Copyright (c) 2008 Petroleum News, All rights reserved. http://www.petroleumnews.com Petroleum News, providing coverage of Alaska and Canada. en-us Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:01 PST http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/976452933.shtml Anadarko will expand its search for natural gas in the Brooks Range foothills this winter, using two rigs to complete up to three wells on state and federal lands in northern Alaska. Using the Nabors rig 105-E already on site, the company plans to finish drilling the deep Chandler No. 1 well about 1... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/488075502.shtml The helter-skelter state of natural gas markets does not convince TransCanada Chief Executive Officer Hal Kvisle that North America is facing a price drop that will change plans for an Alaska gas pipeline. Although gas is sliding toward half its 2008 peak in July, it is still strongly above last ye... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/369213820.shtml Since this time last year, the Dewline Deep prospect on Alaska's North Slope went from being promising acreage ready for drilling, to being promising acreage ready for drilling. But over the past year, UltraStar Exploration lost and then regained a lot of momentum on its attempts to drill the Dewlin... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/738779711.shtml It didn't exactly get the open-armed embrace the creators might have hoped for. Someone, somehow, settled on Cenovus Energy as the handle for the new oil sands and refining independent being spun off from EnCana by mid-December, leaving EnCana to focus on natural gas. As you might have expected, Bri... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/264714451.shtml Following delays caused by a pair of hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast around Labor Day, state oil and gas officials have given a Cook Inlet operator another extension on the deadline for hiring a vessel capable of bringing a specialty rig to Alaska waters. Pacific Energy Resources Ltd. now has unt... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/47070026.shtml The Canadian pipeline industry is poised to spend C$40 billion delivering 'clean, reliable and affordable' energy to all consumers - a figure that would double if the Mackenzie and Alaska natural gas projects go ahead - but government indecision is undermining investor confidence, Canadian Energy Pi... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/158035690.shtml It was brief, but it was an event that carries a strong message for energy companies operating on traditional aboriginal lands in Western Canada. After a build-up of threats and accusations over two weeks, two aboriginal groups in Saskatchewan brought a halt to work on Enbridge's Alberta Clipper oi... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/859542227.shtml Canadian natural gas production has declined by 12 percent since the end of 2006 and is likely to slide even more in 2009, the National Energy Board has forecast. This year alone, output has shrunk by almost 1 million cubic feet per day and is expected to exit 2008 at 15.3 billion cubic feet per day... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/474492162.shtml A regional stakeholder meeting for the Alaska Risk Assessment of Oil and Gas Infrastructure project is scheduled Oct. 15 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Commons at the University of Alaska Anchorage. The meeting will include an overview of the project and be focused on informal stakeholder input to the... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/990316646.shtml Financial mayhem is carving into Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's hopes of forming a majority government on Oct. 14, according to the final public polls which were prohibited five days before voting. As a result, energy issues have dropped from the radar screen. Under attack by the four op... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/872798416.shtml The U.S. Minerals Management Service has awarded a two-year, $443,000 contract to Eastern Research Group Inc. for a study into alternative energy development on the U.S. outer continental shelf. 'MMS is moving forward with offshore alternative energy as quickly as possible and we are seeking the inf... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/893088553.shtml It shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone that Alaska's North Slope holds some world class petroleum systems in its subsurface geology. But, as oil and gas exploration moves away from the Prudhoe Bay region where major oil discoveries have been made in the past, there are many as yet unanswe... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/873360812.shtml The federal government has agreed to make a final determination within two years on critical habitat for the polar bear under a partial settlement with three conservation groups. The settlement, which was formalized Oct. 6, resolves two issues raised in a lawsuit filed against Interior Secretary Dir... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/423724783.shtml Golden Valley Electric Association is clearing the way for independent power producers in an effort to boost its share of energy coming from renewable sources and study how renewable energy projects will affect its electric grid. The Fairbanks utility is seeking permission from the Regulatory Commis... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/579554319.shtml U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production has been slow to recover from back-to-back hurricanes Ike and Gustav, which swept through the region more than a month ago. Meanwhile, offshore platform and pipeline damage reports continue to mount, with Ike blamed for most of the destruction. The Gulf of... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/807145321.shtml A quarter-century ban on offshore exploration off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts expired Oct. 1, but don't expect to see a chain of drilling platforms from the beaches anytime soon. It will take a couple of years, at least, before any oil or natural gas leases are issued, years more before any oil... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/43601721.shtml Companies based in Norway's sparsely populated north face an uphill battle to win contracts on oil projects against larger rivals from the south, but an association called Petro Arctic based in Hammerfest is helping to level the playing field. Founded in 1997 and financed by state-owned oil company... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/806780702.shtml Italy's Eni could be making progress on developing its Enineftegaz assets in the Yamal region that it acquired from Russia's defunct Yukos oil company in 2007. The CEO of Eni, Paolo Scaroni, met with the chairman of Russia's state-owned Gazprom, Alexei Miller, in late September. Up until now, Eni ha... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/301021276.shtml StatoilHydro has received approval from Norway's Pollution Control Authority to drill an appraisal well at the Nucula oil and gas discovery in the Barents Sea. Environmental groups have asked the country's environment minister, Erik Solheim, to block the drilling because the license lies just 46 kil... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/969570419.shtml A conflict between BP and its Russian partners in joint venture company TNK-BP appears to have been resolved, with the signing of a memorandum of understanding in early September. BP Chairman Peter Sutherland had complained in June that the AAR group of shareholders, which includes billionaires Mikh... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/239374474.shtml People in Alaska who've experienced an exceptionally cool summer and early winter snow may be wondering why the Arctic sea ice reached its second lowest extent on record this year. The ice shrank to an average minimum area of 1.8 million square miles in September 2008, compared with 1.65 million squ... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/965088131.shtml The Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas has scheduled public hearings on its proposed Cook Inlet areawide oil and gas lease sale preliminary best interest finding. Staff from the division will be available before each hearing to answer questions about the proposed sale, D... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/883371605.shtml Turmoil in financial markets has produced another casualty in the oil sands-related upgrading/refinery sector, with Connacher Oil and Gas shelving a $500 million plan to boost capacity at its Montana plant to 35,000 barrels per day from 9,500 bpd. The Calgary-based producer tied its decision to 'wea... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/144121162.shtml The U.S. Government Accountability Office has published the findings of its review of the workings of the National Coastal Zone Management Program. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administers the program under the terms of the 1972 Coastal Zone Management Act. And under the progr... http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/959911113.shtml Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 705,360 barrels per day in September, up a dramatic 27.8 percent from an August average of 552,114 bpd. The biggest month-over-month change, an increase of 100.6 percent, was at the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field which was offline during...