Week of April 12, 2026
Week of April 12, 2026
During a March 31 meeting of the House Energy Committee officials from Anchorage based Chugach Electric Association told legislators that the utility has identified four Southcentral Alaska sites for the potential development of hydroelectric power stations. The sites are at Canyon Creek on the Kenai Peninsula, north of Cooper Landing; Godwin Creek near the Fourth of July area of Seward; Caribou Creek, north of the Glenn Highway to the east of the Matanuska Glacier; and Boulder Creek, north of...
On April 8 Santos announced the successful completion of the Quokka-1 appraisal well, which has further delineated the high-quality Nanushuk reservoir in the Quokka Unit on Alaska's North Slope. Santos controls a 51% operating interest in the unit, with Repsol controlling the remaining 49%. The Quokka-1 well was spud on Jan. 1 and drilled to a total depth of 4,787 feet (1,459 meters). The well successfully encountered a high-quality reservoir with approximately 143 feet of net oil pay in the...
In an April 7 ASX release 88 Energy Limited said that it has acquired access to the Kad River 3D seismic dataset, recently released by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas. The Kad River 3D survey covers the entirety of the company's newly secured Kad River East leases, comprising approximately 17,920 acres in seven leases (88 Energy holds 100% working interest) east of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, or TAPS. The leases were acquired in the North Slope Areawide...
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has approved a new production allocation methodology for the Point Thomson unit Thomson oil pool, a needed approval as Hilcorp Alaska works to bring PTU 19 into production. In its April 3 administrative approval of a change in the existing conservation order for Point Thomson production, the commission said Hilcorp would be bringing PTU 19, the second production well, online soon, requiring an approved method of production allocation between the...
On March 31 House Bill 164, a bill relating to the use of solar panels or other renewable energy sources on private property, was reviewed by the House Energy Committee and passed to the House Finance Committee. For some time homeowners have been installing solar panels on their houses and thus obtaining benefits from reducing their need for utility supplied electricity. In addition, utility customers can obtain cash credits for excess solar energy that they can deliver into the electricity...
As of March 31, 100% of downed Rig 26 rig has been fully recovered, removed and transported from the site, the Unified Command said April 3. With that major milestone, response efforts following the Jan. 23 Western North Slope rig move incident have moved into Phase 3 of the incident response. Doyon Drilling Inc., or DDI, continues to lead response activities under a unified command structure. The disassembled rig and debris have been removed from the tundra to be thoroughly cleaned and...
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas has found no substantial new information following a Feb. 5 request for substantial new information for the 2026 North Slope, North Slope Foothills and Beaufort Sea areawide oil and gas lease sales. In a decision issued April 1, Haley Paine, acting director of the Division of Oil and Gas, said no substantial new information was received in response to the request. Once a best interest finding is issued for an areawide lease sale, it is valid for 10 years and subject to an...
Alaska North Slope crude busted out above $120 April 6, leaping $5.20 to close at $120.28 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate rose 87 cents to close at $112.41 and Brent rose 74 cents to close at $109.77. Crude prices trended higher under the specter of threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to attack Iranian bridges, power plants and other civilian targets if the Strait of Hormuz was not open by the night of April 7. ANS prices last ventured above $120 per barrel on June 6, 2022, peaking at...
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's Short-Term Energy Outlook for April, released April 7, is focused on implications of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. "Our petroleum forecasts are highly contingent on the interaction of three variables," EIA Administrator Tristan Abbey said: "First, to even run our model we have to make an assumption about the duration of the Strait of Hormuz closure. Second, we know that the closure is forcing production to shut in, but we can only estimate...
The U.S. Department of the Interior said April 3 that it is combining functions of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement into the Marine Minerals Administration. The department said the "action is intended to improve coordination and increase efficiencies across offshore leasing, permitting, inspections and environmental oversight, while maintaining all existing regulatory protections and rigorous safety standards. "This is about building...
The Alaska Legislature’s House Resources Committee is considering House Bill 381 by Gov. Mike Dunleavy which would change property tax for the Alaska LNG Project to an alternative volumetric tax on the gas flowing through the line once that volume reaches 1 billion cubic feet per day. The committee had a presentation April 1 by Nick Fulford, senior director, LNG and Energy Transition, with GaffneyCline Energy Advisory. Fulford focused on how LNG project host governments typically work with project developers and the role property tax or the...
Baker Hughes' U.S. rotary drilling rig count was 548 on April 2, up by five from the previous week and down 42 from 590 a year ago. The domestic rig count has ranged from the 530s through the 550s since the beginning of June. For 2025, the count peaked in February and again in March at 593, hitting its low point in August at 526. For 2024, the count peaked in March at 629, hitting its low point in June at 581. In 2023 the count peaked in January at 775, bottoming out in November at 616. A drop...
ConocoPhillips Alaska has applied to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas for a unit plan of operations amendment to upgrade sections of the road system in the Kuparuk River unit and restore or replace up to 16 culverts. Some 94,900 cubic yards of gravel will be required and 15 culverts will be extended or replaced, the division said, to upgrade roads by widening select curves and narrow sections for transport of heavy equipment and infrastructure, including...
