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Oil Patch Insider: Walsh, Beckham to stay with Oil & Gas; Algeria minister says OPEC will cut output again if necessary
Kay Cashman Petroleum News
The director and deputy director of the Division of Oil and Gas are staying on with the Dunleavy administration under Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige.
Chantal Walsh, director, and James “Jim” Beckham, deputy director, “are welcome to work here as long as they want to,” DNR communications director Dan Saddler said.
Both Walsh and Beckham have told Petroleum News they are happy to stay and continue serving the people of Alaska.
A life-long Alaskan, Walsh joined the division as director on Nov. 28, 2016.
She has more than 32 years of private-sector experience in Alaska’s petroleum industry on strategic planning, commercial analysis, litigation, well work operations, production optimization, completions, and drilling design and coordination, on oil and gas projects on the North Slope and in the Cook Inlet basin.
Prior to joining the division, Walsh was a consulting engineer at Petrotechnical Resources of Alaska, or PRA, a consulting firm she co-founded in 1997.
Her oil and gas career began in 1985 at Standard Alaska Production Co., which discovered the North Slope Endicott oil field. She worked on Prudhoe Bay projects with Standard and then later with BP and ARCO Alaska, where she held a variety of positions in commercial analysis, reservoir management, litigation and field operations.
Feige, Walsh play musical chairs In 2016, Walsh replaced Feige, who had resigned from the Walker administration, preceded that same year by DNR commissioner and deputy commissioner, Mark Myers and Marty Rutherford, respectively.
Walsh has a Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is a licensed professional engineer in Alaska.
She is vice chair of the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Engineering and Mines’ Advisory and Development Council.
Beckham: Coast Guard roots Beckham, who is known for his organizational skills, attention to detail, hard work, willingness to be a team player and sense of humor, is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Science.
His Coast Guard career included postings in drug interdiction, search and rescue, communications and aids to navigation in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, with a special assignment to the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm.
Beckham served aboard four buoy tenders, closing with a commanding officer assignment in Cordova. For nearly a decade thereafter, he served as harbormaster for the city of Seward.
Beckham left public service to become vice president of operations for Harbor Enterprises, which was founded by North Slope oil and gas independent Winstar co-owner and co-founder Dale Lindsey. Harbor is one of the largest privately owned fuel distribution companies in Alaska.
Beckham was responsible for Harbor’s shore facilities, marine operations and regulatory compliance from Ketchikan to Kodiak and in the Yukon Territory. He served in that capacity for more than 10 years. Later, he managed planning and support services for the startup of the non-profit Alaska Maritime Prevention & Response Network headquartered in Anchorage. He has served on the Prince William Sound Regional Citizen’s Advisory Council’s Port Operations & Vessel Traffic Systems committee, as vice chair of the planning commission in Cordova and as president of the Alaska Fuel Storage and Handlers Alliance.
Beckham currently serves on the University of Alaska Fairbanks Petroleum Engineering Department’s Industry Advisory Board. He and his wife Cheryl have one daughter, born and raised in Alaska and currently an engineering major in college.
- KAY CASHMAN
Algeria: OPEC will cut oil output again if necessary The Algerian energy minister is confident oil in first quarter 2019 will rise to stabilize between $65 and $70 a barrel.
According to a Dec. 31 report in the Middle East Monitor, OPEC and non-OPEC producers will reduce oil production again if necessary to stabilize market prices.
Speaking at a Dec. 30 press conference in the capital city Algiers, Algerian Energy Minister Mustapha Guitouni said producers will wait until the end of the first quarter 2019 to take action in order to observe the effect of the production that was agreed on earlier in December by both OPEC members and heavyweight Russia.
That agreement called for a 1.3 million barrels cut.
“We will hold a meeting in April, during which we will study the situation of the market and prices. We will reduce production again if necessary,” Guitouni said.
The Algerian energy minister is confident oil in first quarter 2019 will rise to stabilize between $65 and $70 a barrel.
As part of the current OPEC agreement, Algeria will reduce production by 3 percent - 36,000 barrels per day - Guitouni said.
Algeria produces about 1.2 million crude oil barrels per day.
- KAY CASHMAN
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