Commission won’t move in with RCA
Petroleum News Alaska Staff
A bill introduced by Senators Drue Pearce, R-Anchorage, and Robin Taylor, R-Wrangell, has passed the Senate repealing legislation passed last year which would have moved the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission into the same offices as the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.
Senate Bill 229, which passed the Senate Feb. 17, has been sent to the house. The bill also allows the AOGCC to request the services of hearing examiners from the RCA. The same legislation was introduced as House Bill 323.
Bill proposes taxing North Slope gas Rep. Eric Croft, D-Anchorage, has introduced a bill to levy a tax of at least $1 billion a year on undeveloped North Slope natural gas unless at least 500 billion cubic feet is annually committed for sale by contract for at least 20 years by Dec. 31, 2002.
House Bill 399 says “in order to facilitate the commercialization of North Slope natural gas, it is necessary to provide an incentive to ensure that the cost to North Slope producers not to commercialize, delay commercialization, or inhibit commercialization of North Slope natural gas is prohibitive…”
The proposed annual tax would be levied “each calendar year on the full and true value of taxable property” defined as “natural gas in place from all state leases on the North Slope having proven gas reserves” at an annual rate of the greater of 20 mills or a rate which yields $1 billion.
Commissioner qualifications Rep. Joe Green, R-Anchorage, has introduced a bill expanding qualifications for members of the AOGCC. House Bill 414 would require that one seat be held by a degreed, registered petroleum engineer with at least 10 years of professional subsurface experience in the oil and gas industry; one seat would be held by a degreed geologist with at least 10 years of professional petroleum geology experience. The third seat would not require certification, training or experience in either petroleum engineering or petroleum geology.
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