Corri Feige, director of the state Division of Oil and Gas, submitted her resignation to Commissioner of Natural Resources Andy Mack Aug. 20, becoming the third senior Department of Natural Resources official to depart this year.
The exodus of experienced personnel from the department has now become a concern within industry and the state’s business community.
Last March DNR Commissioner Mark Myers resigned followed by the retirement this summer of Deputy Commissioner Marty Rutherford, and now Feige.
Myers is a highly respected geologist and a former director of the U.S. Geological Survey. Feige is a geophysicist.
The departures were mostly due to disagreements over the handling of oil and gas issues by people in Gov. Bill Walker’s office and other administration officials, sources familiar with the matter said.
In Feige’s case there was interference in matters that by statute are the responsibility of the Department of Natural Resources.
In a written statement Kara Moriarty, president of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association said, “We have immense respect for Corri, who was an effective and stable Director of Alaska’s Division of Oil and Gas. We can only hope her replacement is as knowledgeable and hardworking as she proved herself to be.”
Deputy has downstream experience
Who will be appointed to replace Feige is not known but it is typical that a deputy, in this case Jim Beckham, current deputy director at the division, will step in on an acting basis. Beckham has management experience from the military and is considered knowledgeable in “downstream” petroleum storage and management as well as environmental regulatory matters.
Although new appointments are being made to DNR, they are light in experience, particularly in the kinds of complex issues the division deals with.
A more critical comment came from Drue Pearce, an Anchorage-based resource consultant, former president of the state Senate and former senior federal official:
“The parade of departures at AKDNR (the Department of Natural Resources) should concern all Alaskans. When institutional memory is lost at an agency, what follows are huge gaps in consistency and continuity,” Pearce said in a written comment.
“Corri’s departure sends yet another strong message to the oil and gas industry and their financiers and will create more uncertainty about the stability of the investment environment in Alaska,” Pearce said.
Frustration
Myers cited personal reasons for his decision and Rutherford cited her retirement, but both had become frustrated with the involvement of advisors to Gov. Bill Walker and other state officials in natural gas issues.
One point of disagreement for Myers and Rutherford is that both were generally supportive of the joint-venture framework with industry of the Alaska LNG Project but they found last spring that Walker and others in the governor’s office were not supportive, even though the state is a partner in the project.
Feige announced her decision within the oil and gas division Sept. 20 and gave two weeks’ notice, an unusually short time for a senior official. Myers also gave short notice when he resigned earlier this year, also unusual because it was in the middle of a legislative session when lawmakers were dealing with DNR’s budget.
Although the timing of Feige’s decision was unexpected, she was known to have been frustrated for some time with interference by other state officials in the division’s business, such as attorneys under contract to the Department of Law who wrote official letters or key parts of letters to North Slope producers over Feige’s signature.
One particular point of contention was a request from former Attorney General Craig Richards and others on the governor’s staff for confidential information of natural gas marketing from BP, operator of the Prudhoe Bay field.
BP turned back requests for the information, citing confidentiality and anti-trust concerns. That particular issue is now resolved.
Other opportunities
The DNR commissioner’s office provided this statement from Feige on Sept. 20:
“With a heavy heart, I inform you that I will be leaving my position as DOG Director effective at the close of business on October 3rd,” Feige said.
She made reference to other opportunities: “This decision has been incredibly difficult for me, but opportunity rarely knocks at convenient times and in this instance, I have got to open that door! My new adventure will greatly reduce my ‘epic’ daily commute from the “Upper Valley” (her home near Chickaloon) and allow more time with my daughter in her last year home before moving away to college.”
“It has been my great honor to serve the people of Alaska and work with both DOG and DNR. I wish each of you and all of DNR the very best!” an apparent reference to Mack, who was recently appointed to be commissioner.
