, prodded by concerns over U.S. climate change legislation
A push from the United States and a nudge from China have stirred fresh interest among those who believe it's vital to open up Asian markets for Canadian oil sands production. But the road to the Far...

DNR gets Alaska coastal impact grant 04/05/2009
The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service has approved a $150,000 grant to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources for hydro-acoustic monitoring of ambient noise and marine...

Upgrading begins at home 03/29/2009
Legislation introduced to take oil sands bitumen in kind rather than cash, providing a catalyst for new 'value-added' upgrader projects
For the Alberta government, it is no longer a case of wistfully counting the jobs and revenues being lost as oil sands production enters the United States for upgrading and refining. Premier Ed Stelma...

Coastal impact assistance projects needed 03/22/2009
Alaska's Division of Coastal and Ocean Management is soliciting projects for inclusion in the state's Coastal Impact Assistance Program plan, DCOM said March 6. Projects included in the plan qualify f...

Interior to hold April Anchorage meeting 03/15/2009
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said March 11 that one of four regional public meetings on Interior's findings on outer continental shelf energy resources and potential environmental impacts wil...