West Alpine on hold 01/17/2010
Without corps permit, ConocoPhillips can't start work in 2010-11 winter season
Work on ConocoPhillips Alaska's Alpine West or CD-5 satellite - the first satellite planned for development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska - has been delayed by at least a year. The company...

December production down from November 01/10/2010
Alaska North Slope production drops 1.6%, month to month; Endicott, Milne, Alpine, Prudhoe Bay all have reduced volumes
Alaska North Slope crude oil production dropped 1.56 percent in December, averaging 688,765 barrels per day compared to the November average of 699,675 bpd. ANS crude oil production peaked in 1988 at...

Exploration credits holding steady 12/20/2009
Proposed FY 2011 budget has $180M for tax credits, funds in-state and out-of-state gas, variety of other resource-related projects
The $10.5 billion budget proposed by Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell on Dec. 14 continues to fund many resource development projects started under the Palin administration, and creates several new projects,...

Logistics also an issue at Pioneer's Oooguruk 12/06/2009
Point Thomson isn't the only North Slope field to face logistics challenges. Getting supplies to Oooguruk was one of the issues addressed by Ken Sheffield, president of Pioneer Natural Resources Alas...

Logistics key to Point Thomson project 12/06/2009
Last year's ice road only available to move materials for four weeks; barges used in summer; rolligons moved significant amounts
ExxonMobil has been fighting a running battle with the State of Alaska over development of its North Slope Point Thomson field - but it has also been waging a logistics battle to get equipment and sup...

ANS November production up from October 12/06/2009
Alaska North Slope crude oil production for November averaged 699,675 barrels per day, up 2 percent from an October average of 686,126 bpd. ANS crude oil production peaked in 1988 at some 2 million bp...

Projecting the jobs 11/29/2009
AEDC CEO Bill Popp works with Petroleum News and Mining News on new project forecast
Like one of Scrooge's Christmas apparitions, a ghost of Alaska's future could portend doom, or could just prove to be a warning of the consequences of not taking appropriate action. And from the persp...

Oooguruk field continues to perform well 11/22/2009
Pioneer Natural Resources' Oooguruk field in state Beaufort Sea waters, offshore Alaska's North Slope, continues to perform well, said Timothy Dove, the company's president and chief operating officer...

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: ENI Petroleum 11/15/2009
Italian major Eni Petroleum took its first stab at Alaska in the late 1960s as Agip Petroleum, but didn't begin exploring in earnest until summer 2005, when it bought a portfolio of North Slope leases...

The Explorers 2009: Pioneer Natural Resources 11/15/2009
Pioneer Natural Resources earned its name in 2008 when it brought the Oooguruk unit into production, becoming the first independent producer on the North Slope. The Texas-based company arrived in Alas...

The Explorers 2009: Armstrong 11/15/2009
Armstrong Resources introduced a new business style to Alaska in late 2001, going after larger prospects passed over by the majors BP and ConocoPhillips, the North Slope's only producer-operators at t...

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...

The Explorers 2009: Cosmopolitan back on track 11/15/2009
Pioneer plans more appraisal work at offshore Cook Inlet prospect this year
Work on the Cosmopolitan oil prospect in Southcentral Alaska's Cook Inlet basin has ramped back up, operator Pioneer Natural Resources told Petroleum News Oct. 20. In January, Pioneer put plans to dri...

ANS production back up from September 11/15/2009
Alaska North Slope production averaged 686,126 barrels per day in October, an increase of 1.4 percent from a September average of 676,664 bpd, according to data from the Alaska Department of Revenue's...

Alaska oil jobs peak 11/01/2009
Field maintenance, new projects buoy payrolls; BP ignites competition for people
Employment in Alaska's oil patch is softening, but only very slightly as the industry continues to support near record payrolls. "I'm surprised at the strength of the numbers," state labor economist N...

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...

Cosmo back on track 10/25/2009
Pioneer plans more appraisal work at offshore Cook Inlet prospect this year
Work on the Cosmopolitan oil prospect in Southcentral Alaska's Cook Inlet basin has ramped back up, operator Pioneer Natural Resources told Petroleum News Oct. 20. In January, Pioneer put plans to dri...

September North Slope production up 18% 10/11/2009
BP completes planned turnarounds for year with work at Northstar, where production returned to average rates in early October
September Alaska North Slope production averaged 676,664 barrels per day, up 18 percent from an August average of 572,967 bpd. The BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Northstar field averaged 9,474 bpd...

North Fork's a go 09/27/2009
Pipelines will connect Kenai Peninsula field to Southcentral gas network
Armstrong Cook Inlet, operator of the North Fork unit in the southern Kenai Peninsula, has signed a contract with Enstar Natural Gas Co. for the supply of gas from North Fork into Enstar's Southcentra...

August production holds level with July 09/06/2009
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 572,967 barrels per day in August, an increase of 4,179 bpd or 0.73 percent from the July average of 568,788 bpd. The largest increase, more than 332...

Pioneer gets multiple Oooguruk approvals 08/23/2009
Participating areas, multiphase meters approved; development drilling continues; WAG in Nuiqsut, waterflood in Kuparuk planned
Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska received multiple regulatory approvals for its Oooguruk field off Alaska's North Slope north of Kuparuk in late July. The field, which began producing last summer, rep...

Big money going offshore 08/16/2009
With oil and gas employment in Alaska at an all-time high for the fourth year in a row, crude prices bumping $70 per barrel, four northern Alaska oil fields under development, and the world's majors l...

Eni aims for 2010 oil 08/16/2009
Italian firm submits revised plan for Nikaitchuq field, cites work already done
Back in February, managers for Eni Petroleum were explaining to Alaska industry regulators how plunging oil prices and other complications had shifted their fast-track Nikaitchuq oil field development...

State OKs Oooguruk participating areas 08/09/2009
On Aug. 5 Alaska's Division of Oil and Gas approved the Kuparuk and Nuiqsut participating areas for Pioneer Natural Resources' Oooguruk oil field, in the Beaufort Sea offshore Alaska's North Slope. Oi...