Lawyers debate BP motion 12/27/2009
Company fights Alaska's billion-dollar suit over '06 Prudhoe Bay pipeline leaks
A lawyer for BP on Dec. 21 urged a judge to dismiss much of the State of Alaska's lawsuit against the company seeking $1 billion or more in damages for the 2006 pipeline spills in the Prudhoe Bay oil...

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: Alaska's energy resources - a crucial part of the answer to the nation's energy questions 11/15/2009
We Alaskans have a very special relationship to our environment. The land is our back yard. We use it for recreation and subsistence. The land has provided our livelihood, for the people and for the s...

Iraqi Cabinet OKs Exxon-Shell deal 11/15/2009
Iraq's government approved a major oil deal with a consortium grouping U.S. and European oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC to develop a prized oil field in the country's south, th...

Pacific Energy sale drama continues 11/01/2009
Bidders jockey for Cook Inlet oil and gas assets as objections pour in ahead of Nov. 3 hearing in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware
An effort by Pacific Energy Resources Ltd. to recoup and then sell some of its abandoned Alaska oil and gas assets has ignited a competition for the properties, and drawn a flurry of objections. The w...

Oil funds see Mideast through downturn 10/18/2009
The Middle East has weathered the global economic downturn better than other parts of the world because its energy exporters were able to tap billions of dollars in oil profits collected when prices w...

Arctic Directory: Investing in the Arctic 09/20/2009
Big resource, big opportunity, big challenge in Far North outrank many hot spots
The Arctic is said to outrank many of the globe's current exploration hot spots, including Brazil and West Africa. But don't expect companies to flock to the Far North anytime soon, especially at a ti...

Fishing port favors North Aleutian sales 09/20/2009
Unalaska council backs offshore leasing provided MMS protects fisheries, but proposed 2011, '14 sales have ample opponents
The Unalaska City Council on Sept. 8 passed a resolution supporting proposed federal offshore oil and gas leasing in the North Aleutian Basin. Unalaska Island is home to Dutch Harbor, the nation's lea...

FERC: Lifespan no longer an issue 09/20/2009
Federal regulator rejects request from shippers, state to reconsider ruling that Alaska oil pipeline's usefulness ends in 2034
The federal agency that oversees interstate shipments of crude through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline has rebuffed efforts by some shippers and the State of Alaska to keep alive the question of the rem...

Ready at Umiat 09/13/2009
Renaissance says field development will depend on sustained oil prices
The Umiat oil field, adjacent to the Colville River on the eastern side of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, has remained a tantalizing puzzle since the U.S. Navy discovered oil there in 1946 and...

Young preaches resource development in the Arctic 08/30/2009
People need to adapt to the changing climate, rather than try to preserve the status quo, Congressman Don Young told the World Trade Center Alaska in Anchorage Aug. 19. "Don't give me this fear and g...

Oil will hit $150 again 08/23/2009
Herrera, Simmons: The question is when, not if, but too many variables in play to predict
Hoping for higher oil prices? Be careful what you wish for. Longtime oil industry observer Roger Herrera is convinced that high oil prices, though often omitted in current economic and political deba...

Oooguruk field performs 08/09/2009
Oil production has exceeded Pioneer's expectations; no Cosmo drilling in sight
Good and getting better seemed to be the tone in comments about Pioneer Natural Resource's Beaufort Sea Oooguruk oil field, offshore Alaska's North Slope, during the company's earnings conference call...

BP in Alaska: After startup – a new era for Alaska 07/12/2009
By mid-1977, when the pipeline tapped into the waiting Prudhoe Bay production, some 125 wells had been completed - about 65 by BP/Sohio and another 60 by ARCO and Exxon. With an average expected outpu...

China leads energy spurt 06/21/2009
BP Review outlines unprecedented shift in global demand for fossil fuels in 2008 toward emerging nations of Asia-Pacific region; gas growth slows
Unprecedented turbulence in world energy markets in 2008 may have overshadowed a less dramatic but perhaps equally profound development in implications for the long term. For the first time ever, the...

Investing in the Arctic 06/14/2009
Big resource, big opportunity, big challenge in Far North outrank many hot spots
The Arctic is said to outrank many of the globe's current exploration hot spots, including Brazil and West Africa. But don't expect companies to flock to the Far North anytime soon, especially at a...

Hold off on the burial 04/05/2009
Canadian oil sands get unexpected lift from Suncor/Petro-Canada merger; ConocoPhillips to finish projects; more MandAs possible
To misquote Mark Antony, in his funeral oration for Julius Caesar: "I come to bury the oil sands, not to praise them." And, to borrow from Mark Twain: "Reports of the oil sands' death are greatly exa...

$15.3 billion for Alaska? 03/15/2009
New study projects state revenue, employment from AK offshore oil and gas
Shell has long championed the potential economic benefits to Alaska of oil and gas development on the state's outer continental shelf, a region that the company sees as strategic to its future Arctic...

National companies dominate world oil 02/08/2009
National government-owned companies hold the bulk of the world's oil reserves and account for more than half of oil supplies
For someone working in the oil fields of North America it might appear that investor-owned oil companies of various forms and sizes dominate the world oil scene. But looks can be deceptive. According...

SEC approves new rules for oil reserves 01/11/2009
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 29 approved updated rules for energy companies that will require them to provide more detailed information to investors when reporting oil and gas reserv...

Winning the numbers game 01/11/2009
Another year before new SEC rule allowing 12-month average price takes effect
Within a year Canadian energy producers - notably those in the oil sands - should emerge victorious from their prolonged battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission over U.S. reserves rules. Ef...

Crude oil falls, but maybe not for long 01/04/2009
Economists, analysts concerned lack of exploration, production investment will spur unprecedented price hike when economy recovers
Resurgent economic jitters sent benchmark oil prices below $38 a barrel Dec. 31, as investors focused on the global slowdown that has dragged crude markets down some 60 percent this year, from a high...

40 Years at Prudhoe Bay: Field fuels nation 11/16/2008
Importance of Prudhoe Bay to U.S. oil production cannot be overestimated; field will support future heavy oil, natural gas output
Prudhoe Bay production has been a powerful force for the United States. The field's oil has long been a strong contributor to total U.S. oil production. And energy experts predict Prudhoe Bay and its...

40 Years at Prudhoe Bay: Mid-life transition for a giant 11/16/2008
40 years after discovery the Prudhoe Bay field continues to produce oil while looking forward to future natural gas sales
At a time when daily oil production from the giant Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope has declined from a peak of about 1.6 million barrels in 1987 to about 400,000 barrels, it is tempting to think o...

40 Years at Prudhoe Bay: Owners work to unitize Prudhoe Bay 11/16/2008
State-approved agreement creates participating areas for oil, gas; divides field
The State of Alaska required that the Prudhoe Bay oil field be developed as a unit, and not individually by the companies holding leases. The 16 initial owners agreed to two operators carrying out the...