Walker presses Point Thomson challenge

Bill Walker isn’t giving up. He’s taking his challenge of the state’s Point Thomson settlement to the Alaska Supreme Court.

Walker, an Anchorage attorney and former candidate for governor, had filed an administrative appeal in state Superior Court following the March 29, 2012, resolution of the legal dispute surrounding the Point Thomson field on the eastern North Slope.

Superior Court Judge Catherine Easter dismissed Walker’s suit on Dec. 7.

Now Walker is petitioning the Supreme Court to review Easter’s ruling.

Walker questions the legality of the Point Thomson settlement on numerous levels. State officials failed to put the deal out for public comment, and failed to obtain legislative approval for some provisions, he says. He further contends the agreement contained no firm work commitments, and that Point Thomson leaseholders could choose a wasteful development option to exploit the field’s natural rich gas reserves while leaving valuable liquids behind.

Under the settlement, ExxonMobil and its partners are now moving to construct facilities to produce gas condensate from Point Thomson. State officials have long pushed for production from the field, discovered in 1977.

Martin Schultz, supervisor of the Alaska Department of Law’s Oil, Gas and Mining Section, told state legislators in a Feb. 7 hearing that the state stands by the Point Thomson deal.

“We’re confident of our position that the settlement agreement is valid,” he said.

He continued: “This is a great settlement for the state. It means that development is going forward at Point Thomson, and that’s a wonderful thing.”

The Point Thomson field is located along the Beaufort Sea coast, next to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. ExxonMobil is operator, with BP and ConocoPhillips holding significant stakes.

—Wesley Loy