Poll finds super voters think Alaska benefits most if gas goes to Valdez
Scott Heyworth of "Our Gas, Our Future" has had another poll done of Alaska super voters, asking more voters more questions on North Slope natural gas development issues.
Given a choice between taking the gas to the Lower 48 through Canada and talking the gas to Valdez, more than half polled still favor the Valdez route, but the number favoring an Alaska Highway route has grown to more than a third since Heyworth polled super voters — households with at least one person who has voted in three of the last four elections — on gasline projects in April.
The recent poll, done May 16-20, included 385 super voter households statewide, asked more questions and included the Mackenzie Valley route. Both polls were done by Ivan Moore Research.
Those favoring the Valdez route dropped to 52.5 percent from 57.5 percent in April; those favoring the Alaska Highway route rose to 36.5 percent from 24.5 percent; and undecided dropped to 7.2 percent from 18 percent. The May poll included the northern (Mackenzie Valley) route, which got 3.9 percent.
The poll described each route and asked respondents how strongly they felt. The strongest reactions were in favor of the Valdez route and in opposed to the over-the-top route, with numbers favoring the one and opposed to the other almost equal.
On the Alaska Highway route, 26 percent were strongly in favor, 32.3 percent mildly in favor (58.3 percent in favor), 7.6 percent neutral, 17.5 percent mildly opposed and 16.7 percent strongly opposed (34.2 percent opposed).
On the Valdez route, 37.4 percent were strongly in favor, 33.6 percent mildly in favor (71 percent in favor), 6.2 percent neutral, 13.6 percent mildly opposed and 9.1 percent strongly opposed (22.7 opposed).
On the northern route, across the Beaufort Sea into Canada and south along the Mackenzie, 2.3 percent were strongly in favor, 16.6 percent mildly in favor (18.9 percent), 8.2 neutral, 26.6 percent mildly opposed and 46.4 percent strongly opposed (73 percent).
ANS crude oil production down 3.3 percent for May
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 987,101 barrels per day in May, down 3.32 percent from an April average of 1,021,028 bpd. The drop was led by Prudhoe Bay, which averaged 511,009 bpd in May, down 5.46 percent from an April average of 540,508 bpd.
Milne Point averaged 52,230 bpd, down 2.86 percent from an April average of 53,768 bpd. Kuparuk River was down 2.54 percent, averaging 219,663 bpd down from 225,389 bpd in April.
Endicott production was down 1.55 percent, averaging 33,373 bpd compared to 33,900 bpd for April.
Lisburne had the largest increase, up 3.58 percent, averaging 87,477 bpd compared to 84,456 bpd for April.
And Alpine, which produced 90,004 barrels on May 6, averaged 83,348 bpd for May, up 0.41 percent from an average of 83,007 bpd in April.
Cook Inlet production also increased, averaging 31,347 bpd, up 10.86 percent from April.
Statewide crude production averaged 1,018,447 bpd, down 2.94 percent from an April average of 1,049,303 bpd. Prudhoe Bay natural gas liquids production averaged 47,410 bpd, down 1.09 percent from an April average of 47,933 bpd.
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